Colin Cowherd#54 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 22, 2026
Cowherd revealed their Week 2 Herd Hierarchy top-10 NFL power rankings, putting the Seahawks back at No. 1 ahead of the Bills. They also reaffirmed their pick of the Saints to win their division and suggested Buffalo would handle the Chargers.
Published in writing · Fox SportsRead the original
What Colin Cowherd said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromOnly Seattle can go to a backup [quarterback] — a backup most of us don't love — and throttle teams.
- Where it was published
- Fox Sports
- The piece
- Herd Hierarchy: Are The Bills The NFL's Best Team, Or Do Seahawks Remain No. 1?
- The original
- Read the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- SaidSep 22
- PlayedSep 27
- GradedSep 28
- 1Buffalo Bills to beat Los Angeles Chargers“They're facing the Los Angeles Chargers this week; good luck to Los Angeles there.”
- 2New Orleans Saints to win the division“They have a real roster. We picked them to win their division.”
- 3Power Rankings“Here are Cowherd's Week 2 Herd Hierarchy rankings: 10. Detroit Lions ... 1. Seattle Seahawks”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills to beat Los Angeles Chargers1 | Game Outcome Picks | Bills 24–16 | 100 | 100 | 0 | |
| New Orleans Saints to win the division2 | Division Winners | — | — | — | — | |
| “Here are Cowherd's Week 2 Herd Hierarchy rankings: 10. Detroit…”3 | Power Rankings | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 calls · 1 hit · 2 waiting | 100 | 100 | ||||
Game calls show that game’s closing betting line under their grade: a dated fact from nflverse, for context and never part of a grade. MissedTakes takes no bets and earns nothing from any sportsbook.
How each call scored
a naive guessbetter than naive3 checkable claims — 1 division winner, 1 game outcome pick and 1 power ranking — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.
It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record.
1 of 3 have settled so far, averaging 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess at the same calls.
Each call is scored 0 to 100 against what happened, on its own, by the published methodology. The naive guess is what knowing nothing would have scored on the same calls; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.
1Game Outcome PicksBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to beat Los Angeles Chargers
What happenedBills 24–16Chargers at Bills100Hit · naive 100100this call−100a naive guess=0better than naive×1.89difficulty=0skillClosing line (Sep 27): Bills by 7 · favorite pick, Bills about 3 in 4 (73%).
Think this is wrong?How this was scored
- won:
- BUF
- score:
- 16-24
- skill:
- 0
- they picked:
- BUF
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 100
- the naive pick:
- BUF
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 16
2Division WinnersNew Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints to win the division
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
“Here are Cowherd's Week 2 Herd Hierarchy rankings: 10. Detroit Lions ... 1. Seattle Seahawks”
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
The game in this take
every pundit’s pick on eachWho this take is about
Others on the same people
Pete Prisco · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Prisco picked the Bills to win 21-14 at Minnesota.John Breech · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Breech picked the Bills to beat the Vikings on Monday night by a score of 24-17.Jordan Dajani · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 62
Dajani picked the Bills to edge the Vikings 24-23.Jared Dubin · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 74
Dubin picked Buffalo to win a low-scoring Monday night game in Minnesota, 20-14.Tyler Sullivan · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Sullivan picked the Bills to beat the Vikings 24-17.
More division winners
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
Daniel DiBerardinis · Division Winners · Atlanta Falcons · Miss 0
Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. They also give a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · Jacksonville Jaguars · Hit 100
Eisen forecast the Week 18 results and the entire wild-card field: Buccaneers over Panthers but Carolina still gets in as the 5 seed when Atlanta beats New Orleans, 49ers over Seahawks, Ravens over Steelers, Jaguars beating Tennessee to win the AFC South, and six wild-card matchups (Seahawks-Panthers, Bills-Jaguars, Texans-Ravens, Packers-Bears, Chargers-Patriots, Rams-Eagles), with Houston upsetting Baltimore. They also tabbed Saints rookie Tyler Shough as a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · Jacksonville Jaguars · Hit 100
Eisen called the 49ers-as-NFC-favorites take an overreaction, picked the Jaguars to beat the Titans and win their division, leaned Ravens over the Steelers in the Week 18 Sunday night game, expects the Bills to beat the Jets even without Josh Allen, sees the Chargers as the AFC's seventh seed, agreed Tyler Shough could win Offensive Rookie of the Year with a good Saints 2026, said Malik Willis will be a starter somewhere next season, and insisted Detroit goes into 2026 with Goff.Cynthia Frelund · Division Winners · Houston Texans · Miss 0
Freeland's model has the Chargers winning straight up in Dallas, the Texans winning big over the Raiders and going on to win the AFC South, the Lions beating the Steelers by six, the Saints beating the Jets, and the Packers beating the Bears; they also see the AFC's Super Bowl representative being either Denver or Houston.Chris Brockman · Division Winners · Chicago Bears · Hit 100
Brockman called the Broncos-Packers game the best of the day, said Denver looks poised to lock up the AFC's No. 1 seed and reach the AFC Championship Game, predicted the Bears win the NFC North and the Eagles win their division (though they think they lose to a five seed from the NFC West), and said Philip Rivers will be in the NFL in 2026.