NFL Report Card after Week 9: Who's performing at the NFL's halfway point?

Week 9 of the NFL season is in the books, meaning we are officially at the halfway point of the season already. With most teams now showing us who they are, it makes it much easier for us to contextualize their performances on a week-to-week basis, which is exactly what we're doing here, through the simple medium of a letter grade.

This wasn't the most convincing win of the Chiefs' season so far, and if the Bucs had been a bit more aggressive, they probably would have lost. Patrick Mahomes played while clearly in some discomfort, so Chiefs fans will be hoping that's a minor issue. Mahomes doesn't seem to feel pain like the rest of us, however, so it probably won't matter.

We've knocked half a grade here as we can't get around the Bucs not going for the two-point conversion and the win at the end of the game. Up until that point they had played well, going blow for blow with the Super Bowl champs, and then gave them a chance to win it.

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The Jets needed a win, and that's exactly what they got on TNF against Houston. It may have come down to Garrett Wilson making an all-time great catch to get over the line, but it matters not. The Jets' defense came to play, racking up eight sacks on the night, which is an encouraging sign.

It felt like an off-night for CJ Stroud and co, as they only scored 13 points and struggled to move the ball consistently. While it could just be a blip, this offensive line, and receiving corps suddenly look like they could be an issue. Houston will be hoping Nico Collins gets healthy as soon as humanly possible.

The Panthers have had very little to smile about this season, so a nail-biting win over a rival division should be celebrated. Bryce Young had a solid, if unspectacular game, which is possibly a starting point to build on for last year's number-one overall pick.

Has there ever been a team filled with so much optimism after two weeks, only for the whole thing to fall apart immediately afterwards? We're not even convinced they played badly on Sunday, they just aren't very good.

The Giants looked better against Washington after a few bleak weeks. It made no difference in the end as they couldn't dig themselves out of the hole they found themselves in despite Daniel Jones making some nice plays. Time to blow it up and start fresh in New York?

Per John Breech for CBS Sports, the Commanders scored on five of six drives after their opening drive ended in a punt. There are very few offenses that look better than this right now. That they allowed New York to get close late in the game could be a cause for concern.

Josh Allen did what Josh Allen always does and beat the Dolphins. Despite a slow start, Allen and his offense clicked into gear in the second half and looked essentially impossible to stop. Shoutout to Tyler Bass for his 61-yard game-winner too, talk about clutch.

Tua looked comfortable in the pocket, throwing for 231 yards on 25/28 passing. De'Von Achane is becoming one of the most valuable players in the NFL, picking up chunk yardage every time he touches the ball. This was a good performance for Miami, but again, they find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreline against a good team. Is their season over already?

Jameis Winston was awful against the Chargers, throwing three back-breaking interceptions and never finding his rhythm. More concerningly was how easy the Chargers made it look against the Browns' defense, which was the cornerstone of their team for the past few seasons.

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The Chargers played one of their best games of the season against Cleveland, dominating from the first quarter and never letting up all game. Justin Herbert remains one of the best QBs in football, especially when his receivers actually make their catches.

John Breech for CBS Sports sums up the Titans' performance well, “After getting routed by Detroit last week (52-14), this win shows the team hasn't given up on new coach Brian Callahan.” They fought and clawed their way to a win, despite New England battling them every step of the way. It was an ugly game, but they got the win.

Drake Maye showed a lot in the loss against the Titans, making some incredible throws and plays with his legs (95 rushing yards), which should have Pats fans excited about the future. He will need to improve his turnover rate as it's far too high currently, but the talent is obvious.

The Falcons continue to stack up wins, as they now sit 6-3 on the season, showing why they had so much pre-season hype. Kirk Cousins ​​played an uber-efficient game against the Cowboys, throwing for 222 yards and three TDs with just five incompletions.

Dak and CeeDee Lamb both got hurt in this game - if either of those injuries are long term, the Cowboys may as well pack it in for the season and start focusing on the draft. This wasn't their worst game of the season, as they hung around even with Cooper Rush in at QB. They just never looked like winning the game, which is a damning indictment on a team with pre-season Super Bowl aspirations.

Clean, clinical, and victorious. Joe Burrow played possibly his best game of the year as he tore apart the Raiders' defense all day long. The Bengals are one game under .500 so they will need to go on a run if they want to make the playoffs, but Sunday's performance could be the launching point they need.

Apparently, Desmond Ridder is on the Raiders, which was an interesting turn of events and helps create what is possibly the worst three-pronged QB room in football. Were it not for two late scores, with the game already over, the Raiders would've lost this game by over 30, they were demolished.

The Ravens continue to look irresistible this season, making their three losses all the stranger. Lamar is the best player in the NFL right now, and Derrick Henry has a good claim to be the best running back. This is a team loaded with talent, and they showed it on Sunday.

The Broncos ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday as the talent differential between the two teams became obvious very quickly. Early in the game, we thought Bo Nix looked a little calmer, and a little more composed in the pocket, even if his efforts were fruitless.

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The Cardinals imposed their will on the Bears in what was a blowout win. Kyler Murray was efficient and made enough plays when he needed to, but it was the running game and the defense that were particularly impressive. This is becoming a legit team pretty quickly.

A worrying loss for the Bears, as they struggled to score points all day, with many of the issues centering around their inconsistent offensive line. Per ESPN, the Cardinals had six sacks on the day, we aren't sure of the exact stats, but giving up six sacks is not a winning formula it feels like.

Possibly the hardest performance to grade this week, as the Eagles got the win and produced 3 or 4 of the best plays we've ever seen, but also nearly lost to the Jags at home despite being up 22-0. At times, it feels like Nick Sirianni is battling with himself on whether to take the aggressive path, which may give his players a sense of unease. 

The Jags were a leaping Nakobe Dean interception away from winning a game they had no right to. The Eagles dominated them in almost every phase until the third quarter until Trevor Lawrence led a scoring drive and Travon Walker returned a fumble for a score. It wasn't enough in the end, and I could well see the end of the Doug Pederson era in Duval.

Despite their early-season issues and injury struggles, the Rams are now only half a game back in the NFC West, per CBS Sports. That speaks as much about the inconsistency of the division than anything, but the Rams have turned things around and now look like a genuine playoff contender again.

Geno Smith will be ruing his two second-half interceptions, as they probably cost his team a win against a rival division. We still think the Seahawks have as good a chance as anyone to emerge from the West as a division winner, a win on Sunday would have really helped though.

The Packers outgained the Lions 411-261 per CBS Sports and lost by 10 which can be a cause for concern. Jordan Love threw a pick-six that changed the game late in the second quarter, he can't make that throw at that stage of the game.

The Lions did what they needed to do to get a win at a wet and windy Lambeau Field. It was far from their best performance of the year, which is a tough mark to hit consistently, but it was enough.

The Vikings are 6-2, which is not what many analysts were expecting before the season got started. Sam Darnold made some nice throws, and some terrible ones, as he turned the ball over three times. As John Breech writes for CBS Sports, “The Vikings were able to beat the Colts despite those mistakes, but if Minnesota wants to beat the best teams in the NFL, Darnold will need to clean that up.”

This is a very weird team with weird vibes around it. How have they won four games this year? Is Joe Flacco really the answer? None of those questions were answered on Sunday as they were thoroughly beaten by the Vikings and fell to under .500 on the season.

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