NFL Midseason Grades: Bills And Bengals Soar As Jets Fade
Yahoo Sports' midseason report cards put Buffalo and Cincinnati in the AFC's top tier, while the Guardian details how Minnesota's defence is being let down by its quarterback play.
Buffalo's 7-1 start has earned the Bills an A- in Yahoo Sports' midseason grading of the NFL season, with Frank Schwab crediting Josh Allen's MVP-level form and the trade-deadline addition of safety Amani Hooker for the club's grip on the top seed in the AFC.
Schwab's only reservation was a defence that has started slowly and could become a problem come January, even with Buffalo sitting on just one loss at the halfway point.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, both 6-2, were rated an A apiece. The Bengals have met Schwab's twin benchmarks of keeping Joe Burrow upright and fielding a competent defence, helped by the offseason trade for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, and Burrow is now in contention for his first MVP award.
Pittsburgh's grade reflects a team winning games while still improving, with head coach Mike McCarthy leaning on the run and an ageing defence playing better lately, including a victory over Cincinnati itself.
Elsewhere in the division it was a mixed picture. Cleveland sit 5-4, with Schwab praising head coach Todd Monken for managing a difficult quarterback situation, though he noted the wins complicate the Browns' hopes of fixing that problem through the 2027 NFL Draft.
Miami, at 1-7, received a C despite Malik Willis landing on injured reserve, with Schwab pointing to a battling first-year regime under Jeff Hafley and encouraging flashes from rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez as reasons the record understates the team's effort.
New England's 5-4 mark brought a C-, built on a signature win over Buffalo offset by defeats to Seattle, Jacksonville and Green Bay, with Drake Maye's form swinging between excellent and poor across the first half.
The Jets fared worst among the group graded, a D- for a 2-7 record that followed an opening win at Tennessee with seven losses in a row. Schwab noted the silver lining of three top-13 picks in the 2027 draft as things stand, with second overall pick David Bailey already looking like a strong selection, even as head coach Aaron Glenn's return next season looks unlikely.
Not every contender has enjoyed a smooth first half. The Guardian's Doug Farrar detailed how Minnesota's defence, built around coordinator Brian Flores' blitz schemes, has been undermined by quarterback instability after a Monday night defeat to Buffalo.
Carson Wentz completed eight of 25 passes for 81 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 8.9, a performance Farrar described as among the worst in recent history and part of a run of quarterback trouble that has also taken in JJ McCarthy and Kyler Murray.
Farrar's figures show the scale of the imbalance: Minnesota rank first in the league in scoring defence, having allowed just 116 points, but 27th in points scored with 146, underlining why the Vikings' deadline activity was aimed squarely at the offensive side of the ball.
The first half of the NFL season formally closes out with the Giants hosting the Commanders on Thursday night, the fixture that opens the stretch run for all 32 teams.