Here, class, is the good news: There remains three-quarters of the season in which to improve those dreadful grades doled out in ESPN.com's lack-of-progress report at the quarter-pole of the Super Bowl XXXVII derby.
Good thing, too, because the appraisals for most teams . . . well, you don't want to bring them home to Mom and Dad to peruse. Or certainly to any owner who expected more for his investment. Any time there are more "F" grades than "A" ratings the curve is negatively skewed and, well, teams are mostly screwed. That's precisely the scenario that was presented during the first month of the season.
On the positive side, the effort often outpaced the results, but they pay off for victories, not vim, in the NFL. For the first time since 1996, the league has completed five weeks and has no undefeated teams left in the NFC, and that in part is due to the collapse of the St. Louis Rams. It can also be seen as evidence that the conference is still searching for a true power team, the franchise that can reach a level of excellence, and maintain it.
That the first grades of the year include six teams in the "C" range echoes the early theme of the season: That no one knows, from one week into the next, how a given club will perform. The Saints, expected to struggle after an offseason of attrition, have come the closest to consistency, and, thus, earned the only grade in the "A" category.
Green Bay, Tampa Bay and San Francisco all came close to inclusion in the highest bracket, but all had problems in some phase of the game. The Green Bay defense has not played to expectations. Nor have the offenses of the Bucs or the 49ers. Keep trying, though, guys. Ditto to franchises such as the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals, who might have gotten an "A" for effort (had we used that as a measuring stick), but fell short in performance.
There is a lot of paper left on the calendar and a lot of time to make amends for sputtering starts. Here are the first-quarter grades:
Arizona Cardinals (3-2)
It might not seem like much to some people, but the Cardinals' 3-2 record is their best five-game start since '91, and credit coach Dave McGinnis for getting the most out of a modestly talented roster. Hard to believe the Cardinals could have a winning record, given that standout wide receiver David Boston has only one touchdown catch in five outings and that quarterback Jake Plummer continues to be inconsistent, but this is a resourceful bunch. The three wins have come with three different starring tailbacks. There still isn't much of a pass rush but, when corner Duane Starks is healthy, the secondary is solid and McGinnis can scheme with the best of them. With the demise of the Rams, Arizona actually has a chance to finish second now in the division.
Grade: B-minus.
Atlanta Falcons (1-3)
Better than a year ago? No doubt about it. But Atlanta is still a mostly-young roster that hasn't mastered the art of closing out games in the fourth quarter. As such, this is still a team that too often seeks excuses for defeat: poor officiating, instant replay inequities, opponents out to intentionally injure quarterback Mike Vick, most recently a too-slippery AstroTurf surface in the Georgia Dome. Rookie owner Arthur Blank has done a nice job in providing the coaches just about every player they wanted and in creating a positive atmosphere in the city. It's about time he got a few more victories for his investment and a little less posturing. This is a team that can cause some damage the rest of the season. Of course, it would help if they played tailback T.J. Duckett more.
Grade: C-minus.
Carolina Panthers (3-2)
First-year coach John Fox went into the season with the most fundamental of approaches: Keep things simple. Fox knew he could "coach up" a decent defense and figured that, if the offense ran the ball and avoided turnovers, the Panthers could stay in most games. The philosophy worked until the last two games, both close defeats, in which the Panthers turned the ball over too often. This isn't a team good enough to win on days when it is sloppy and quarterback Rodney Peete and tailback Lamar Smith have played giveaway. The defense is rated No. 1, primarily because Carolina has quietly developed a solid front four (led by ends Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers), and linebacker Dan Morgan and free safety Deon Grant have played up to their first-round billing.
Grade: B.
Chicago Bears (2-3)
A year ago, the Bears stayed uncannily healthy, won nearly every close game, and got miracles like the overtime interception returns for touchdowns by free safety Mike Brown in consecutive weeks. The football gods haven't been nearly as kind in 2002, at least over the first portion of a season that is still salvageable, and this is a team with a fragile dynamic and which needs to get some injured starters back on the field. At one point, the Bears were missing four key defensive starters, and now the injury curse is hitting the offensive side. The left side of the offensive line is particularly suspect now and quarterback Jim Miller is getting hammered too often. The naysayers will suggest that Chicago was a one-year wonder last season. This isn't a markedly different team, just an infirm one.
Grade: C-minus.
Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
Since the Cowboys opened the 1999 season 3-0, they have won consecutives games on just two occasions, and that statistic is sort of a microcosm for what has stunted the progress of a team that was a chic choice of many pundits to reach the playoffs this year. Dallas is in a rut, win one week and lose the next, and must eventually get off the roller coaster if it is to be more than just a mediocre entry. Two of the franchise's three big offseason acquisitions, defensive tackle La'Roi Glover and weak linebacker Kevin Hardy, are playing well. The third, Bryant Westbrook, flopped, and was sent packing, and that precipitated cornerback problems. The bottom line, though, is that quarterback Quincy Carter must gain some modicum of consistency for the Pokes to stop being poke-alongs.
Grade: C-minus.
Detroit Lions (1-3)
No sense getting into the popular debate over whether team president Matt Millen and coach Marty Mornhinweg are in over their heads, because neither figures to be dumped before the end of the year anyway. In switching to rookie quarterback Joey Harrington, a player some front office folks didn't want to draft, the Lions at least provided long suffering fans an iota of hope for the future. Alas, the future, in terms of the playoffs, figures to still be a few years down the road. For as much as the Lions spent on the offense, only one wide receiver has double-digit catches and Harrington has more interceptions than touchdown passes. The defense is getting old and linemen like Robert Porcher and Luther Elliss, who quietly ranked among the league's best front four defenders in past years, instead are just quiet now. But, hey, Bill Ford Jr. does look good in those commercials.
Grade: D.
Green Bay Packers (4-1)
Given the defense leads the NFL with 15 takeaways, it's hard to imagine the suggestion the unit has played poorly, but that has been the case. This looked to be a young and improving defense, but injury and ineptitude have combined to take a toll. Middle linebacker Hardy Nickerson looks like the tank has about hit "empty" and weakside 'backer Nate Wayne hasn't become the player that he looked like he was becoming in 2001. Green Bay will play the remainder of the season without right end Joe Johnson and the next month minus left end Vonnie Holliday. The defense better keep taking the ball away, since it's apt to keep giving away yardage. For all the revamping of the wide receiver corps, turns out that the best of the bunch was a holdover, Donald Driver.
Grade: B.
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THINGS TO WATCH IN THE NFC
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1. Unless their respective lots improve dramatically, and soon, look for at least one of the three prima donna wide receivers in the NFC -- Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss -- to go ballistic. The megatons generated by the blast will be enough to make Saddam Hussein green with envy. Johnson has one touchdown catch, giving him two in his last 21 games, and already has had a sideline shouting match with coach Jon Gruden. Despite the alleged détente between Owens and coach Steve Mariucci, things aren't as cozy as they're made out to be. After averaging 14.5 touchdown catches the last two years, Owens is on pace for four in 2002. His nickname, "T.O." could stand for "Ticked Off" real soon. Moss has two touchdown catches, is getting thrown to about 40 percent of the time but, well, is still Randy Moss. Which means that, if he isn't suspended by the league, we'll see more sideline tantrums. Easy prediction: Moss will be suspended within the next month.
 2. The Carolina Panthers' balloon will burst. Losers of two straight games, one has to wonder if the Panthers are falling back to their 2001 tendencies, when the team created ways to stumble into defeat. The team's schedule in upcoming weeks is hardly kind. If they don't win on the road at Dallas (this weekend) or Atlanta (Oct. 20), the Panthers could fall into a real spiral, since they then face a stretch in which they play Tampa Bay twice and also New Orleans. We're not suggesting the Carolina effort will wane, because we suspect coach John Fox has this team "amped" enough to play hard every time out. But this is a team with a perilously thin margin for error, one that plays to get the game to the fourth quarter, then try to steal a victory. The Panthers have been cat burglars so far. They're apt to become pussycats in the win column, however, pretty soon.
 3. Dallas quarterback Quincy Carter will continue to overthrow wide-open receivers who are six yards beyond the secondary and with the potential to make the game-winning catch. One by-product of his inaccuracy: Coach Dave Campo will continue to be rumored on the hot seat. In Seattle, star tailback Shaun Alexander will continue to play well in prime time games, which isn't good, since the Seahawks have no more of them. A by-product is that Mike Holmgren will continue to be mentioned as a guy on the hot seat. Minnesota first-round draft choice Bryant McKinnie will hold out for the entire season and go into the 2003 draft. One by-product is that coach Mike Tice . . . oh, well, you get the picture.
 4. Looking to the future, in part because the present is so bleak, the St. Louis Rams will accelerate contract extension talks with wide receiver Torry Holt. The fourth-year veteran, whose original deal runs through the 2003 season, has supplanted Isaac Bruce as the team's lead receiver. He's a big part of the solution, not of the problem, and the Rams have to keep him around.
 5. Through no fault of his own, Chicago quarterback Jim Miller will lose his starting job to Chris Chandler, as the Bears try to breathe some life into their flawed offensive design. Even with one of the NFL's better receiving corps, offensive coordinator John Shoop doesn't throw the ball up the field enough. You wonder how this guy got a contract extension. Chandler throws one of the best, and most catchable, deep balls in the league and has for years. Then again, even if he becomes the starter, there is no guarantee he'll be permitted to go vertical very often in the Chicago offense.
— Len Pasquarelli
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Minnesota Vikings (0-4)
The much-ballyhooed "Randy Ratio" has flopped, the wide receiver could be suspended for violation of the NFL substance abuse policy, coach Mike Tice is drinking Maalox like it's water, first-round pick Bryant McKinnie is still unsigned and absentee owner Red McCombs has posted a "For Sale" sign on the franchise. Gee, other than those distractions, things are pretty good with the Vikings, huh? Yeah, right. It could be time for McCombs and Tice to set the old Viking ship afire and head out to sea, the way the team's ancient namesakes used to do it when things appeared hopeless. If the offense would quit handling the ball like a hot potato (a league-worst 15 giveaways), it had enough players to be productive. Even with a major revamping, the defense still stinks.
Grade: F.
New Orleans Saints (4-1)
Speed kills and the Saints have more than enough of it, especially when they play so often with three wide receivers on the field, to be murderous to most opposition defenses. Assuming that quarterback Aaron Brooks doesn't self-destruct, as he did at times in 2001, New Orleans will simply outscore most teams and compensate for an average defense. To all those who felt the team lost way too much veteran leadership when Joe Johnson (free agency) and Willie Roaf (trade) departed: Baloney. The Saints used the savings from Roaf's deal to buy four veteran blockers and now have the deepest o-line in football. The wide receivers are electrifying and, by using the "spread" so frequently, the club creates running lanes for tailback Deuce McAllister, who can be a special player if he's healthy.
Grade: A-minus.
New York Giants (3-2)
A team that is neither as shoddy as it looks some weeks, nor as good as it appears in other stretches, the Giants are capable of making themselves a nuisance over the course of the season. Then again, they might drive coach Jim Fassel mad, unless he puts the team into the nuthouse first. Led by a strong secondary, particularly cornerback Will Allen, the defense is ranked No. 4 in the league and playing well. And that's without much of a contribution from left end Michael Strahan, he of the big money, he of very few sacks right now. Wideouts Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard, the latter of whom figured to be playing elsewhere by now, have been productive. But quarterback Kerry Collins has seven interceptions and the line hasn't been able to open many holes for Tiki Barber.
Grade: C-plus.
Philadelphia Eagles (3-2)
With the death spiral of the Rams, the Eagles look at times like the bunch most likely to supplant St. Louis as the most legitimate power team in the conference. Then they go and lay an egg like the one they plopped down in Jacksonville last week. Philadelphia was king of the road in 2001, going 7-1 away from Veterans Stadium and surrendering a paltry 64 points in those eight games. Already this season, the Eagles have lost a pair of road games and played poorly in the second half of each of them. It's enough to make a person sick, which is precisely what the Jaguars game did to quarterback Donovan McNabb, who upchucked in the final minutes. The wondrous McNabb leads the team in rushing, and has been sacked 19 times to this point, neither of which is good.
Grade: C-plus.
St. Louis Rams (0-5)
How could all of we so-called "experts" have missed it? How could all of the pundits once again predict that this team, which has had the most talent for three seasons yet captured only one championship, was destined for a second title? Hindsight being 20/20, St. Louis went into the season with some warts, and they have grown into ugly zits. Even minus the broken finger sustained by quarterback Kurt Warner two weeks ago, the Rams had lost team speed, had failed during the offseason to address holes on the offensive line, did little to replenish in the draft. And, oh, yeah, that swagger of the past was replaced early on by feigned arrogance, as if Rams players felt they could merely flip a switch and regain control of a festering situation. This could be a double-digit loss season.
Grade: F.
San Francisco 49ers (3-1)
Despite a sporadic offense, and the inconsistency of quarterback Jeff Garcia, the 49ers figure to waltz to a dozen victories for the second year in a row, and could make a laugher of the NFC West race now. But the Niners haven't demonstrated yet they are a sure bet to advance deep into the playoffs. The strategy of going strong for defense in the drafts of 1999 and 2000 has paid off nicely, with the unit ranked No. 7 in the NFL, and now deep enough to have overcome some early injuries. Offensively, however, San Francisco isn't moving the ball with the same crispness that it had the past two seasons. The offense is ranked in the middle of the pack, teams have kept Garcia from getting into rhythm, and wide receiver Terrell Owens hasn't been as explosive or made as many big plays.
Grade: B.
Seattle Seahawks (1-3)
Don't know if Mike Holmgren subscribes to the Bill Parcells "you are what you are" philosophy, but the Seahawks rank 27th on offense and 28th defensively, and their record reflects those numbers. Save for the annual Shaun Alexander prime time showcase, Seattle has not been a team that has put things together, and has yet to show signs it will. The club gambled last year on some aging veterans to spackle an awful defense and, now a year older, few of the veterans have done much. Defensive tackle John Randle, who had a comeback '01 campaign, will finally make his '02 debut on Monday night. The preseason injury to steady Trent Dilfer certainly didn't help, but Seattle has experienced offensive line woes, and the holdout of Pro Bowl tackle Walter Jones was a killer.
Grade: D-plus.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-1)
Not even the arrival of offensive guru Jon Gruden has lifted the Bucs out of their funk, as evidence by the No. 23 ranking, and the fact the team's linebacker corps has scored as many touchdowns (four) as the combined visits to the end zone by the wide receivers. Thankfully for Tampa Bay, a defense that appeared to be getting older and slower in 2001 is back with a vengeance, and looks hungry again. Not only is Tampa Bay taking the ball away with frequency, having scored defensive touchdowns in four straight games now, but leaders like Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks are stepping back to the forefront. It's on offense, where Brad Johnson has been just effective enough at times, where help is needed. The Bucs have to get more vertical and also get Michael Pittman going.
Grade: B-plus.
Washington Redskins (2-2)
The best thing that could have happened to the Skins did happen last Sunday, with rookie Patrick Ramsey getting into a game, and proving he can be the quarterback of the future. Good because, in a way, it allows The Ol' Ball Coach to understand that there is a tomorrow in the NFL. In his heart, Steve Spurrier had to realize the talent on offense was deficient, especially among a wide receiver corps that can't separate from opposition defensive backs. Ramsey will provide a building block for the passing game, and Spurrier can find some wideouts in the offseason. The bigger problem is getting the defense, which has young but struggling playmakers, up to speed. The unit seems too often discombobulated and not yet in lockstep with the Marvin Lewis blueprint.
Grade: C-minus.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
