# Richard Sherman: Sherman picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams comfortably at home, 27-17, with a defensive score, and says the winner of that NFC Championship game will win the Super Bowl. They also pick the Patriots to win comfortably in Denver, 21-15, and assumes Matthew Stafford will be named league MVP. **Claimed:** Jan 23, 2026 **Pundit:** Richard Sherman — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/richard-sherman **Outlet:** The Richard Sherman Podcast (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-richard-sherman-podcast-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-richard-sherman-podcast/afc-nfc-championship-predictions-rams-seahawks-patriots-broncos-richard-sherman-nfl 6 checkable claims — 2 conference champions, 2 score predictions, 1 award pick and 1 super bowl pick — 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. All 6 have settled, averaging 96.4 out of 100, against 23.8 for a naive guess at the same calls. > I got Settle winning twenty seven to seventeen in this ball game *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Seattle Seahawks 27 — Los Angeles Rams 17** - Kind: Score Predictions · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 85.71 out of 100, against 95.3 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Jan 25, 2026): Seahawks by 2.5, total 45.5 · this 27–17 calls a bigger Seahawks win (by 10) and fewer points (44). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Seattle Seahawks to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **New England Patriots to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **New England Patriots 21 — Denver Broncos 15** - Kind: Score Predictions · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: scored 92.86 out of 100, against 47.69 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Jan 25, 2026): Patriots by 3.5, total 43.5 · this 21–15 calls a bigger Patriots win (by 6) and fewer points (36). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Seattle Seahawks to win the Super Bowl** - Kind: Super Bowl Picks · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Matthew Stafford to win MVP** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess ## Who this take is about - Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/seahawks - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots - Matthew Stafford — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/matthew-stafford - Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams ## What others said about the same people - Jeremy Brener on Drew Lock: 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) - Colin Cowherd on Matthew Stafford: Cowherd predicts Matt Stafford stays with the Rams rather than moving on, and says Travis Hunter may underachieve because they're being asked to play both ways — Cowherd doubts they're a No. 1 receiver and would slot them as a No. 2 receiver while being a No. 1 corner. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/005e6ad1-bc95-49da-9db2-3a9da2d5041d (scored 100) - Colin Cowherd on Matthew Stafford: Cowherd believes Matt Stafford's public negotiation posturing means he ultimately stays in Los Angeles, and he flags Travis Hunter as a high draft pick who could underachieve because trying to play both cornerback and receiver full-time will hurt him. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2c1faeb3-7adb-456d-bd42-275be95269e8 (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) ## More conference champions The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Wright on Denver Broncos: Wright picked the Broncos to beat the Patriots in a low-scoring AFC Championship game (17-16), said Sean Payton would coach Denver to the Super Bowl, picked the Rams to win outright in Seattle 31-20, believes the winner of the NFC game wins the Super Bowl with the Rams the better team, and expects Matt Stafford to be named league MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/afd8c9a0-6068-4bfc-8dac-3bcc196f1231 (scored 50) - Pat Gustavson on Chicago Bears: Gustafson picked the Bears, Eagles, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, the Rams and Bears in the NFC, the Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, and the Patriots to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. Their awards slate included Stafford for MVP, Puka for OPOY and Liam Cohen for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/671b9c4f-1f25-4f11-ad26-16a1126ea3b8 (scored 0) - Mike Renner on Houston Texans: Renner picked the same AFC bracket as JP except with the Texans reaching the Super Bowl as a fifth seed, had the Packers beating the Bears in the NFC, and leaned Rams over Seahawks in the NFC Championship and the Rams as Super Bowl champions. They also gave a full post-season mock draft of picks 1-18. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c757802e-5a1c-45ab-8c40-225fb8a6e1a9 (scored 0) - JP Acosta on Jacksonville Jaguars: JP walked through the entire playoff bracket, taking the Patriots, Texans and Jaguars in the AFC wild card round, the Jaguars over the Texans in the AFC Championship, the Rams out of the NFC, and the Rams to beat the Jaguars in the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d775dafd-364c-4845-984a-1cd605272670 (scored 0) - Chris Brockman on San Francisco 49ers: Brockman floated the 49ers as the team to beat in the NFC after their Sunday night win, predicted James Cook would lead the league in rushing, and said Tyler Shough will win Rookie of the Year with the Saints finishing above .500 next season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e393bfed-202c-4c67-9054-793f6bdad096 (scored 0) - Rich Eisen on Chicago Bears: Eisen agreed the Bears are a team of destiny who will win the NFC, insisted the Packers will make the playoffs and won't lose at home to the Ravens, said the Steelers should make the playoffs, and endorsed the view that Trevor Lawrence is playing like a top-five quarterback. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1f7633c5-427b-4993-8849-3f53865241bd (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=richard-sherman