NFL Week Seven Report Card: Back to school

The NFL season is rolling on, and every week seems to be more dramatic than the last. Every week of the NFL season, we will be assigning letter grades to each team based on their performance that week. So without further ado…

Remember when the Saints were the best team in football with an unstoppable offense and Derek Carr was on course for the MVP award? Yeah, us neither. Spencer Rattler was understandably bad on his NFL debut, we can forgive that, it’s the Saints’ defense that was worrying on TNF.

We’re going to hold our hands up and say we have a bit of a soft spot for Bo Nix, it’s not rational, and it probably won’t prove to be smart in the long run, but he’s playing better. Did he play well against the Saints? Not really, still, he did enough and didn’t turn the ball over while adding 75 yards on the ground. Don’t look now, but Denver has a winning record.

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The Jags played well in their second home of London, Trevor Lawrence looked freed from the pressure that had been weighing him down, and Brian Thomas Jr. is a stud. The passing defense needs to improve, as the Pats had too much success to be comfortable with.

That may seem high considering they lost 32-16, but we are contextualizing this with how awful this roster is, and how well Drake Maye performed. There’s no point worrying about results this season, all attention should be on developing the rookie, and so far, he looks comfortable.

The Vikings lost a humdinger of a game against their division rivals, the Lions, in what could be a telling loss come playoff seeding. No one who watched that game could walk away thinking the Vikings played badly, however. Brian Flores’ defense was more suspect than usual, allowing the Lions to pick them apart at times.

It looked like the Lions had let this one slip late in the game, but a composed drive to set up the game-winning field goal saw them home. Jared Goff is playing with remarkable efficiency, and Ben Johnson is making a case to be the best offensive mind in football currently. The NFC may run through Detroit this year.

The Bills did what they needed to do against a Titans team that lacks offensive firepower. Amari Cooper showed his value early and Keon Coleman continues to perform at a high level. The Bills are a good team, and it showed on Sunday.

What more could we have expected from Mason Rudolph? He’s played enough in the NFL for us to know he’s not good and that’s exactly how he performed. Dennard Wilson’s defense held up for a while before being ground down by a relentless Buffalo team.

As John Breech wrote for CBS Sports, “The Colts aren't dominating anyone, but they're winning games and that's all that matters in the NFL,” which we sort of agree with. Beating the hapless Dolphins by six points with your starting QB completing 10/24 passes is the opposite of sustainable, so we shall keep a close eye on this team moving forward.

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We were going to give the Dolphins a straight D but then, in what is essentially a pity move, added the plus. Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle have no right to be taking this many reps in a competitive NFL football game, so there is some mitigation. The run game also looked as good as ever, and the defense played OK against a middling team. Is Tua back anytime soon?

Kirk Cousins had played well over the past few weeks, on Sunday against the Seahawks, he did not. John Breech puts it succinctly, “This team is still good, but when your QB turns the ball over three times in the fourth quarter, you're not going to win very many games in the NFL.”

We were high on the Seahawks in the preseason and expected them to be among the playoff contenders late in the season. A slow start had us doubting our prediction, but Sunday’s performance was a proof-of-concept game for Seattle. Mike Macdonald’s defense was flying around, and Geno Smith played well at QB. This is a good team.

The Packers’ white-out game not only looked incredible cool, but also set the stage for a face-off between two legit Super Bowl contenders and two young stud QBs. Green Bay needed a late score to win it, as the Texans were battling all game. This was an awesome game of football.

We described C.J. Stroud as a stud in our Packers write-up, and he is, even if he didn’t play like one on Sunday. Still, despite Stroud only throwing for 86 yards, the Texans could have won on Sunday thanks to their amazing defense and run game. Proving you’re multi-faceted is never a bad thing in our opinion.

This team is awful, there’s really not much more to say. It’s a top-down issue that was highlighted by Saquon Barkley humiliating the team that let him walk in the offseason. The defensive line keeps racking up sacks (Dexter Lawrence could be among the top five best players in football right now), outside of that, there’s nothing to be optimistic about.

The Eagles went into MetLife and stomped on the Giants, yet there are still some lingering questions around this team. Jalen Hurts missed some open guys and the team went 1/13 on third down, per Pro Football Reference. It was a sack-fest for the DL, however, who got to the QB eight times on the day. We’re still not sure what to think of this team.

Deshaun Watson’s injury could be a blessing in disguise for the Browns, who should give Jameis Winston the keys to the offense for the rest of the season. The Browns have reverted to type after a few good seasons.

The Bengals needed to get that win, and they did. A 2-5 start would have seen their season all but over already. Instead, they did what they needed to do despite a sputtering performance, and they welcome the Eagles into Cincy next week with a chance to go .500 in what will be an eye-opening game for both teams.

The Rams emerged as 20-15 victors over the Las Vegas Raiders thanks to a scoop and score by Kamren Curl in what was otherwise a turgid game of football. The Rams will be hoping Cooper Kupp returns soon, as they are lacking offensive playmakers right now.

The Raiders kept things close against a team that probably edges them on talent, which is noteworthy and shows the team is still trying despite their awful start to the season. Gardner Minshew threw three picks and Aidan O’Connell got hurt. The QB situation may be the worst in the NFL.

The Commanders blew out the Carolina Panthers 40-7 in what was a legitimately impressive performance. Jayden Daniels left the game early (rib injury) only for Marcus Mariota to impress in relief. Good teams pile on the points against bad teams, which is exactly what Washington did.

This Panthers team could end the season as one of the worst in NFL history based on their current performances. Andy Dalton set the stage early, throwing a perfect ball straight to a Washington defender for a pick-six, and things only got worse from there.

Brock Purdy and the Niners aren’t good enough to overcome three interceptions at the moment. Which is exactly what happened on Sunday in the Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs. Neither side dominated at any point, but it never felt like San Francisco had a chance to win.

The Chiefs have entered a new era as a cold, calculated team with none of the excitement and joy of previous iterations. Instead, they know what they need to do to win and do it with remarkable efficiency. Patrick Mahomes is having arguably his worst season as a starter, and it just doesn’t matter.

During the preseason we wrote a power ranking where we had the Jets at 16 as we had no idea what they would look like at the end of the season. They could have been a one-seed, or they could ship 37 points to Russell Wilson on SNF. What we’re saying is, performances last night are a shock, but not a big one.

Russell Wilson, we owe you an apology, we disagreed with the decision to start you ahead of Justin Fields, and well, frankly, you made us look silly with that performance. Are the Steelers actually good? We’re not sure it makes a ton of sense, but they have to be, right?

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