Testaverde Touchdown: NFL Power Poll, Week 8

Below is the weekly power poll with grades for each team at the midpoint of the season.

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Midseason Grades
1 (1)		7-0	A It's hard to argue with "perfection". Atlanta has looked pretty vulnerable for a 7-0 team, which shows up in the number of people talking about a possible undefeated season in hushed tones (no one). But come the final whistle, they have always gotten the job done, and there's quite a bit to be said for that. Add in the top-notch play of Matt Ryan and Atlanta's willingness to (finally!) open up the offense, and maybe this is the year they do some damage in the playoffs.
2 (2)		6-1	A- Houston has dominated their conference, and the only black mark on their record looks right now like it coincided with the return of Green Bay's juggernaut offense. This team's greatest weakness (coverage) is mitigated by one of its greatest strengths (ability to get to the quarterback).
3 (4)		5-2	B+ The Giants are who they are. A team that has greatness inside of them, but doesn't always let that greatness show. They are the NFL equivalent of the Boston Celtics. They don't care about seeding, home field advantage, or regular season dominance. They care about getting to the playoffs, and unleashing holy hell when they get there. They may suffer an embarassing home defeat or two over the course of the regular season, but they'll also knock off most of the contenders they face, and (if healthy) be the team that no one wants to face in the postseason.
4 (5)		5-2	B+ Tough team. The defense is stil great. The offense has gotten better. The special teams isn't as good as it was last season (before the NFC Championship game). The Giants loss leaves you feeling like they still don't have quite enough for a Super Bowl run, though.
5 (3)		6-1	A- With that offensive line, that this team is 6-1 is pretty amazing. The defense is elite, which is a surprise because everyone figured this would be the year age caught up to them. And the offense is dangerous enough. They have the biggest achilles heel of the top 5 though.
6 (8)		5-3	B They endured a really rough start to their season. Much of it was their own doing though. You can explain away the loss to Seattle. But they were demolished by San Francisco at home, and they lost to Indianapolis. Sure Indy is better than we thought, but Green Bay is too talented for that. The last few weeks have been a different animal though.
7 (10)		5-3	B- The defense isn't much improved, and the offense may have taken a half-step back. For a team that's been the class of the AFC, this first half of their season has been dissapointing.
8 (11)		4-3	B They have played a tough schedule (losses are to ATL, HOU, and NE…a combined 18-4). But they've passed by far the biggest test of their first 7 games: Peyton Manning remains standing and he looks pretty darn sharp for a guy coming off of a year missed due to 4 neck surgeries. Add in the presumption that he'll just get better as the season goes on, and suddenly Denver looks not just like a playoff team, but a dangerous one.
9 (9)		5-2	B- The first quarter of their season was very impressive, B=/A- material. The offense finally looked ready to assume the strongest unit of the team mantle. Flacco even looked like an upper-echelon quarterback. In the second quarter of the season? Not so much. Squeaking by Cleveland, Kansas City, and Dallas don't make you a top tier team. Getting crushed by Houston doesn't help either.
10 (7)		4-4	B- I struggled with this one. Considering this team is starting a rookie 3rd round pick at quarterback, the first half of this season was pretty successful. But look at who they beat (DAL, GB, CAR, NE) and then look at who they lost to (ARI, STL, SF, DET) and you can't shake the feeling that this team left wins on the table in the first half of the season.
11 (16)		4-3	B- They have really come on stronger in the last 2 weeks. But the losses to Oakland and Tennessee really sting.
12 (6)		5-3	B+ Considering where most people had them slotted, this first half was an unqualified success. Most importantly, Adrian Peterson looks almost good as new after tearing his ACL late last season. Christian Ponder looks capable, though he's fading some. And the defense looks much better than anyone expected. No matter what is to come, Minnesota did one heck of a job through 8 games.
13 (15)		4-3	B+ To be where they are with a raw rookie under center is frankly, astonishing. With a couple more bounces they could easily be 6-1, too. The schedule does get tougher in the second half, but this team can play defense, and they will fight you to the last whistle.
14 (18)		4-3	B+ We said it before the season started: Indy fans are going to be incredibly spoiled in going from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck. And everything Luck has done in his first 7 games does nothing but support that.
15 (19)		3-4	C+ The offense looks out of sorts, the special teams has been atrocious…and the defense has actually been pretty decent. They've been in almost all of their games, but they've lost too many of them. Given the state of the rest of their division, they have left themselves almost no margin for error.
16 (12)		3-4	C- It's the same song as last season: Too many turnovers, lots of underachieving across the roster, and way too many turnovers. This season has already cost defensive coordinator Juan Castillo his job, and it could take down Andy Reid and Michael Vick as well by the time it's all over.
17 (20)		3-5	B- Staying competitive with the roster as devoid of talent as this one is no mean feat. Make no mistake, this is the beginning of a big rebuilding job, and as they start to reap the full rewards (extra 1st round picks) from the RG3 trade, they could be truly competitive in a hurry.
18 (14)		3-5	B- RG3 has been everything Washington could have hoped for. The injuries to their defense basically scuttled any chance of the playoffs, but their dynamic quarterback has kept them very competitive. There's excitement around the Redskins again, and that makes RG3 worth every penny.
19 (21)		3-4	C- Definitely on the short list of most disappointing teams in the league in this first half of the season. The offseason moves seemed to shore up their big weakness (coverage), and the season opening win over the Giants seemed to announce that the Cowboys were finally ready for their closeup. But since then we've seen the same mistakes, bad decisions, and sloppy play that held Dallas back for many seasons now.
20 (17)		4-4	C The first quarter of the season would have earned them an 'A'. The second quarter? Maybe a D. It's a shame that their defensive talent is being squandered by weak quarterback play and horrible offensive line play. The 4-0 start always seemed like a mirage.
21 (26)		3-4	B- Tampa has a chance to get to .500 if they can win vs Oakland this weekend. That's pretty good footing for a team that lost 10 straight to end last season. But even more encouraging is the recent play of quarterback Josh Freeman.
22 (13)		3-4	D+ San Diego has sufficient talent to be much higher on this list, which is the main reason their grade is so low. Philip Rivers is the focal point, as he hasn't gotten back to his pro bowl form after a down 2011. But really, no unit is doing their job here. The offense has scuffled, sure, but the defense didn't shine in the losses to New Orleans or Denver either.
23 (22)		2-5	C- Another disappointing team, but that was somewhat expected with the Bountygate drama surrounding them. But in the end they aren't 2-5 because of missing personnel or coaches, they are 2-5 because their defense is awful. As infuriating as the defense was under Gregg Williams, his blitz happy tactics may have camouflaged things more than we knew.
24 (23)		3-5	C- There just isn't any talent on offense (partly due to injury - Santonio Holmes), but mostly because there just wasn't talent there to begin with. More importantly, Mark Sanchez isn't good enough to elevate that talent around him.
25 (25)		3-4	C- The playoff berth last season was built around beating up on a week schedule, so it may have created overly optimistic expectations. But this year's team isn't even beating the minnows on the schedule reliably.
26 (27)		3-4	D Horrendously disappointing performance for this team. The offense looks more like the one from the 2nd half of last season than the one that set the league on fire in the first half of the season. More importantly, the defense, which was billed as much improved, looks just like last year's weak unit.
27 (24)		3-5	C- They made the decision to move on to 2nd year QB Jake Locker, and there have been growing pains. When Matt Hasselbeck was re-inserted as QB after Locker's injury, they all of a sudden looked a lot like last year's borderline playoff team.
28 (29)		2-6	C- They lack offensive skill position talent, but both Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden (this year's first rounders) look poised to contribute going forward. Unfortunately for them, it will be for an entirely different regime.
29 (28)		3-4	C- They lack talent across the roster, from ill-conceived short-term deals that robbed them of salary cap space and draft picks. Anyone who didn't expect a step back was fooling themselves.
30 (30)		1-6	D Last year's finish raised expectations, and so far Carolina has collpased under them.
31 (31)		1-6	F Just a terrible team. Scott Pioli should be updating his resume, as nothing on this team currently looks good. The really disappointing thing? There's more talent on this team than on quite a few teams above them in the standings.
32 (32)		1-6	D- Where is the progress? Gabbert is still bad, there's nothing around him outside of Maurice Jones-Drew, and where exactly is the cause for optimism going forward? Why should anyone believe things are going to change for the Jaguars?