We may only be a few weeks in NFL preseason, but the stories are flowing like a tidal wave.
Stars are emerging, veterans are returning and the vibes are showing as Week 1 of the regular season gets underway. And the action makes Colin Cowherd second-guessing some of his early predictions for the league’s end-of-season standings.
The Herd’s host is giving himself two chances to change his predictions before the game finally kicks off. One will be the day of the first game of the regular season, before the Bills-Rams on Thursday, September 8. The next one came on Tuesday.
Here are Cowherd’s new predictions, along with his reasoning behind the picks and changes.
Ravens, 49ers among Colin’s modified NFL predictions
Colin Cowherd shares his updated 2022 NFL regular season predictions with Week 1 just a few weeks away.
AFC
East: 1. Buffalo Bills, 2. Miami Dolphins3. New England Patriots, 4. New York Jets.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “The Bills are the best team, the Jets are the worst, I’ll take the Dolphins over the Patriots based on their offensive weapons.”
West: 1. Denver Broncos2. Kansas City Chiefs3. Los Angeles Chargers4. Las Vegas Raiders.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “I still think Kansas City’s loss to Lightning TD Tyreek Hill hurts, and I think Russ [Wilson] in Denver will appear.”
South: 1. Indianapolis Colts2. The Tennessee Titans3. Jacksonville Jaguars4. Houston Texas.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “I don’t love the South and I don’t love the Colts. I think they need two receivers and another corner, but they’re the best of a weird division.”
North: 1. Cincinnati Bengals2. Baltimore Ravens (third before), 3. Pittsburgh Steelers (second before), 4. Cleveland Browns.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “Why [am I making this change]? I’ve seen the Steelers offensive line and they still can’t figure it out. This is their third year, they’re making changes, they can’t get it right and they don’t know who their quarterback is. Meanwhile, Baltimore lost a lot of top players last year – Ronnie Stanley, Jimmy Smith, Marcus Peters. “They’re healthier, they have a better offensive line to protect an MVP-level quarterback.”
NFC
Birth: 1. Philadelphia Eagles2. Dallas Cowboys3. New York Giants (formerly fourth), 4. Washington Commanders (formerly third).
Cowherd’s thoughts: “First of all, Carson Wentz hasn’t had a good camp, all we’ve been hearing is negativity. Chase Young won’t play for a month, he’s on the PUP list. That’s not good. … Daniel Jones is having a very good preseason. He’s completing 77% of his passes. It’s never been a big or athletic thing, he’s just not been a good shooter of the football. … They have nice weapons on offense. … Brian Daboll fixed Josh Allen, can Daniel Jones fix it?
North: 1. Minnesota Vikings2. Green Bay Packers3. Detroit Lions4. Chicago Bears.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “Yes, the Vikings.”
south: 1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers2. New Orleans Saints3. Carolina Panthers4. Atlanta Falcons. Cowherd’s thoughts: “Anyone else [besides] Tampa is rebuilding. “The Saints don’t think they are, but with Jameis Winston at quarterback, you’re rebuilding.”
West: 1. Los Angeles Rams2. San Francisco 49ers (third before), 3. Arizona Cardinals (second before), 4. Seattle Seahawks.
Cowherd’s thoughts: “Very loud camp for Arizona, don’t like that. But I think it’s more with the Niners. I think their starting class looks really good … and it looks like, once again, they’ve hit on some big picks Deebo Samuel is happy with the long-term contract. It’s a Super Bowl roster. I said this yesterday: Of any team I’ve seen in the preseason, the best roster looks like San Francisco.”
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