# Carter Bahns: Bahns argues the Jeffery Simmons trade makes the Bears a top-tier championship contender, projecting them to be the best team of 2026, possibly the league's highest-scoring offense, with Caleb Williams on an MVP track, and sees Chicago securing a top-four seed with the No. 1 seed in play. He also sees the quarterback injuries dropping the Ravens toward a last-place finish in the AFC North. **Claimed:** Nov 5, 2026 **Pundit:** Carter Bahns — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/carter-bahns **Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/cbs-sports **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/super-bowl-stock-report-week-9-jeffery-simmons-bears-ravens/ 8 checkable claims — 4 depth chart calls, 2 power rankings, 1 position group finish and 1 seeding, byes and home field — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 6 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 4 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the room on 2 and below it on 2. > Monday's 34-17 win on the road over the Seattle Seahawks might have been a passing of the torch from last year's champions to the best team of 2026. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **The injuries in the opening minutes of the matchup against Buffalo relegated the Ravens from Super Bowl contention to a potential last-place finish in their own division.** - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Monday's 34-17 win on the road over the Seattle Seahawks might have been a passing of the torch from last year's champions to the best team of 2026.** - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Chicago Bears to take the top seed** - Kind: Seeding, Byes and Home Field · About: Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Austin Reed to be 3rd on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Austin Reed, Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Jacoby Brissett to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Jacoby Brissett, Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Joe Fagnano to be 2nd on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Joe Fagnano, Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Chicago Bears offense to be the best in the league** - Kind: Position Group Finish · About: Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Kedon Slovis to be 3rd on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Kedon Slovis, Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Chicago Bears — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bears - Austin Reed — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/austin-reed - Baltimore Ravens — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/ravens - Jacoby Brissett — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jacoby-brissett - Joe Fagnano — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/joe-fagnano - Kedon Slovis — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/kedon-slovis ## What others said about the same people - John Middlekauff on Caleb Williams: Middlekauff expects either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson to win this year's MVP, calling them the two best players in the league. He is pessimistic on the Bears, forecasting six or seven wins and saying he'd bet Caleb Williams doesn't work out as a franchise quarterback. He also sees Oklahoma's John Mattier as a first-round pick who'll be in the Heisman mix. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/deaaf3f6-e53e-4080-a0ca-d5f872b54c6a (scored 0) - Pete Prisco on Chicago Bears: Prisco gives score predictions for every Week 9 NFL game, picking the Bengals to rout the Falcons in Madrid, the Cowboys to rebound at Indianapolis, and the Jaguars to win in Baltimore without Lamar Jackson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dc43909b-bc7f-47aa-b208-5cf7c95844bc (scored 100) - Bryan DeArdo on Chicago Bears: DeArdo picks the Bears to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday night in a defensive game, predicting a 20-16 final score. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7b882443-b481-48fb-b19b-e7f989d85e46 (scored 97.62) - Danny Parkins on Chicago Bears: Parkins named the seven AFC teams he believes are already set as the playoff field, expects Chicago, Buffalo and Kansas City to win this week, took Green Bay over New England and Atlanta over Cincinnati outright, and kept Bills–Bears as his Super Bowl matchup with the Giants still winning the NFC East. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/272d1f8a-06f7-4b8b-8480-94d370ae5e6f (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Chicago Bears: 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 he wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 97.62) - Connor Rogers on Chicago Bears: 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) ## More depth chart calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Jeremy Brener on Jalen Milroe: Brener suggests Seattle may turn to rookie-contract quarterback Jalen Milroe for his first career start in Week 9 against the Cardinals, with Sam Darnold ruled out and Drew Lock dealing with an elbow injury. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/42d1bd81-5e19-456e-9f68-b3b135170ec0 (scored 0) - Michael Moore on Shedeur Sanders: In a Week 9 injury roundup, Moore forecast which banged-up fantasy contributors would play or sit: Deshaun Watson, Garrett Wilson, David Montgomery, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, TreVeyon Henderson and Terrance Ferguson are expected out, while Travis Kelce, Saquon Barkley, Michael Wilson, Christian Watson and Emeka Egbuka should play. He also expects Shedeur Sanders and Drew Lock to start at quarterback. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e26319a3-10aa-49a6-a24d-a257521363f0 (scored 100) - Zachary Pereles on Shedeur Sanders: Pereles writes that if Deshaun Watson can't clear concussion protocol in time, the Browns would likely turn to second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders to start Week 9 against the Saints. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6dad75dd-1818-4a6a-91ea-832f491c2530 (scored 100) - Garrett Podell on Carson Beck: Podell argues the Cardinals have maxed out with Jacoby Brissett and that rookie Carson Beck should be ramped up to replace him as starter, targeting Week 8 at Dallas for Beck's regular-season debut. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2f499498-ebbe-41f8-8ea3-41fe96f79432 (scored 0) - Jacob Herlin on J.J. McCarthy: Herlin published Week 7 fantasy D/ST rankings with projections for 28 team defenses, led by Houston, Minnesota and Cleveland. He also expects Cleveland to post a fourth straight top-10 fantasy defense result, and predicts Jalon Daniels starts another week for Tampa Bay while J.J. McCarthy takes over as the Giants' starter. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cf4a2992-3760-464e-b540-6182ebc4457f (scored 100) - Jordan Dajani on Drew Kendall: Dajani expects Cam Jurgens to move back to center as the Ravens' starter after the trade, and projects a rebuilt Eagles offensive line for Week 5 with Jordan Mailata, Willie Lampkin, Drew Kendall, Tyler Steen and Markel Bell starting from left tackle to right tackle. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cad37b83-7924-4f90-9898-82a22fa12331 (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=carter-bahns