# Eric Mangini: Mangini picked the Patriots 23-20 with Drake May as Super Bowl MVP, and earlier named Kayshon Boutte ("Kaeshawn Booty") as their dark horse MVP.

**Claimed:** Feb 6, 2026
**Pundit:** Eric Mangini — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/eric-mangini
**Outlet:** First Things First (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/first-things-first-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us
**Original:** https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/FOXM4538796878.mp3?updated=1770422512

4 checkable claims — 2 award picks, 1 score prediction and 1 super bowl pick — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 3 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

All 4 have settled, averaging 17.3 out of 100, against 4.2 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> I'm going 23 to 20, and I don't have that strong conviction on the MVP. So I'm just gonna lean into the quarterback and go Drake May

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Drake Maye to win Super Bowl MVP**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Drake Maye, New England Patriots
  - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess
- **Kayshon Boutte to win Super Bowl MVP**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots
  - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess
- **New England Patriots 23 — Seahawks 20**
  - Kind: Score Predictions · About: New England Patriots
  - Verdict: scored 19.05 out of 100, against 16.73 for a naive guess
  - Line: Closing line (Feb 8, 2026): Seahawks by 4.5, total 45.5 · this 23–20 calls a Patriots win (by 3; the line gave the Patriots about 1 in 3 (32%)) and fewer points (43). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade.
- **New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl**
  - Kind: Super Bowl Picks · About: New England Patriots
  - Verdict: scored 50 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess

## Who this take is about

- Drake Maye — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/drake-maye
- New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots
- Kayshon Boutte — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/kayshon-boutte

## What others said about the same people

- Pat Fitzmaurice on New England Patriots: Fitzmaurice predicted a 24-21 Patriots win over the Packers, said they would not be surprised if Jonathan Taylor were inactive amid trade talk, pegged Jonah Coleman as an RB22 rest-of-season value, expected Evan Hull to be Arizona's backup back, and saw Kerby Joseph returning in Week 10 or 11. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/41cd806b-d6f3-401d-ac46-33a027d3a0fd (scored 14.29)
- Kevin Wildes on New England Patriots: Wildes took Minnesota over Buffalo, predicted a comfortable roughly 10-point New England win over Green Bay, and switched their Super Bowl matchup to Jaguars–Bears. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f31ce48f-df1b-41cf-9d17-ec463ba972d4 (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on New England Patriots: 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. They 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 their Super Bowl matchup to Chiefs–49ers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/878403ae-b780-41f0-b38a-200b1a3e36ff (scored 0)
- Connor Rogers on New England Patriots: 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 0)
- Chris Simms on New England Patriots: Simms gave a predicted final score for every Week 9 game, picking the Bengals, Chiefs, Broncos, Lions, Giants, Rams, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bears and Bills, and also said they wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 30.95)
- Nick Wright on New England Patriots: 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)

## More award picks

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

- Nick Wright on Sam Darnold: Wright picks Seattle to beat New England in the Super Bowl by a 27-17 final score, describing a semi-comfortable win, and names Sam Darnold as their Super Bowl MVP pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8ff42b18-5a45-40e1-b3b6-17612cfca395 (scored 0)
- Willie Colon on Sam Darnold: Colon picked the Seahawks to win 24-14 with Sam Darnold as Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6655a6f-9a44-46d4-8c76-0d96b7334211 (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Rashid Shaheed: Nick picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl 27-17, citing Seattle's defense, coaching against young quarterbacks and schedule strength, and named Rasheed Shaheed as their dark horse Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1fe4abc6-28e3-412b-ab6e-d2f65f25682f (scored 0)
- Chris Broussard on Cooper Kupp: Broussard picked New England to beat Seattle 24-21, with Drake May winning Super Bowl MVP, and named Cooper Kupp as their dark horse MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1247ee30-3338-4940-8fc9-977cc215ff59 (scored 0)
- Danny Parkins on Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Parkins picked Seattle to win 27-16 with Jaxon Smith-Njigba as Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3667c28e-88b0-4d8e-bebd-6ef088550e4f (scored 0)
- Joe Haden on Kenneth Walker III: Joe picked the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, saying Kenneth Walker would run for roughly 120 yards and be the game's MVP because New England would have to devote coverage to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/68d7f7c1-4d2c-474c-b713-47bad8d660d2 (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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