Bradley LockerAug 21, 2026
A PFF piece previewing the 10 most important games of the 2026 season suggests the Seahawks-Rams Week 18 game could decide the NFC West and the No. 1 overall seed, that the Lions-Packers Week 18 game could decide the NFC North, that Bills-Broncos could determine AFC home-field advantage, and that the Rams are Super Bowl 61 favorites.
Published in writing · Pro Football FocusRead the original
What Bradley Locker said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromThere's a serious chance this Monday night gem serves as a Super Bowl preview, with Los Angeles and Buffalo holding two of the three highest spots in PFF's Power Ratings.
- Where it was published
- Pro Football Focus
- The piece
- 10 games that will define the 2026 NFL season
- The original
- Read the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- 1Los Angeles Rams to take the top seed“Last year's NFC championship game rematch could decide the NFC West and No. 1 overall seed in the final week of the season.”
- 2Buffalo Bills to take the top seed“Indeed, this contest might just determine who gains home-field advantage throughout the AFC in January.”
- 3New Orleans Saints to beat expectations“The Saints have a great worst-to-first case given their burgeoning finish last season, going 4-1 in their final five games.”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Rams to take the top seed1 | Seeding, Byes and Home Field | — | — | — | — | |
| Buffalo Bills to take the top seed2 | Seeding, Byes and Home Field | — | — | — | — | |
| New Orleans Saints to beat expectations3 | Surprise Team Calls | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 calls · 3 waiting | — | — | ||||
How each call scored
3 checkable claims — 2 seeding, byes and home field and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.
It names 3 players and teams, each linked to their own record.
None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.
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.
1Seeding, Byes and Home FieldLos Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams to take the top seed
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
2Seeding, Byes and Home FieldBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to take the top seed
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
3Surprise Team CallsNew Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints to beat expectations
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Who 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.Colin Cowherd · Trade and Signing Calls · Matthew Stafford · Hit 100
Cowherd predicts Matt Stafford stays with the Rams rather than moving on, and says Travis Hunter may underachieve because they're being asked to play both ways — Cowherd doubts they're a No. 1 receiver and would slot them as a No. 2 receiver while being a No. 1 corner.
More seeding, byes and home field
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
Kevin Wildes · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · New England Patriots · Miss 0
Wildes' upset alert is the Chargers beating the Broncos straight up, which they say would hand the No. 1 seed to New England.Rich Eisen · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · Chicago Bears · 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.JP Acosta · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · New England Patriots · Hit 100
JP picked Carolina, Seattle, Baltimore, Denver, Jacksonville, New England, Detroit, the Rams and Kansas City in Week 18, and said the Patriots will likely end up with the AFC's No. 2 seed.Nick Wright · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · Seattle Seahawks · Hit 100
Nick Wright made five Week 18 picks against the spread: Tampa Bay over Carolina, Seattle over San Francisco (and to take the No. 1 seed), Las Vegas to cover against Kansas City, Miami to cover 12 at New England, and Pittsburgh to cover at home against Baltimore. They also predicted Seattle wins the No. 1 seed and Mike Evans scores a touchdown.Rich Eisen · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · Los Angeles Chargers · 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.Nick Wright · Seeding, Byes and Home Field · Philadelphia Eagles · Hit 100
On the Christmas-week gambling show, Nick Wright made five picks and, in doing so, predicted outright wins for Dallas (a blowout of Washington), Jacksonville over Indianapolis, Pittsburgh over Cleveland, Buffalo over Philadelphia and Chicago over San Francisco, plus a Rams win at Atlanta and a Tampa Bay win at Miami. They also said Philadelphia will end up as the No. 3 seed.