The championship hopes of the NFC's premier team are held together by the brace stabilizing the partially torn left knee of the game's best player, Brett Favre, but cutting, pasting and overcoming adversity have been a hallmark of the Green Bay Packers over the first half of the 2002 campaign.
No reason to believe, at least at this juncture, that some baling wire and duct tape won't be enough to see the Packers through the rest of the way.
"We could be making a lot of excuses, given all the injuries we've had, but instead we're making plays," said safety Darren Sharper. "And even with all the guys we're missing, we seem to be starting to play better, and I think we have a lot of confidence in each other. We feel, from one week to the next, that someone is going to make a play."
To this point in the season what coach Mike Sherman and has charges have accomplished is remarkable -- particularly considering the often decimated condition of the defensive line, the secondary and the offensive line. The ability to overcome adversity, and to play at a consistently solid level, has earned the Packers the lone "A" on the midseason NFC report card.
Green Bay (7-1) not only has the best record in the league, but possesses the best work ethic as well.
"We do," wide receiver Donald Driver said, "whatever we have to do to win."
So far, that's been plenty good enough.
Here is a look at the NFC midseason grades:
Arizona Cardinals (4-4)
No matter how hard the Cardinals play for coach Dave McGinnis, and this team seems to provide a solid effort virtually every week, Arizona won't be a viable playoff contender until the offense is consistently productive. And with the uneven quarterback play of Jake Plummer, and the dropoff of wide receiver David Boston this season, things aren't likely to change anytime soon. In his sixth season, Plummer continues to be the consummate hot-and-cold passer, a streak shooter whose flirtations with brilliance are too often overshadowed by bouts of maddening mistakes. Boston is following up a breakout 2001 season with a broken-down year in '02, and is on pace to have 34 fewer catches, 574 fewer yards and six fewer touchdowns than a year ago. The Cards will probably keep Boston, who can be an unrestricted free agent next spring, but the jury's still out on Plummer, who is also eligible to hit the open market.
Grade: C.
Atlanta Falcons (5-3)
Forget all the talk about bringing in Warrick Dunn, Todd Weiner or Allen Rossum in the offseason. The best move the Falcons made in the spring was the addition of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who has taken a perennially underachieving unit and transformed it into a top 10 defense. There are some Pro Bowl-caliber players, like end Patrick Kerney and linebacker Keith Brooking, but Phillips deserves credit for getting good play from a lot of "roadkill" veterans. "Roadkill" players, you say? Yeah, a bunch of guys scraped off the street, like free safety Keion Carpenter, inside linebacker John Holecek, outside linebacker Sam Rogers and backup safety Henry Jones, all players with Phillips in Buffalo, all of whom are familiar with his 3-4 scheme. Give credit, too, to head coach Dan Reeves for creating an atmosphere in which Michael Vick could grow, and for not micro-managing his young quarterback. A definite playoff contender.
Grade: A-minus.
Carolina Panthers (3-5)
Even after a stunning 3-0 start, you sensed the Panthers weren't nearly as good as the record, and that's been validated by a five-game spiral. That said, you still have to admire the job that rookie head coach John Fox has done, as Carolina is ranked fourth in total defense, and features one of the NFL's best young front-four units. This defense, led by coordinator Jack Del Rio (a future head coach in the league), keeps the Panthers in most games. Unfortunately, it gets little help from an offense that is overly conservative at times in an effort to avoid mistakes. Beyond the very ordinary starting wideouts, Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith, there isn't another receiver with more than 13 catches and tight end Wesley Walls has become an afterthought. Of course, it all starts at quarterback and, with the team going back to Rodney Peete this coming weekend, that means no more evaluation of Chris Weinke for now.
Grade: C-minus.
Chicago Bears (2-6)
All of the good fortune the Bears had in 2001, when the club was able to avoid serious injuries, has been totally reversed this season. Four defensive starters are out for the year. Two others missed significant playing time in the first half of the campaign. The offense lost a blue-collar leader in guard Rex Tucker and sore-elbowed quarterback Jim Miller has been in and out of the lineup. Certainly there are sufficient excuses for the demise of a team that's already lost twice as many games as it did all last season. That said, a certain weariness seems to have settled in, and this is a team whose effort level doesn't match what it generated in the magical '01 season. You hate to say last year was an aberration, because Chicago still is a team with some talent, but things aren't meshing and there doesn't appear to be a turnaround on the horizon. No one should be surprised if there are some staffing changes in the coming offseason.
Grade: F.
Dallas Cowboys (3-6)
Now that Emmitt Smith's quest for football's Holy Grail is completed, and the Cowboys used his pursuit of the rushing record to fill the seats at Texas Stadium, what lies ahead for a franchise that hasn't made the kind of strides owner Jerry Jones felt it would in 2002? The most logical answer isn't a pretty one for good-guy coach Dave Campo, who could spend the second half of the campaign auditioning players whose advances won't help him so much as they will his successor. The priority, Jones told us two weeks ago, remains developing a legitimate starting quarterback as quickly as possible. But neither Quincy Carter nor Chad Hutchinson has yet done anything to hint at eventual success. Hutchinson should improve as he gets rid of some of the rust that accumulated from four seasons away from the game. The defense, currently ranked No. 7, is good enough to win with, if the Cowboys can develop another cornerback.
Grade: D.
Detroit Lions (3-5)
So maybe these guys aren't quite the pack of cowardly (hey, don't blame us, it's a Matt Millen adjective) Lions that most pundits made them out to be, huh? OK, so their three home victories aren't enough to get them out of the woods yet, but it is a start, and now there definitely is a franchise building block in quarterback Joey Harrington. With the wide receivers beginning to get healthy, and James Stewart running well (even if he isn't a prototype West Coast tailback coach Marty Mornhinweg prefers), the offense at least has a faint pulse. Harrington is a playmaker, an emotional leader, clearly the future for this mostly moribund franchise. He could single-handedly save the jobs of both Millen and Mornhinweg; no small feat there. The defense continues to be disappointing, though, and some formerly solid veterans like Luther Elliss are slipping. Even with the rise Harrington has provided, there's a long way to go.
Grade: C.
Green Bay Packers (7-1)
There are times when injuries have created a defense that looks shakier than Brett Favre's left knee, particularly in the secondary, but the Packers slipped only once in the first half and now seem to be gaining momentum for the stretch run. This isn't an elite team in the sense that we once became accustomed to defining powerhouses, but Favre holds everything together, and he elevates the play of those around him. The defense wasn't especially good in the first quarter of the season but, even with the injuries, is now ranked No. 13 and leads the NFL in takeaways. A lot of credit is due coach Mike Sherman who, in his third season, commands the respect of his charges, and who has surrounded himself with able people in the personnel department. A lot of head coaches who also hold the title of general manager try to do too much themselves and are overwhelmed. In a short period Sherman has developed a solid management style.
Grade: A.
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THINGS TO WATCH IN THE NFC
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 1. Forget things to look for in the final two months of the season. The biggest thing to look at is the left knee of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre. His heroic Monday performance aside, Favre might be just one awkward twist or submarine hit away from having his 165-game starting streak snapped. And if that happens, then the Packers are in mucho trouble. Nothing against Doug Pederson, but Green Bay would be hard pressed to win consistently with him at the helm. Favre is on his way to a record fourth most valuable player award. If he can remain healthy. That doesn't seem like too big an "if," given his track record, but the knee is a tricky thing and his is balky right now. Here's hoping that the guy who manufactured Favre's knee brace is a Packers fan and that he has bought into the whole "quality is job one" mindset.
 2. It's hard not to watch the Atlanta Falcons these days but, even with the brilliant athleticism of Michael Vick, the team still ranks just 18th in overall offense. Over the second half of the season, Vick needs to do three things: stretch the field more with the long ball, protect the football better when he takes off on those derring-do soirees into the secondary, and learn to slide a tad better than he did in his one-session tutorial with Atlanta Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton. New owner Arthur Blank has done a superb job of resurrecting a moribund franchise. The reclamation would take a quantum leap forward if the Falcons can qualify for postseason play. To do so, they must play well on the road, with five of their eight remaining contests away from the Georgia Dome, including four of the next five. And to do that, the Falcons need a healthy Vick, and a prudent one, too.
 3. Dallas backup tailback Troy Hambrick has logged just 36 rushes in nine games, and has had more than five attempts in only one contest to this point, but that anemic workload figures to be dramatically increased over the second half of the season. We're not ready to suggest that the Cowboys are poised to point Emmitt Smith in the general direction of the pasture. But owner Jerry Jones has to look to the future and Smith, with a $7 million base salary in 2003 and a cap charge of $9.8 million, simply might not be affordable. Look for the prideful Smith to retain his starting job but for Hambrick to spell him for longer stretches over the second half.
 4. Nearly one-half of the head coaches in the conference -- Dick Jauron (Chicago), Dan Reeves (Atlanta), Dave Campo (Dallas), Marty Mornhinweg (Detroit), Mike Tice (Minnesota), Jim Fassel (New York Giants) and Mike Holmgren (Seattle) -- are under close scrutiny and their future employment might depend on how their teams perform in November and December. Most of them, but not all, will keep their jobs for 2003. The coaches whose teams don't make a run in November will find December chilly indeed.
 5. Look for The Ol' Ball Coach (c'mon, you all know who he is) to make more noise about becoming The New Personnel Guy in the next eight weeks. Washington Redskins coach Steve Spurrier is a quick study. It hasn't taken him long to figure out that he inherited a team that, to be kind, we'll say had modest talent. It definitely hasn't taken Spurrier long, either, to see how other head coaches dictate personnel decisions. Once upon a time, not all that long ago actually, Spurrier wanted nothing to do with responsibility for shaping the roster. That's no longer the case. Nah, he doesn't covet a general manager's title. And at $5 million per annum, he's comfortable with just the handle of "coach" on the office door. But he's going to lobby hard to have more input, will put away the golf clubs long enough in the spring to familiarize himself with the names on the draft board, and won't comply so easily when owner Dan Snyder focuses in on an early-round selection. His staff, in fact, is already pushing for more control of the draft and of signing free agents. The Ol' Ball Coach is a lot of things. But dumb sure as heck ain't one of 'em.
— Len Pasquarelli
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Minnesota Vikings (2-6)
There are many questions, beginning with ownership, about this franchise. Alas, for the Vikings and owner Red McCombs, there aren't many easy answers. One has to wonder how a club can slip so quickly from being a conference semifinalist only four years ago to the dregs right now. This appears to be a team with little direction, an absence of blueprint, a dearth of playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. Most players don't get distracted by talk of a potential ownership change, but the uncertainty of McCombs' stewardship and the misplaced rhetoric about relocating the club to Los Angeles has taken a toll. Of course, Randy Moss is always going to be a distraction. The "Randy Ratio" has been a flop for coach Mike Tice, even with an offense that is ranked second overall in the NFL. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper has clearly regressed and the offseason investment in defense has produced little return.
Grade: F.
New Orleans Saints (6-2)
One of the most explosive teams in the NFL, with an offense capable of putting up 30 points every week, the Saints look to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender most weeks. But then there are the times, like in the inexplicable defeat at Detroit and the Superdome thriller loss to the Falcons, when you wonder if New Orleans has the gumption and will to win the big gut-check contests. For the most part, an addition by subtraction approach enacted in the offseason has delivered terrific results. By dealing tailback Ricky Williams, and opening a starting spot for Deuce McAllister, the Saints added a big-play dimension sorely lacking in the past. And in coordinator Mike McCarthy, rehabilitated after a 2001 campaign in which his stock slipped perilously, the team has a superb schemer. But the Saints still don't stop people on defense, the secondary is suspect, and they better hope cornerback Dale Carter has something left.
Grade: B-plus.
New York Giants (4-4)
If there is any team in the league that most personifies the current state of the NFL, at a time when no club seems to be as good as it looks one week or as bad as it appears the next, it might be this one. And that's pretty much why the Giants are 4-4 at the break, taking mediocrity to the max, and figure to be about 8-8 when the season concludes. There are few games when New York is clicking on both sides of the ball. There are even fewer when the offense, which even after Sunday night's "explosion" against Jacksonville still has just 10 touchdowns in eight outings, scares the opposition with big-play threats. For the most part, the No. 5-ranked defense is good enough to win on many weeks, and is developing a nifty cornerback tandem in Will Allen and William Peterson. But on offense, tailback Tiki Barber is asked to do way too much, and doesn't have support. It hasn't helped that tight end Jeremy Shockey has been dinged.
Grade: C-minus.
Philadelphia Eagles (6-2)
A chic preseason pick by many of the pundits to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this season and, with quarterback Donovan McNabb again making plays with his feet as well as his arm, the experts might be right. But the Eagles' offense, ranked No. 6 leaguewide, still sputters at times and often plays down to the level of the competition. McNabb is a superb leader but still doesn't throw the ball with the accuracy some had expected him to develop at this juncture. If the Eagles do advance deep into the playoffs, it is likely to be because of a second-ranked defense and the exotic schemes of coordinator Jim Johnson, the most overlooked and underestimated guru in the entire league. His aggressive, ever-blitzing game plans keep pressure on the opposition and have permitted the Eagles to overcome some early injuries. People wondered if the complexity of the defense would stymie some newcomers, but it hasn't.
Grade: B-plus.
St. Louis Rams (3-5)
Three straight victories with third-stringer Marc Bulger as the starting quarterback have catapulted the Rams back into contention, but the five defeats with which they opened the year leave precious little margin for error now. Often obstinate coach Mike Martz has enjoyed an epiphany of sorts by handing the ball to tailback Marshall Faulk nearly 100 times over the past three weeks, a strategy that would have earned him a Super Bowl ring nine months ago, but there is still a question of whether the Rams will keep running the ball when Kurt Warner returns in two weeks. Bulger is managing games well, avoiding the killer mistakes, but Warner was out of synch before he broke his finger and secondaries around the league wonder what became of his deep-ball touch and arm strength. The winning streak has provided hope that this season can still be salvaged, but the formula is about to change with Warner's pending return.
Grade: C-minus.
San Francisco 49ers (6-2)
In last Sunday's overtime victory at Oakland, wide receiver Terrell Owens and quarterback Jeff Garcia served notice that they are back at their 2001 levels, and all but willed the 49ers to a win. Over the first quarter of the season, Garcia did not play up to the standards that he had established the past two years, but he is getting outside the pocket more now, and improvising big plays. That element, and getting the ball to Owens at critical times, are his strong suits. The constant here is a vastly underrated offensive line that, no matter whether it's Garrison Hearst or Kevan Barlow in the game, carves out big creases. If there is an Achilles heel for the 49ers, it would be the team's "nickel" defense, and opponents certainly are taking advantage of No. 3 corner and first-round choice Mike Rumph. They are, well, kicking his Rumph and that's a big reason the Niners have permitted a 53.8 percent third-down conversion rate.
Grade: B-plus.
Seattle Seahawks (2-6)
The legacy of Mike Holmgren, if he is dismissed at the end of his fourth season in the Pacific Northwest, might be that this is a club on which there is desperately little to build. The offense hasn't improved at all, the defense is old and slow, and there is nothing one can point to as a ray of hope for the future. Not all of this, of course, is Holmgren's fault. But as a guy who had all the clout, and more titles than just about anyone else in the league, he will be deemed culpable. Maybe it's true that some coaches are just meant to be coaches and Holmgren might have been one of them. There are just a lot of bad fits here that includes the best player on offense, tailback Shaun Alexander, who is hardly a West Coast-type player. Those small advances made on defense in 2001, when old-timers like tackle John Randle summoned up one more stickout season, have faded and the unit can't stop anyone, especially on the ground.
Grade: D.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-2)
So the Bucs are 7-2, seem to be weathering most storms nicely enough, and are poised (yeah, again, folks) for another run at the elusive Super Bowl berth. Sure, but things aren't as rosy as they appear, and the improvement of the Bucs is a lot like you get when you slap a coat of paint on the outhouse. The thing looks better, but there's still a familiar smell, and you can't camouflage it. Clearly, this isn't the kind of team that Jon Gruden thought he inherited and, while he won't acknowledge it, this isn't the way he planned on winning football games. Fact is, until Sunday's five-touchdown explosion, Tampa Bay was winning pretty much the same way it did under the deposed Tony Dungy. Play good defense, take the ball away from the opponent, get just enough on offense to make do. The Bucs offense is still slow, with no deep threat, no consistent runner, a poor line. The playoffs? Definitely. A Super Bowl? Don't bet on it.
Grade: B.
Washington Redskins (4-4)
After that scintillating victory at Seattle on Sunday (tongue planted firmly in cheek, there, folks), The Ol' Ball Coach suddenly announced to his charges that upcoming opponents had better beware. "We put people on notice today," Steve Spurrier told his huddled masses, "that we are a playoff team." Uh, hold the champagne, Steve. No reason yet for Dan Snyder to start dreaming those championship visions. So the defense is playing better, finally assimilating the Marvin Lewis scheme, moving all the way up to 10th in the league. But there are no lingering signs the offense has much staying power, so much so that the Redskins have had to run the ball just to stay competitive, because the receivers basically stink. The Skins are good enough to beat mediocre teams, inconsistent enough to lose to some of those same clubs, and anything but a contender. Of course, Spurrier changes his mind so much, maybe he'll soon realize that.
Grade: C-minus.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
