# John Middlekauff: After the Bears-Patriots Thursday night game, Middlekauff called both Chicago and New England playoff teams, leaned Steelers, Vikings, Panthers, Bengals, Raiders, Packers and Seahawks in the weekend slate, predicted a bleak remaining season for the Chargers, and said Justin Herbert isn't going anywhere. **Claimed:** Oct 23, 2026 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** 3 and Out with John Middlekauff (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/arttrk.com/p/D5CA5/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/prfx.byspotify.com/e/claritaspod.com/measure/mgln.ai/e/808/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/44c6e42b-f663-4492-888d-ae330034680f/a116f860-da09-4534-8a41-b4ec0096d75b/audio.mp3?in_playlist=40b7ab93-19e3-455f-8fd2-ae3300346819 13 checkable claims — 7 game outcome picks, 3 playoff picks, 1 mock draft pick, 1 season win total and 1 trade and signing call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 12 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 7 of 13 have settled so far, averaging 57.1 out of 100, against 42.9 for a naive guess at the same calls. > The Bears are definitely, as long as Caleb's healthy, going to go to the playoffs. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Green Bay Packers to beat Detroit** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Green Bay Packers - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Lions by 3.5 · underdog pick, Packers 37%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Seattle Seahawks to beat Kansas City** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Seahawks by 3 · favorite pick, Seahawks 59%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Las Vegas Raiders to beat Rams** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Las Vegas Raiders - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Rams by 3.5 · underdog pick, Raiders 38%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Carolina Panthers to beat Tampa** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Carolina Panthers - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Panthers by 3 · favorite pick, Panthers 60%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Minnesota Vikings to beat Indianapolis** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Minnesota Vikings - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Vikings by 6.5 · favorite pick, Vikings about 3 in 4 (73%). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Pittsburgh Steelers to beat Saints** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Pittsburgh Steelers - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Steelers by 3 · favorite pick, Steelers 59%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Cincinnati Bengals to beat Ravens** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 25, 2026): Bengals by 3 · favorite pick, Bengals 59%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Minnesota Vikings to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Minnesota Vikings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Chicago Bears to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Justin Herbert to stay with Los Angeles Chargers** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet - **Colin Simmons to be picked “top 10 pick” (picks 1–10)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Colin Simmons - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Chargers to finish with 2–3 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet - **New England Patriots to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Green Bay Packers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/packers - Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/seahawks - Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders - Carolina Panthers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/panthers - Minnesota Vikings — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/vikings - Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals - Chicago Bears — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bears - Justin Herbert — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/justin-herbert - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chargers - Colin Simmons — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/colin-simmons - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots ## What others said about the same people - Bill Huber on Green Bay Packers: Huber argues Green Bay has no excuses left and will beat New England in Foxborough, and expects Christian Watson to play despite his rib injury. He also sketches the projected interior offensive line, with John Williams at center and Laken Tomlinson at right guard. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5ab5fa3a-4526-46a4-b11b-a2bc99820cb8 (scored 100) - Jeremy Brener on Seattle Seahawks: Brener picked the Seahawks to beat the Cardinals in Week 9 by a multi-score margin, giving a final score of 27-13, and expressed confidence Seattle would be fine with Drew Lock starting at quarterback. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7eb2d245-63d0-4be0-80ba-3f60197e2b16 (scored 100) - Albert Breer on Seattle Seahawks: Breer picks the Seahawks to beat the Cardinals in their Week 9 NFC West matchup. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4d67a8a5-0c05-4abe-b2ca-f0cef8390b1d (scored 100) - Tyler Sullivan on Seattle Seahawks: Sullivan picks the Seahawks to win in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dfca04b3-5c80-4a2e-b0de-8ac3a25f225b (scored 100) - Dave Richard on Seattle Seahawks: Richard picks the Seahawks over the Cardinals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d3db433e-52c6-42d1-a3b0-6b342aac8a9e (scored 100) - John Pluym on Seattle Seahawks: Pluym picks the Seahawks over the Cardinals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e3897747-c55f-4340-9e82-03f9730f87ba (scored 100) ## More game outcome picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Jared Koch on Houston Texans: Koch predicts the Texans will beat the winless Chargers on the road in Week 9 by at least 10 points, with Houston's defense forcing a couple of turnovers to set up a multiple-score win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e2861ce9-d1de-4f34-b001-83e64c3f5770 (scored 100) - Eric Mangini on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Mangini picked New England to beat Green Bay by more than a field goal, flagged Tampa Bay as his upset alert over Chicago, expects Kansas City to handle the Jets, took Buffalo over Minnesota, backed Cincinnati over Atlanta in Madrid, and updated his Super Bowl to Rams–Bengals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/af0819c3-4662-44a2-a451-a08fa3b7e59a (scored 0) - Nick Wright on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Wright argued the Jaguars are the AFC's most complete team, calling them the considerable favorite for the No. 1 seed and the only club essentially locked into the playoffs. He also picked Tampa Bay to upset Chicago, had Kansas City sweeping its next three games, liked New England over Green Bay by about a field goal, and updated his Super Bowl matchup to Chiefs–49ers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/878403ae-b780-41f0-b38a-200b1a3e36ff (scored 0) - Donte Johnson on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The former NFL safety picked the Buccaneers to upset the Bears in their Week 9 matchup, arguing Todd Bowles' defense would frustrate Caleb Williams. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1731194b-2ff9-4142-b4ca-45a4097101ae (scored 0) - AJ Hawk on San Francisco 49ers: Hawk said the Chiefs would beat the Jets, the Seahawks would beat the Cardinals, and the 49ers would beat the Raiders, even while taking the points with the underdogs in each case. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d20e3b12-b0ca-45f8-a14c-925af9b754bb (scored 100) - Connor Rogers on Houston Texans: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 100) --- 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=john-middlekauff