Final Herd Hierarchy of the Season: Who's the Strongest Team Entering the Divisional Round

Will the Bears be overlooked again? Is it time to respect the Patriots? Are the Seahawks Super Bowl favorites?

Those are the questions Colin Cowherd has answers to in the most recent edition of the "Herd Hierarchy." Remember, Cowherd isn't ranking teams based on what they've done lately or their record. Rather, it's an encapsulation of where each team in the NFL stands, holistically, taking into consideration which opponents each team has beaten, how healthy they are and their ceiling for the rest of the year.

So, let's take a look at Cowherd's final list after an exciting Wild Card weekend and ahead of the NFL Divisional Round.

"A season-low in penalties and penalty yards against Green Bay… They played clean. They're 7-2 at home this year. 9-2 against teams outside their division. They're a great fourth-quarter team. First win without a takeaway. So there's a lot to take from it. They played a clean game. Caleb Williams was remarkable."

"Now you can prepare for the 49ers without George Kittle. Brock Purdy has a pick in four straight games. I don't really care. Purdy has four game-winning drives in six playoff games. They've won 11 straight playoff games in the Wild Card or Divisional Round, and a lot of that is Kyle Shanahan."

"They're very, very good at home, and 11-2 in one-score games… They do lead the NFL in sacks, and allow the fewest sacks. I like the roster construction, but they've scored less than 20 points in five of the last nine games. I'm not so sure taking the week off was good for the young Seahawks or the inconsistent Broncos."

"I think Buffalo's probably going to beat [the Broncos] and I didn't think that a couple of weeks ago. It was the first road [playoff] win under [Sean] McDermott. They've won six