# Colin Cowherd: Cowherd laid out their full AFC playoff field: Bills, Ravens, Texans and Chargers as division winners, with Patriots, Bengals and Chiefs as wild cards, ordering each division and adding a few team and player calls (Chargers 11-6, Jets four or five wins, Mendoza starting for the Raiders before Thanksgiving, Rodgers in their final NFL season). They also pushed back on Cowboys Super Bowl hype and made a few college football calls. **Claimed:** Aug 25, 2026 **Pundit:** Colin Cowherd — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/colin-cowherd **Outlet:** The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/1508ddb2-0c9a-42f6-aafe-ae3300346aa9/5ba8d4fb-5fa1-450f-866b-b4b1014b55a9/audio.mp3?in_playlist=bf391792-153e-41b3-9d3d-ae3300346ad8 9 checkable claims — 4 power rankings, 2 season win totals, 1 division winner, 1 playoff pick and 1 trade and signing call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 4 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the rest of the room. > So I have the Bills, Ravens, Texans, Chargers winning their division. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - “I'm going to go with Baltimore... Cincinnati, I have as a new playoff team... Steelers... I think they'll be viable as a playoff team until about week 16, 17 or 18. Cleveland... They're just too young to win” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Aaron Rodgers to move to Pittsburgh Steelers** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers - Verdict: not settled yet - **New York Jets to finish with 4–5 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: New York Jets - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Chargers to finish with 11 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet - “I have them winning the division... Kansas City gets a slight edge to me. Raiders could be the best fourth Place team in football” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Chargers to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet - “This is my toughest call in the AFC. I'm going to go Colts over the Jags... So I, the Colts, Jaguars, coin flip... and the Titans for fourth.” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - “the bills are the largest favorite ... I'll take them to win the division. New England's schedule is much tougher... The Jets in third... Dolphins are rebuilding... I'll pick them easily for fourth.” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Chargers to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Aaron Rodgers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/aaron-rodgers - Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers - New York Jets — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/jets - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chargers ## What others said about the same people - Nate Gosney on Daiyan Henley: After the Broncos rescinded the trade, Gosney expects Daiyan Henley to remain with the Chargers for the rest of the 2026 season, but believes the awkward fallout has effectively killed any chance of them signing a new contract with Los Angeles after the season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/60272861-4ad0-4749-b36a-dcdf09b9213f (scored 0) - Bryan DeArdo on Joey Porter Jr.: The piece predicts Joey Porter Jr. most likely stays with the Steelers through 2026, while listing possible trade destinations if they were moved. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a6edcb85-bcff-47cb-ba7d-e09dc7549fe1 (scored 0) - Rich Eisen on Aaron Rodgers: Eisen ranked their top five most impressive Pro Bowl campaigns of the season, topped by Sam Darnold, and predicted that Sunday would be Aaron Rodgers' last game with the Jets. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/55a977f9-9670-42fa-ba2f-141be02f583c (scored 0) - Tyler Sullivan on Los Angeles Chargers: Sullivan flags five Week 9 underdogs they expect to pull upsets: the Packers at New England, the Vikings over Buffalo, the winless Chargers over Houston, the Panthers over Denver, and the Falcons over Cincinnati in Madrid. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b01bc807-6ff9-460f-8ab3-c7506b54effb (scored 0) - Kevin Wildes on Los Angeles Chargers: Wildes used their upset alert on the winless Chargers to beat the Rams. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4a6e4641-36d3-4a34-9929-9d1fdab93cbb (scored 0) - Greg Auman on Los Angeles Chargers: Auman predicts an all-Los Angeles Super Bowl with the Chargers beating the Rams 24-21. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b529264d-fbdd-4b2c-88aa-4c15848659a6 (scored 21.43) ## More power rankings The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Chris Brockman: Brockman argued the Broncos are headed to the AFC Championship Game, that the Cowboys will win the NFC East, that Green Bay is the NFC's best team, and that the Bears will finish no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NFC. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/285842c7-abd9-43fa-a0c0-e8138a392658 (scored 0) - Rich Eisen: Eisen said the Texans can win the AFC South and make the playoffs, called the Rams the best team in football, predicted Aaron Rodgers will start against the Bears, and said they believe Joe Burrow returns for the Patriots-Bengals game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d7b170ab-fe27-4fe3-8c47-116548754dd1 (scored 50) - Rich Eisen: Eisen endorsed the Eagles' defense carrying them to the NFC championship and the Rams being the NFL's best team, but predicted the NFC North sends only Green Bay and Detroit to the playoffs, that Kansas City wins five of its last seven, that the 49ers make the playoffs, that Baltimore wins the AFC North, and that Tampa Bay wins the NFC South with both the Bucs and Panthers losing their upcoming NFC West road games. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f7e77ff9-c596-4b8e-a10d-989cd6fa12a9 (scored 50) - Chris Brockman: Brockman argued the Eagles' defense is the NFL's best and will drag a mediocre offense to the NFC championship, that the NFC North sends only two teams to the playoffs with the Bears among them, that the Rams are the league's best team, that a healthy Brock Purdy makes the 49ers an NFC threat who will beat the Saints and Falcons, and that the Panthers win the NFC South. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/58252eec-2c8f-4cfe-b95e-247dd9ce8f0e (scored 50) - Rich Eisen: Eisen ranked their top five matchups of Week 11, and along the way said the Rams sit atop their power rankings as the best team on both sides of the ball, and praised RJ Harvey as Denver's path forward. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/50af1258-bdeb-4451-b159-5d48efa94795 (scored 50) - Nick Wright: The host's five Week 9 NFL picks: Detroit over Minnesota, Pittsburgh +3 vs. Indianapolis, San Francisco over the Giants, Kansas City over Buffalo at Buffalo, and Seattle over Washington. They also call the Chiefs the best team in the league and Jonathan Taylor the NFL's best running back this year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2fd2d221-42c7-422d-bd99-8a7e8e6dd1df (scored 0) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=colin-cowherd