Grading every NFL team a month into the season
We’re a month into the NFL season and while the playoff field is far from being set, a lot of teams are starting to figure out how this season is going to go for them. For teams like the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers, this feels like as good of a year as any for them. The same could be said for the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That said, it’s not all positive for the NFL as several teams like the New York Jets and the New Orleans Saints can’t wait for the season to be over, even though it’s just begun. As teams start to figure out what their identity for the 2025 season is, let’s give out quarter grades for every NFL team, four games in.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills (4-0)
Grade: A
There’s not much else to be said about the Buffalo Bills this season. They look like the best team in the AFC and arguably the best in the league. Josh Allen is fresh off his first MVP award and he’s playing like he wants to defend it. Allen has just under 1,000 passing yards with seven touchdowns and just one interception.
The most important thing for them is that they’re winning the games they should, while also completing a crazy comeback to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. The Bills have yet to lift the AFC championship trophy and if there’s any year they can’t squander that, it’s now.
New England Patriots (2-2)
Grade: B-
The New England Patriots had a lot of expectations this year. Not because we expected the to immediately contend in the division and conference, but because they completely overhauled this team and were expected to be a sleeper team this year. They had a rough start to the year, but have since won two of the last three games and are finally looking like a solid squad.
It won’t be easy for the Patriots to dethrone the Bills, but if Drake Maye and this offense can continue to build off a resounding 42-13 win over the Carolina Panthers then they’ll be a tough team to beat in the second half of the year.
Miami Dolphins (1-3)
Grade: D+
Tua Tagovailoa has been under a microscope this season and after losing his most explosive playmaker in Tyreek Hill on Monday night, the pressure will continue to ramp up on him. The Miami Dolphins needed four games to get their first win, which isn’t good for a team that was supposed to compete for an AFC East title. They’ve been one of the biggest disappointments this year and maybe getting the first win out of the way will help turn things around.
Miami parted ways with Jalen Ramsey and proceeded to put one of the worst secondaries in the NFL on the field for the first quarter of the season. While the offense has had its problems, a win over an equally bad New York Jets team isn’t enough to convince me they’re going to turn things around, especially without Hill for the rest of the season.
New York Jets (0-4)
Grade: D-
Things went from bad to worse on Monday night. In a battle of two of the worst teams this season, the Jets suffered their fourth-straight loss to start the 2025 season and it’s becoming clear that Aaron Glenn made a mistake turning to Justin Fields. Fields has been extremely disappointing and he’s out of excuses. This is probably the best team he’s played on and he’s still underperforming.
The Jets are at the bottom of the division, the AFC and arguably the league as a whole. If they don’t figure out how to get this offense going, it’s going to be a long season and it might just cost Glenn his first head coaching gig.
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
Grade: B-
I might be a hater, but I’m still not impressed with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. After an extremely impressive season opener, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers came crashing back down to earth and haven’t really looked great since. They forced five New England turnovers in Week 3 and that’s the only reason they were able to get a seven-point win. Then the three-point win over Minnesota wasn’t that impressive either.
The Steelers are atop the AFC North by default, not because they’re the best team in the division. The first quarter of the season was a wake up call and the next four games will be paramount in turning the corner into being a contender. This is a championship or bust season in Pittsburgh, yet they’re not playing like a championship or bust team yet.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
Grade: C-
The Cincinnati Bengals are scrambling right now as Joe Burrow is out for most of the 2025 season. Jake Browning isn’t it and the last two games are proof this will be a long season in the Queen City if they don’t figure out their offense. This team was always going to need to outscore teams with the abysmal defense they put together this offseason. This offense can’t score and has just seven touchdowns this season.
They got lucky in their season opener against the Cleveland Browns and was bailed out by an inconsistent Jacksonville team in Week 2. The last two weeks, they have 13 total points, one touchdown, averaged 38 points against and five turnovers. There’s going to be a lot of soul searching the next few weeks if they want to even sniff the wild card.
Baltimore Ravens (1-3)
Grade: F
At worst, the Baltimore Ravens should be 2-2, but the fact that they’re 1-3 is evidence that it might be time to sound the panic alarm in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson can’t afford another season without reaching the Super Bowl. They built this team to be nearly bulletproof, yet they can’t figure it out. An embarrassing loss to Kansas City in Week 4 highlights the bigger struggles this team is facing.
Baltimore gets an F because this team doesn’t look like a team ready to contend for a Super Bowl this season. On paper, they have arguably the best roster in football, yet their only win is against the Cleveland Browns; mind you the offense didn’t really do much in that game either.
Cleveland Browns (1-3)
Grade: D
This was always going to be a rough season in Cleveland and honestly their offense is the reason they’re graded so low. They have a championship-caliber defense, but Joe Flacco is throwing games away left and right. Flacco was supposed to simply do enough to not lose games and four games in, you could argue he’s cost the Browns all three of their losses.
Cleveland’s struggles would be easier to accept if the defense was equally bad, but the primes of their top defensive players are getting wasted away from miserable play offensively. It’s time to switch to Dillon Gabriel at quarterback because Flacco clearly won’t get any better than this.
AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Grade: A
Danny Dimes, Indiana Jones or simply Daniel Jones; take your pick. He’s doing the unthinkable in Indianapolis and has the Colts as a serious contender in the AFC this year. For years, they proclaimed they were a quarterback away and I guess they were right. This team is running through their schedule and save for a big gaff by Adonai Mitchell, could still be undefeated.
Not only are the Colts atop the AFC South, but they don’t look like they’re slowing down anytime soon. As long as they keep this up, the Colts of the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck years should be back and that’s a dangerous thought.
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1)
Grade: B-
We’ll find out this week if the Jaguars are truly as good as their record appears. They are 3-1, but they beat the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers this year. I’m not impressed yet, but if they keep it close against the Kansas City Chiefs, then I’ll start to believe they’re a serious playoff contender. Trevor Lawrence has all the pressure to get to the postseason and win and anything less wouldn’t be good for him.
This team is finding ways to win which I can’t knock them for, but until they play a playoff contending team I am not ready to believe this is their year to do something good yet. They get a B- for the start of the season, time will tell if they deserve a higher rating at the halfway point.
Houston Texans (1-3)
Grade: D
C.J. Stroud is fighting the bust allegations already. He had a really strong rookie season and has seemingly disappeared for the last two years. The Texans managed to get to the postseason and win a playoff game for the second straight season last year, but they look like they’ll be dethroned in the division this year.
Every year you’re supposed to get better as a team and right now the Texans aren’t good. This division used to be one of the worst in the NFL and now it looks like one of the most competitive. The Texans were supposed to be in the thick of the division race and now they look like a team that won’t make the playoffs.
Tennessee Titans (0-4)
Grade: D+
The Titans were always going to be bad this year. They’re deep in their rebuilding phase and while Cam Ward has looked every bit like the franchise quarterback they need, they need more than him to win games. Tennessee has a bright future if they can figure out their offensive line and get Ward some threats on the perimeter. For now, they’re at the bottom of the league and I don’t see that changing throughout the year.
AFC West
Los Angeles Chargers (3-1)
Grade: A
Jim Harbaugh wasn’t playing around this year. The LA Chargers opened the year with a 27-21 win over division foe Kansas City in Brazil to kickoff the 2025 season and rattled off three straight wins before their first loss in Week 4. The Chargers are always a disappointment because they get in the playoffs and lay an egg.
Los Angeles may look good now, but until they win a playoff game and go on a playoff run, regular season success won’t cut it. For now, they’re one of the best teams in the AFC and make a strong argument to dethrone the Chiefs for the AFC West title.
Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
Grade: C+
The Chiefs managed to win the last two games after starting 0-2. I think they’ll ultimately be a playoff team, but right now, they have a lot of questions to answer, starting with their offense. Patrick Mahomes was the teams’ leading rusher after three weeks, that’s not good. When they fix their offense, so should their team.
The next eight games for the Chiefs are a gauntlet and if they come out of that near the top of AFC still then they just might be as dangerous as they’ve been the last few years. Now that they’re getting healthy, the real version of what this Chiefs team could be this year.
Denver Broncos (2-2)
Grade: C-
The Denver Broncos were probably supposed to be where the Los Angeles Chargers are currently at with all the hype around Bo Nix and this team. Their dominant win over Cincinnati on Monday night was a step in the right direction, but more-or-less, was a win over a mediocre team. Nix hasn’t looked great to start the year and that’s what’s holding this team back right now.
That could change and for the Broncos to have a shot at the wild card, they’ll need that to change rather quickly. This defense is still world class and this offense has the pieces to be good, Nix just has to improve his play.
Las Vegas Raiders (1-3)
Grade: C-
Geno Smith hasn’t quite looked like the savior the Las Vegas Raiders thought he would be. While he is closing in on 1,000 passing yards, he has more interceptions (seven) than touchdown passes (six). This team has lost three straight games and simply hasn’t looked good. The AFC West is a tough division, but the Raiders were supposed to be better than this.
Their next six games are tough draws as well with the Dallas Cowboys, Colts and Broncos all ahead of them. Pete Carroll took the Vegas job and handpicked his quarterback and it hasn’t worked out yet. It still can, but that window is rapidly closing.
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Grade: A+
You can hate them all you want, I don’t see a single team in the NFL stopping this team right now. Maybe the Buffalo Bills have the best shot, but a month into the season, the Eagles will be defending their Super Bowl title. They’ve even gone as far as to toy with the rest of the NFL by running a fake tush push play after a lot of controversy around the play in their win over the Chiefs.
There’s really not a weakness on the Eagles team right now and even if you wanted to say their passing game, it doesn’t matter because they’re still winning with subpar performance in the passing portion of their offense. Good luck slowing this team down.
Washington Commanders (2-2)
Grade: B
The Washington Commanders are still one of the strongest teams in the NFC and even without Jayden Daniels, they can still win. This team won’t be easy to beat and if Marcus Mariota can play well enough to allow Daniels to get fully healthy, it could be what makes this team even more dangerous.
That said, they better figure out how to win on the road. Both of their losses are on the road and they won’t make it far if they’re not road warriors. They should contend Philly for the NFC East title and I wouldn’t be surprised if the top team in the NFC came from this division.
Dallas Cowboys (1-2-1)
Grade: D+
Jerry Jones only has himself to blame for how bad this Dallas Cowboys team is this season. Not only did they trade away their best player, but they didn’t do enough to improve this defense. While the Cowboys have the best offense in the NFL, they have the worst defense. They can’t win games because they can’t keep teams from scoring.
This offense may be good enough to stay in shootouts with opposing teams, but that’s not conducive to winning games, hence why they have just one win and a tie. The next month is going to tell us just how much stamina this Dallas offense has.
New York Giants (1-3)
Grade: C-
The Giants might have found something in Jaxson Dart and they were wise to pull the plug on Russell Wilson when they did. Dart flexed his dual threat ability and that basically got them their first win of the season. They haven’t proved anything yet other than Russell Wilson is bad. But if Dart can take off against the New Orleans Saints, it will be proof they just might have something.
New York lost Malik Nabers which isn’t ideal considering they look like a team about to turn the corner, but with the way Dart is playing and then Cam Skattebo as well, they just might be a sleeper team down the road.
NFC North
Detroit Lions (3-1)
Grade: B+
It was a bad start for Detroit, but they’ve won the last three games and escaped any scrutiny for not being competitive after losing their top two coordinators. The only question mark I have on this team is they haven’t really beat a good team yet this year. The Ravens are good, but they’re reeling right now and they don’t look as good as we thought they’d be.
If you want to count the Ravens as a quality win, then the five of the next six games will tell us a lot about the Lions this year. They have to play the Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Commanders and the Eagles. How they come out of that stretch will determine if they truly have turned the page on what Glenn and Ben Johnson brought to this team.
Green Bay Packers (2-1-1)
Grade: B
The Green Bay Packers have looked suspect the last two weeks. They lost to the Cleveland Browns after surrendering 13 straight points in the final three minutes of the game to lose and then they turned around and tied the Cowboys on Sunday night. They looked like they were playing for the tie too against Dallas, which isn’t sitting right with me.
The Packers made it clear they were all in on this season when they traded for Micah Parsons just before the season started. They looked like a really good team to start the year but have since cooled off. For their sake, this better not turn into a pattern.
Minnesota Vikings (2-2)
Grade: C+
I’m disappointed in the Minnesota Vikings this season and truthfully starting to wonder if letting Sam Darnold go was the right move. Not only have they lost two of the last three games, but their offense is struggling tremendously right now. Until they figure out their quarterback situation and offensive situation as a whole, I’m not sold on J.J. McCarthy yet. Things can certainly change, but right now, this team isn’t a contender.
The Vikings have turned to Carson Wentz during McCarthy’s rehab and he’s looked better than McCarthy, which isn’t a good sign. The Vikings in the first month of the season have stolen two wins – one largely due to their defense – but that luck won’t last. It’s about time they turn things around rather quickly.
Chicago Bears (2-2)
Grade: C+
Don’t look yet, but the Chicago Bears have won the last two games after starting 0-2 and Caleb Williams is playing his best football of his career. This is the most comfortable he’s looked since playing in the NFL and that’s a great sign for the best and bad sign for the rest of the division. Ben Johnson was tasked with turning this team and offense around and he’s well on his way to finally doing that.
When the season started, there were red flags everywhere on this offense. Those have since disappeared and now the Bears look every bit like a solid team. The question is will they be able to keep this up?
NFC South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)
Grade: A
It’s been notoriously known as one of the worst divisions in the NFL for the last few years. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have become the favorite to run this division over the last few years and that’s largely thanks to the arrival of Baker Mayfield. The Bucs started the year 3-0 before losing to Philadelphia on Sunday.
I expect the Bucs to surprise a lot of teams and be one of the best teams in the NFC this year. I don’t know if they’ll beat out Philly for the No. 1 seed, but if any team will, it will be the Bucs.
Atlanta Falcons (2-2)
Grade: C+
The Atlanta Falcons are the biggest wild card not just in the division, but in the NFL. Sometimes, they look like a team that could be dangerous in the postseason, other times, they look like a team that just isn’t good. Michael Penix Jr. is still figuring it out, which he’s in his second year, that’s fine, but that margin of error is shrinking.
The Falcons could realistically contend for the division title this year and at the same time, they could play themselves out of the playoffs like they did a year ago. Either way, this team is in an interesting spot and right now, there’s no telling if the Falcons are actually good or not.
Carolina Panthers (1-3)
Grade: D-
The Carolina Panthers aren’t a good team and they’re still rebuilding, but this grade has less to do with the wins and losses of this team and rather the lack of progress. This team doesn’t look any better than it did three years ago before they drafted Bryce Young and that’s a problem. The Panthers don’t have to be a playoff team, but they don’t look good at all.
They may have to blow this whole thing up if the wins don’t start coming in this season. They have one win in four games and they shut out the Falcons. They need to start turning things around soon if they hope to actually become competitive.
New Orleans Saints (0-4)
Grade: D-
The New Orleans Saints are a bad football team and while we all want to blame Derek Carr for his abrupt and untimely retirement, that’s only part of the problem. This team is simply not good on either side of the ball. It’s going to be a long, grueling season for first-year coach Kellen Moore.
The first month of the season went about as we expected for the Saints and the next month doesn’t look anymore optimistic. I guess one thing we learned is that Spencer Rattler is not the player he thought he was and Tyler Shough will have a lot less pressure thanks to the dumpster fire already burning in the Big Easy.
NFC West
San Francisco 49ers (3-1)
Grade: B+
San Francisco is off to a strong start this year and while they lost their first game of the year to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, they look like a team that isn’t missing firepower. George Kittle is hurt and Brandon Aiyuk isn’t back, yet this team is still looking solid. This division will come down to a lot of tie breakers based on the first quarter of the season. The 49ers are in the division lead now, but there’s a lot of ground for the rest of the division to make.
Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
Grade: B
Sam Darnold has looked good with his new team, which I’m sure he’s happy about with the amount of pressure on him to play well in year one with his new team. The Seahawks traded Smith away to make sure they got Darnold and it looks to be working out so far. But the Seahawks already have a division loss to the 49ers. If they want to get back in the playoff conversation this season, they’ll need to string together a lot of division wins.
This division is as tight as any so far and after it’s all said and done, one of the better teams in the conference could miss out on the postseason and it could come down to the division head-to-head matchups.
Los Angeles Rams (3-1)
Grade: B+
This might be the best Rams team since Matthew Stafford arrived ahead of the 2021 season. They’re a blocked field goal attempt away from still being undefeated. This team is solid and should hang around the top of the division for most of the season. They won the division last year and almost reached the NFC title game. They’ll be just as dangerous this year.
Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
Grade: B-
The Cardinals aren’t a bad team, they’re just a couple pieces away from really being dangerous. Their offense has been mediocre and their defense isn’t that great. They’ll struggle in the division simply because this is a loaded division. That said, they could very well sneak into the wild card if they catch fire at the right time.