CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Few teams in the NFL are hotter than the Carolina Panthers, who closed out the first half of the season with four straight wins and five in six games.

But you can't dismiss the 1-3 start and a combined 8-33 record by their opponents. You also can't dismiss that the Panthers (5-3) have soundly defeated these opponents by an average score of 33.6 to 9.6, and that, if the regular season ended today, they would be in the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.

So, despite the current streak, the overall record is a B-minus. Here are the midseason grades by position: