I'm not sure why I'm jumping into a meaningless argument, other than the fact that common sense compels me to do so.

You are correct in the definition of average, but there's a small point that is missed there. If the Saints graded out in the middle of all those teams, thus making them indeed average, then they should have been given a C, because C is in fact average. Not that it really matters in this case.

But I don't think the writers who graded the teams were giving out A's B's or C's relative to where their position was among other teams. It was just their opinion of how well each team did individually with it's available resources, relative to it's own needs. Therefore, if the Saints earned a B in the opinion of these guys, then it should be stated as an ABOVE average grade.