Colin Cowherd#54 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 8, 2026
Cowherd picks the Seahawks to beat the Lions in the NFC, beat the Bills in the Super Bowl, with Buffalo beating Cincinnati in the AFC title game. They also predict Seattle beats New England in Week 1 by roughly 24-13, thinks the Falcons will be terrible, and questions whether the Rams even win their division.
Said on air or in an interview · The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast)Hear the original
What Colin Cowherd said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromSo I'm going to have the Seahawks beating the Lions, getting to the Super Bowl, and then beating Buffalo, the Bills beating the Bengals in the AFC Championship.
- Where it was said
- The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast)
- The episode
- Michigan Struggles, LSU Humiliates Clemson, Super Bowl Predictions, Rams vs. 49ers
- The original
- Hear the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- SaidSep 7
- PlayedSep 9
- GradedSep 11
- 1Seattle Seahawks 24 — New England 13“I think Seattle wins. I think it feels like 24 to 13.”
- 2Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl“then beating Buffalo, the Bills beating the Bengals in the AFC Championship”
- 3Seattle Seahawks to reach the Super Bowl“the Seahawks beating the Lions, getting to the Super Bowl”
- 4Buffalo Bills to beat Bengals“the Bills beating the Bengals in the AFC Championship”
- 5Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl“So I'm going to have the Seahawks beating the Lions, getting to the Super Bowl, and then beating Buffalo”
- 6Seattle Seahawks to beat expectations“Seattle, for a Super Bowl champ, is wildly under the radar.”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Seahawks 24 — New England 131 | Score Predictions | Seahawks 13–10 | 80.95 | 100 | −38.1 | |
| Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl2 | Conference Champions | — | — | — | — | |
| Seattle Seahawks to reach the Super Bowl3 | Conference Champions | — | — | — | — | |
| Buffalo Bills to beat Bengals4 | Game Outcome Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl5 | Super Bowl Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| Seattle Seahawks to beat expectations6 | Surprise Team Calls | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 calls · 1 hit · 5 waiting | 81 | 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 naiveworse than naive6 checkable claims — 2 conference champions, 1 game outcome pick, 1 score prediction, 1 super bowl pick and 1 surprise team call — 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 6 have settled so far, averaging 81 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.
1Score PredictionsSeattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks 24 — New England 13
What happenedSeahawks 13–10called Seahawks by 11 · won by 380.95Hit · naive 10080.95this call−100a naive guess=−19.05worse than naive×2difficulty=−38.1skillClosing line (Sep 9): Seahawks by 3, total 44.5 · this 24–13 calls a bigger Seahawks win (by 11) and fewer points (37).
Think this is wrong?How this was scored
- score:
- 10-13
- skill:
- −38.1
- they picked:
- SEA
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 80.95
- baseline:
- 100
- difficulty:
- 2
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- actual margin:
- 3
- weeks left when called:
- 18
- naive home margin:
- 3
- predicted margin:
- 11
2Conference ChampionsBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
3Conference ChampionsSeattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
4Game Outcome PicksBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to beat Bengals
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
5Super Bowl PicksSeattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
6Surprise Team CallsSeattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks to beat expectations
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 conference champions
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
Nick Wright · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
The host picks the Rams to beat the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game and believes the winner of that game wins the Super Bowl, i.e. that this is the Rams' year; they also pick New England to win in Denver despite taking the Broncos with the points, and says Stafford is winning MVP. They call Sean McVay the second-best coach in the NFL.Nick Wright · Conference Champions · Denver Broncos · Close 50
Wright picked the Broncos to beat the Patriots in a low-scoring AFC Championship game (17-16), said Sean Payton would coach Denver to the Super Bowl, picked the Rams to win outright in Seattle 31-20, believes the winner of the NFC game wins the Super Bowl with the Rams the better team, and expects Matt Stafford to be named league MVP.AJ Hawk · Conference Champions · Los Angeles Rams · Close 50
Hawk picked the Patriots to win in Denver despite liking Stidham and the Broncos defense, and in the NFC they stuck with the Rams, saying Stafford gets to the Super Bowl.Connor "Boston Connor" Campbell · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Connor expects a tight first half in Denver before New England pulls away in the second half and advances to the Super Bowl.Gregg Rosenthal · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Rosenthal picks the Patriots to beat the Broncos in a close, low-scoring AFC Championship in Denver (while liking Denver to cover the 4.5 points), takes the Seahawks over the Rams in a defensive NFC Championship they peg around 23-19, and forecasts a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl.Richard Sherman · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Sherman picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams comfortably at home, 27-17, with a defensive score, and says the winner of that NFC Championship game will win the Super Bowl. They also pick the Patriots to win comfortably in Denver, 21-15, and assumes Matthew Stafford will be named league MVP.