NFL teams get their midterm report card

It's Week 9 of the 2010 National Football League season, which means we're officially at the midway point.

That can only mean one thing. It's time for Professor Aragon to hand out some midterm grades. No one relates to earning a wide variety of grades like I do, so I'm suited to giving them out.

It has certainly been a strange NFL season. No team deserves a straight "A," not when the league didn't have a single team win its first four games for the first time since 1970. There are quite a few "B" and B-plus teams and, of course, some failures.

Here are the grades:

Patriots (A-): Don't they remind you of their 2001, 2003 and 2004 Super Bowl teams? Tom Brady spreads it around to an average receiving corps. The defense isn't dominant but makes plays when it needs to. They have the NFL's best record and may be the team to beat.

Chiefs (A-): They are the surprise team of the 2010 NFL season. They feature an exciting player in Jamaal Charles and could take a huge lead in the AFC West with a win today over the Raiders.

Colts (B+): It seems that you could pick five random guys out of downtown Salt Lake City, put them in Peyton Manning's offense and the Colts would still win 10 games.

Ravens (B+): They haven't been all that dominant, and they allowed the hapless Bills to score 34 points on them. But they are 5-2, and you can't argue with that.

Steelers (B+): They were playing better before quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned from his suspension, but they've been dealing with key injuries on defense.

Giants (B+): They seem to have fixed the problems that plagued them in blowout back-to-back losses to the Colts and Titans. One thing is for certain about this team: it puts opposing quarterbacks in danger.

Packers (B+): Numerous injuries haven't derailed them. Losses to the Redskins and Bears were bad, but they've rebounded with an emotional win over the Vikings, and a stellar defensive effort against the Jets.

Raiders (B+): Not the laughingstock of the league anymore. Running back Darren McFadden and their defense are playing superbly, and they could make some noise in the AFC West with a win today.

Buccaneers (B+): Another team with a chance to make a statement today. They have an outstanding QB for the future in Josh Freeman.

Rams (B+): Speaking of quarterbacks for the future, they have theirs in Sam Bradford. Partly because of how lousy the NFC West is, they have a legitimate shot at winning their division.