It is hard to take a lot of certainties away from the first three weeks of any NFL season. However, some trends can be ascertained, and they can be used to make reasonable predictions about how the rest of the year will play out.
There are several teams that have come out of the gates in strong fashion. During a recent episode of “The Herd w/ Colin Cowherd,” Fox Sports commentator Colin Cowherd put them into two categories: teams that he feels can win the Super Bowl championships, and teams that can go far in the playoffs but not win it all.
The teams in what he calls his “Super Bowl bubble?” The Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks and the defending world champion Philadelphia Eagles.
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Cowherd says that he bases this list on a team’s roster, quarterback and its current momentum. That may make one feel surprised that Seattle is on his list.
“I’m high on Seattle’s roster,” Cowherd said. “We just heard from Greg Cosell, who said on film, they are really good.”
The Seahawks improved to 3-1 on Thursday with a 23-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals. They revamped their roster during the offseason by bringing in quarterback Sam Darnold, who was coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Minnesota Vikings and veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
Their defense under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald and new defensive coordinator Aden Durde has been very strong, and Darnold is continuing to play solid football.
Cowherd named the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as teams that can go deep in the playoffs but will fall short of claiming the Vince Lombardi Trophy. He expanded on why he doesn’t believe in any of those four teams.
“I think Baltimore can win a couple playoff games,” Cowherd said. “I don’t trust their defense. I think Detroit in the end, do I worry that the quarterback is strictly pocket quarterback. They tend to be very good at home, not as good in cold weather, not as good late in the season on the road. I think Tampa, you gotta trust they’re gonna win their division, but I think there’s a little fool’s gold winning over bad teams late, but I respect Baker [Mayfield] and Todd Bowles — they have a great front office.
“… Bosa’s injury will be a problem (for the 49ers) late in the season when they face elite quarterbacks. … I love their coach. I think when [George] Kittle’s healthy, Trent Williams, [Christian] McCaffrey absolutely can win multiple playoff games. But I think no Bosa is an issue late.”
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Many may disagree with Detroit and Baltimore being put in the “pretenders” category. But Cowherd mentioned a lingering narrative about Goff not being able to win big playoff games and not doing well in outdoor stadiums during poor winter weather.
On the other hand, Detroit did defeat the Ravens 38-30 at M&T Bank Stadium, an open-air stadium, on Monday. Goff didn’t put forth a very strong performance, but he played well enough, and the Lions’ tag-team running back duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 218 rushing yards and four touchdowns to get the victory.