# Josh Pate: Pate expects Arch Manning to be a pretty good but not transcendent quarterback this season, thinks Bryce Underwood is a genuine star, and predicts Michigan will be in the national championship conversation in 2026 while remaining poor at receiver in 2025. They are out on Bill Belichick lifting North Carolina beyond its historical seven-to-eight-win level.

**Claimed:** Sep 6, 2025
**Pundit:** Josh Pate — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/josh-pate
**Outlet:** The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-colin-cowherd-podcast-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview
**Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-colin-cowherd-podcast/prime-cuts-cowboys-impressive-in-loss-to-eagles-nfl-win-totals-belichick-s-disastrous-start-at-unc

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

The call scored 100 out of 100, against 75 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> I think twenty twenty six they're right in the national championship conversation.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Carolina Panthers to finish with 8 wins**
  - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Carolina Panthers
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 75 for a naive guess

## Who this take is about

- Carolina Panthers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/panthers

## What others said about the same people

- Zach Roberts on Corey Thornton: Roberts projects the Carolina Panthers' 53-man roster following the Hall of Fame Game, naming every player they expect to make the team at each position, and pegs AJ Dillon as the fourth running back on the depth chart. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/eef72be3-9114-401b-a6e8-2ffc335cc7fb (scored 100)
- Nick Wright on Carolina Panthers: Wright made several outright game calls for Week 9 alongside their spread picks: Kansas City beating the Jets 31-20, Detroit winning at Miami, New England edging Green Bay by a field goal or so, Carolina winning outright over Denver, and Houston blowing out the Chargers 27-12. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/14c1f8dd-d8ff-498f-b705-4b468ff964f8 (scored 0)
- Mitchell Eisenstein on Carolina Panthers: Mitchell gave their Week 9 top-five power rankings, keeping Buffalo first and the 49ers second while elevating the Bears, Jaguars and Lions, and picked a slate of Week 9 games including a Packers win in New England, a Panthers upset of Denver, and blowouts for Detroit, Kansas City and Houston. They also tabbed Jonah Coleman as a late-season Offensive Rookie of the Year pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6a1c5f64-cb1f-4e3d-846c-281720efb544 (scored 42.86)
- Cody Rourke on Carolina Panthers: Rourke predicts the Broncos finish 13-4 in 2026, going 4-2 over a brutal opening six games, sweeping Kansas City again, and losing only at San Francisco, at home to Seattle, at Carolina and on Christmas Day to Buffalo. They also expect Carolina to return to the playoffs. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/129244f8-9c9e-4e2a-917c-bc2c74cfee05 (scored 0)
- Chris Simms on Carolina Panthers: After the Bears beat the Patriots on Thursday night, Simms said they wouldn't be shocked to see the two meet in the Super Bowl, and then gave predicted final scores for every Week 7 game, including Seattle over Kansas City on Sunday night and Dallas winning in Philadelphia. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/00bbce33-10f7-44e0-b3c0-076e6bc74841 (scored 2.38)
- Connor Rogers on Carolina Panthers: Rogers picked winners for every Week 7 game, taking the Chiefs to win in Seattle, the Packers to upset the Lions in Detroit and Dallas to win in Philadelphia, and said they don't expect a banged-up Arizona running back to play. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3ef360c7-68b4-41c2-841b-d77052cca866 (scored 0)

## More season win totals

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Nick Wright on Chicago Bears: Nick Wright lays out their season win-total picks (overs on Jaguars, Bears, Chiefs, Buccaneers, Raiders, Falcons; unders on Bengals, Colts, Broncos, Cowboys, Vikings, 49ers), playoff berth and miss calls, three division winners, a Chiefs-over-Buccaneers Super Bowl exacta, and five Week 1 picks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5049c576-4d69-4d73-a0ba-6296e5e50ff2 (scored 100)
- Damonza Byrd on Jacksonville Jaguars: Nick Wright's co-host picks the Jaguars over as their favorite of the six over bets and calls the Baltimore/Buffalo division-winner parlay a safe one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5eaf9823-e809-4008-855a-c72518f10f08 (scored 100)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Jacksonville Jaguars: Rosenthal's Week 1 picks: the Giants win at Washington, the Lions beat the Packers, and the Jaguars beat the Panthers; they also like the Jets over the Steelers and the Dolphins over the Colts, and expects Jacksonville to clear 7.5 wins. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9443503e-89b7-461f-8b67-e99f60c8b5d2 (scored 100)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Dallas Cowboys: Rosenthal expects a high-scoring Eagles-Cowboys kickoff game, guesses a scoreline around 41-27, still believes Dallas can clear its win total and reach the playoffs, likes the Giants to beat expectations with Jackson Dart taking over as starter early. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a11f697d-1616-4bbe-9b7f-5bde7c6653ea (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Baltimore Ravens: Nick Wright predicts Shedeur Sanders stays behind Dylan Gabriel on the Browns depth chart, forecasts a season where Flacco is benched a third of the way in, Gabriel then fails, Shedeur then fails, and Cleveland drafts a quarterback next year. They also make a long list of win-total, playoff and division calls across the AFC North and beyond. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4e17eca2-e154-41f3-b116-389f8335f9c8 (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Jacksonville Jaguars: In part two of their gambling show, Nick Wright ran through NFC (and recapped AFC) win-total picks, division winners and make/miss-the-playoffs bets, backing the Chiefs, Jaguars, Raiders, Bears, Buccaneers and Falcons to clear their totals while predicting Commanders, Bucs and Rams division titles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/252a575e-6524-48d2-86c4-356e2509e8f5 (scored 100)

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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

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