# Gregg Rosenthal: Rosenthal picks the Patriots to beat the Broncos in a close, low-scoring AFC Championship in Denver (while liking Denver to cover the 4.5 points), takes the Seahawks over the Rams in a defensive NFC Championship they peg around 23-19, and forecasts a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl. **Claimed:** Jan 23, 2026 **Pundit:** Gregg Rosenthal — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/gregg-rosenthal **Outlet:** Move the Sticks (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/move-the-sticks-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/nfl-daily/championship-weekend-picks-with-cynthia-frelund-ravens-hire-jesse-minter-as-head-coach 5 checkable claims — 2 conference champions, 2 game outcome picks and 1 score prediction — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record. All 5 have settled, averaging 100 out of 100, against 39.1 for a naive guess at the same calls. > That's my prediction for the Super Bowl this year. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **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 - **Seattle Seahawks 23 — Rams 19** - Kind: Score Predictions · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 95.3 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Jan 25, 2026): Seahawks by 2.5, total 45.5 · this 23–19 calls a bigger Seahawks win (by 4) and fewer points (42). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Seattle Seahawks to beat Rams** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Jan 25, 2026): Seahawks by 2.5 · favorite pick, Seahawks 56%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **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 to beat Broncos** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Jan 25, 2026): Patriots by 3.5 · favorite pick, Patriots about 2 in 3 (64%). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. ## Who this take is about - Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/seahawks - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots ## 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) - 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) - John Pluym on Seattle Seahawks: Pluym picks the Seahawks over the Cardinals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e3897747-c55f-4340-9e82-03f9730f87ba (scored 100) - Pamela Maldonado on Seattle Seahawks: Maldonado picks the Seahawks in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/38b2ad8f-9672-44e8-b3c2-b8ad3b004c09 (scored 100) ## More conference champions The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Wright on Los Angeles Rams: The host picks the Rams to beat the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game and believes the winner of that game wins the Super Bowl, i.e. that this is the Rams' year; they also pick New England to win in Denver despite taking the Broncos with the points, and says Stafford is winning MVP. They call Sean McVay the second-best coach in the NFL. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5d16f975-ba4e-46f4-8717-8962b81c5bdf (scored 50) - 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) - AJ Hawk on Los Angeles Rams: Hawk picked the Patriots to win in Denver despite liking Stidham and the Broncos defense, and in the NFC they stuck with the Rams, saying Stafford gets to the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/70ca2972-53a1-4559-bd03-94c5fede2f4e (scored 50) - Richard Sherman on Denver Broncos: Sherman refused to pick the 49ers-Seahawks divisional game, calling it a pick'em that comes down to the last possession, but they picked Chicago over the Rams, Denver over Buffalo, and Houston 17-9 over New England, while reaffirming their preseason call of the Broncos reaching the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/06c20ff5-0935-4595-b749-983f422ee7e0 (scored 50) - Champ Bailey on Los Angeles Rams: Bailey picks the Broncos to beat the Bills in the divisional round, the Seahawks to beat the 49ers at home, and the Rams to beat the Bears; they then put the Rams in the Super Bowl against Denver, with the Broncos winning their fourth championship. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ab14af73-9861-45c9-b19e-55773253b7fb (scored 50) - Brandon Carney on Los Angeles Rams: Carney sticks with the Rams as their Super Bowl winner, picks the Patriots, Broncos, Seahawks and Rams in the divisional round, and makes a series of head coaching landing-spot predictions plus fantasy takes on Colston Loveland. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b2bf1bbe-9069-46d0-8b16-571d10a61b99 (scored 50) --- 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=gregg-rosenthal