# Colin Cowherd: Cowherd ranked his top ten quarterback/head coach combinations, calling Mike Macdonald arguably the league's second-best coach behind Sean McVay, picked Houston to win its division, and predicted Isaiah Likely would catch about 70 passes in his new offense.

**Claimed:** Aug 18, 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-ae3300346aa9/69677fa3-a239-44ff-b621-b4aa0146b687/audio.mp3?in_playlist=bf391792-153e-41b3-9d3d-ae3300346ad8

3 checkable claims — 1 division winner, 1 head coach ranking and 1 player season number — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

> I like Houston to win the division because that's what they do and their defense is like a notch above even Seattle's.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **McDonald to me is arguably the second best coach in the league after McVeigh. He's outstanding.**
  - Kind: Head Coach Rankings
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Houston Texans to win the division**
  - Kind: Division Winners · About: Houston Texans
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Isaiah Likely to record 70 receptions**
  - Kind: Player Season Numbers · About: Isaiah Likely
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans
- Isaiah Likely — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/isaiah-likely

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on Houston Texans: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 47.62)
- Steven Ruiz on Houston Texans: Previewing Week 3, Ruiz picked the Ravens to beat the Cowboys in Brazil, Jacksonville over New England in a low-scoring game, an upset by the Broncos over the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears, the Lions over the Jets, and his Hail Mary that Houston beats Indianapolis by two touchdowns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a30ff469-4972-4c48-855b-ba984e4de9d0 (scored 0)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Houston Texans: Outside of his spread picks, Rosenthal referenced his season-long pick of the Texans to win the Super Bowl and said he expects Houston to beat the Colts on Sunday. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2fb84ac9-889f-4649-8c4d-f170f7b65f66 (scored 0)
- Jordan Dajani on Houston Texans: Dajani gave final-score predictions for eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Buccaneers (upset), Ravens, Broncos (upset) and Eagles to win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c96aaa6d-2d0c-41cc-a9f7-c21ac21886ac (scored 40.48)
- Jared Dubin on Houston Texans: Dubin gave final-score predictions for the same eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Vikings, Ravens, Rams and Eagles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fe04828a-d532-414c-a58a-54f6505f2263 (scored 45.24)
- Richard Sherman on Houston Texans: Sherman picked winners and several exact scores across the Week 3 slate, favoring Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, Carolina, New Orleans, Baltimore, the Rams, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Kansas City, Minnesota, the Giants, Jacksonville and Houston, and named Kenneth Walker his MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c2102f61-711d-4041-af08-065e95ccaf03 (scored 47.62)

## More division winners

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

- Daniel DiBerardinis on Atlanta Falcons: Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. He also gives a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8a8e0b7c-9f1c-4c13-8138-1332d73b9b02 (scored 0)
- Danny Parkins on Baltimore Ravens: Parkins lays the points with the Eagles and Cowboys, takes Baltimore to beat Pittsburgh and win the AFC North, picks Carolina over Tampa Bay and Seattle over San Francisco, and says he'd probably pick the Rams to come out of the NFC. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/23bf1e09-f607-4b9a-bdb4-888da7992c89 (scored 0)
- Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: Eisen forecast the Week 18 results and the entire wild-card field: Buccaneers over Panthers but Carolina still gets in as the 5 seed when Atlanta beats New Orleans, 49ers over Seahawks, Ravens over Steelers, Jaguars beating Tennessee to win the AFC South, and six wild-card matchups (Seahawks-Panthers, Bills-Jaguars, Texans-Ravens, Packers-Bears, Chargers-Patriots, Rams-Eagles), with Houston upsetting Baltimore. He also tabbed Saints rookie Tyler Shough as a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/34345186-876a-4c4b-9567-9c289a6cbace (scored 100)
- Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: Eisen called the 49ers-as-NFC-favorites take an overreaction, picked the Jaguars to beat the Titans and win their division, leaned Ravens over the Steelers in the Week 18 Sunday night game, expects the Bills to beat the Jets even without Josh Allen, sees the Chargers as the AFC's seventh seed, agreed Tyler Shough could win Offensive Rookie of the Year with a good Saints 2026, said Malik Willis will be a starter somewhere next season, and insisted Detroit goes into 2026 with Goff. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/15192136-24b9-4127-ac9d-69dc69aab3d5 (scored 100)
- Chris Brockman on Chicago Bears: Brockman called the Broncos-Packers game the best of the day, said Denver looks poised to lock up the AFC's No. 1 seed and reach the AFC Championship Game, predicted the Bears win the NFC North and the Eagles win their division (though he thinks they lose to a five seed from the NFC West), and said Philip Rivers will be in the NFL in 2026. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e86c9e4d-7802-432a-a26c-4edefb3b6aee (scored 100)
- Rich Eisen on New England Patriots: Eisen said the Patriots are still likely to win the AFC East and won't be one-and-done, that the Chargers will end Dallas' season next week, that TreVeyon Henderson should out-snap Rhamondre Stevenson, that the NFC East race is over in Philadelphia's favor, and that the winner of the NFC West will be the NFC's No. 1 seed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ae722f6b-44e2-42bb-a847-4435f539db5b (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.

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