Pete Prisco#51 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 15, 2026
A Week 2 NFL power rankings column places the Seahawks first and the Dolphins last, with the 49ers rising six spots after beating the Rams and the Cowboys falling 12 after losing to the Giants. It also suggests the Cardinals and Jets could be better than expected.
Published in writing · CBS SportsRead the original
What Pete Prisco said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromThe Seattle Seahawks stay in the top spot after beating the Patriots to open the season, while the 49ers have moved up after blowing out the Rams.
- Where it was published
- CBS Sports
- The piece
- Prisco's NFL Week 2 Power Rankings: Rams and Cowboys get a wake-up call, 49ers on the rise
- The original
- Read the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- 1Power Rankings“Rk Teams ... 1 Seahawks ... 32 Dolphins”
- 2Arizona Cardinals to beat expectations“Give new coach Mike LaFleur credit for pulling off the upset of the Chargers. Maybe this team will be better than expected.”
- 3New York Jets to beat expectations“That's a good start for a team that might be better than expected.”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Rk Teams ... 1 Seahawks ... 32 Dolphins”1 | Power Rankings | — | — | — | — | |
| Arizona Cardinals to beat expectations2 | Surprise Team Calls | — | — | — | — | |
| New York Jets to beat expectations3 | Surprise Team Calls | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 calls · 3 waiting | — | — | ||||
How each call scored
3 checkable claims — 2 surprise team calls 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.
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.
“Rk Teams ... 1 Seahawks ... 32 Dolphins”
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
2Surprise Team CallsArizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals to beat expectations
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
3Surprise Team CallsNew York Jets
New York Jets to beat expectations
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Who this take is about
Others on the same people
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More surprise team calls
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
Nick Wright · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Wright expects the 49ers to handle Dallas, the Lions to beat New England, the Packers to beat Minnesota and the Chiefs to win in Atlanta, while naming the Texans again as the league's second-half surge team, picking Joe Burrow for MVP and saying Kansas City still makes the playoffs.Dan Orlovsky · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Named Houston and Detroit as the underrated teams in each conference, said the Texans could reach 11-6 and the playoffs, and predicted CJ Stroud's next contract will start with a seven annually, with Caleb Williams getting even more afterward.Bill Simmons · Surprise Team Calls · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · Waiting
Simmons named the Houston Texans as the AFC's second-half surge team and, reluctantly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the NFC's, arguing both clubs sitting at or below.500 will make a run down the stretch.Danny Kelly · Surprise Team Calls · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · Waiting
Kelly argued the Buccaneers are the one NFC South club capable of a second-half surge, citing a soft remaining schedule and the league's top defensive EPA.Logan Lazarczyk · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Lazarczyk argues the Raiders can still contend for the AFC's final wild-card spot, naming the Bills, Broncos, Jaguars, Steelers, Chiefs and Bengals as locks for the top six seeds, calling Houston a sleeper, and predicting Las Vegas can beat the Chargers, Titans and Cardinals down the stretch.Jordan Dajani · Surprise Team Calls · Pittsburgh Steelers · Waiting
Halfway through the season, Dajani sorts the playoff field into contenders and pretenders: they suggest Joe Burrow could win MVP this year, and while they dismiss Pittsburgh as a true Super Bowl threat, they expect the Steelers to be a playoff team and a possible sleeper.