As Week 2 of the NFL season wraps up, there’s plenty to process. Early results are already separating spot-on offseason takes from the ones aging horribly, leaving several teams under a cloud of question marks.
Colin Cowherd delivered his latest “Where I Was Right, Where I Was Wrong” segment on “The Herd” on Monday afternoon. Not only did Cowherd highlight his accurate predictions, but he also fully owned up to where he completely whiffed on some of his most confident takes.
Here’s where Colin Cowherd was right and wrong on his offseason football takes.
Where Colin Was Right
Cowherd: I’ve said, don’t blame the Packers, blame the coach. This is an offensive culture. 100 plus yards of penalties, bottom of the league in the red zone offense, 32nd offense through two weeks according to PFF. They do not look well coached. We always want to blame the players, folks. Yes, the circumstances aren’t ideal. Well, you know what? They’re not ideal right now. With you know, everywhere except the 49ers offense.
The reality is, everybody’s banged up in this league. This is not a well coached football team. You are losing guys in the room. This is not a new staff like the Chargers with a new OC and a new offense. This is the same offense. You got to be able to. If Jordan Love is your quarterback, you cannot look like this.
Seattle Seahawks
Cowherd: I said a couple of weeks ago, Seahawks. Why can’t they repeat as Super Bowl champions? I mean, JSN to me runs the best routes in the league. Drew Lock, who I was never a fan of, subs in for Sam Darnold. They go into Arizona and Drew Lock maybe played his best game as a pro. Kenneth Walker leaves. They ran for 160 plus yards.
They are so deep. They have nailed so many draft picks. They’ve got two of everything. JSN in front of our eyes…it’s like he’s running routes that are confusing the best defensive backs. They’re 16-2 on the road. Culture roster with a backup quarterback. They are different than everybody else in the league.
Los Angeles Chargers
Cowherd: Nothing is working for the Chargers. I thought Mike McDaniel would be a revelation. They look confused. They’re snapping the ball, and it’s hitting players in motion. Receivers ending up in the same spot, they blew multiple coverages defensively yesterday. You want to play fast in football. You want to be smart, but it’s not calculus. I had them winning the division. I have not whiffed on any team more than your L.A. Chargers.
Cincinnati Bengals
Cowherd: I said the second most improved team in the league after the Giants will be the Cincinnati Bengals. They are now top four in run defense. Last year they were 32nd. They went and did what the Bengals don’t do. They spent money, and they’re like, you know what? We’re gonna buy Joe Burrow run defense because people are playing keep away from Joe Burrow. Eight sacks through two games.
They look different. I mean, they went and bought size. They went and bought dexterity and physicality. That defense is. I mean, you can just see the tackles. It’s more violent, they’re bigger, they’re faster and they’re more disruptive. I thought the defense would be much improved. I thought Cincinnati had a chance to double their win total, so we were right on that one.
Where Colin Was Wrong
San Francisco 49ers
Cowherd: Brock Purdy and the Niners look fantastic. I said that they were too old, they were too brittle and they would be third in division. I think Brock Purdy looks so far as good as any quarterback in this league. Through two weeks, Brock has been transformative. He’s not missing on anything. Nearly perfect yesterday. 149 passer rating.
He’s moving well. He’s always seen the field really, really well. But you bring in Mike Evans now. Cross your fingers. This is an old roster. Everybody’s healthy. They lost to DeMarcus Robinson yesterday. Hard to explain how, but I was wrong. They looked like a sensational high-end playoff team.
LSU Tigers
Cowherd: Lane Kiffin and LSU got whacked by Ole Miss. They trailed 24-7 at one point. Now Trinidad Chambliss, who knows if he plays on Sundays, is a sensational college quarterback. We talked about this all last season. I mean, I’m never somebody that’s going to watch a lot of Ole Miss football games.
You know, I watch the highlights. I’ve been watching this kid for two years. He is sensational, but LSU had some key penalties. You know, Lane brings a lot of attention to himself, but they didn’t live up to it. I’ll give him credit. They battled back, but they had a crucial penalty, false start, and a big moment in the second half. I liked LSU in the game, and I was wrong.
Minnesota Vikings
Cowherd: I said Minnesota is the one team in the NFL that could finish fourth or first and Brian Flores did it again. I mean, you can blame Caleb [Williams] all you want. That staff, between Kevin O’Connell, who had a winning record. It was quarterback by committee. They didn’t know week to week who was starting at quarterback, and it’s the best division record-wise in the NFL the last several years, so that’s why I said this weekend I don’t buy the point spread. This game’s going to be close.
You’re not going to blow out in choppy weather. Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores and Carson Wentz has always been a quarterback. I think he’s one of the better backups in the league. I don’t think he’s a guy I’m going to build around. But we were right on the Vikings, giving the Bears some problems.
USC Trojans Defense
Cowherd: I’ve been talking all season about USC’s defensive front. This team is different. They can play real defense. Give me a break. Rutgers, who lost and was manhandled by UMass, ran for over 160 yards. I don’t know what it is about Lincoln Riley. I don’t have any idea. When he goes on the road, they leave the defense in L.A. They are two different programs.
There’s the L.A. version where they can beat almost anybody, and there’s the East Coast version where they defensively get overwhelmed. Rutgers pushed USC’s defensive front all over the field, and don’t get me wrong. There’s a wide receiver named KJ Duff for Rutgers. He’s going to play in the pros. He’s really good, but I mean they ran about 13, 15, 18 slant patterns and they all seem to work.
