# Ralph Vacchiano: Vacchiano argues the 49ers, not the Rams, are the NFL's complete team and that, assuming they stay healthy, the road to Super Bowl LXI will go through San Francisco. They also believe the Eagles are too depleted to contend and should pivot toward rebuilding.

**Claimed:** Oct 12, 2026
**Pundit:** Ralph Vacchiano — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/ralph-vacchiano
**Outlet:** Fox Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/nfl-fallout-week-5-eagles-arent-contenders-should-start-rebuilding

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> If they finally have that, the path to Super Bowl LXI is indeed going to run through California.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **San Francisco 49ers to take the top seed**
  - Kind: Seeding, Byes and Home Field · About: San Francisco 49ers
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- San Francisco 49ers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/49ers

## What others said about the same people

- Parker Hurley on Khalid Kareem: Hurley predicts the 49ers will release Khalil Kareem when Nate Hobbs is activated and cut Brandin Cooks when C.J. West returns, while arguing Sebastian Valdez won't be the one let go and no cornerback will be cut. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5a729417-69ee-493a-9bec-d905fd1a7082 (scored 0)
- Pete Prisco on San Francisco 49ers: 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 83.33)
- AJ Hawk on San Francisco 49ers: Hawk said the Chiefs would beat the Jets, the Seahawks would beat the Cardinals, and the 49ers would beat the Raiders, even while taking the points with the underdogs in each case. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d20e3b12-b0ca-45f8-a14c-925af9b754bb (scored 100)
- Connor Rogers on San Francisco 49ers: 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)
- Chris Simms on San Francisco 49ers: 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 92.86)
- Big Cat on San Francisco 49ers: Big Cat picked the Bengals to beat the Falcons in Madrid, the 49ers to handle the Raiders, the Seahawks to bounce back against the Cardinals, and the Bears to beat the Buccaneers by a projected 26-23. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1780fe70-faa9-45f8-ac64-f6244b7d5144 (scored 100)

## More seeding, byes and home field

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

- Kevin Wildes on New England Patriots: Wildes' upset alert is the Chargers beating the Broncos straight up, which they say would hand the No. 1 seed to New England. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2c697d6f-6069-4aaa-8d7b-ecdecd6893bc (scored 0)
- Rich Eisen on Chicago Bears: 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. They 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)
- JP Acosta on New England Patriots: JP picked Carolina, Seattle, Baltimore, Denver, Jacksonville, New England, Detroit, the Rams and Kansas City in Week 18, and said the Patriots will likely end up with the AFC's No. 2 seed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e84ab242-8758-43af-b850-d5651a0d7890 (scored 100)
- Nick Wright on Seattle Seahawks: Nick Wright made five Week 18 picks against the spread: Tampa Bay over Carolina, Seattle over San Francisco (and to take the No. 1 seed), Las Vegas to cover against Kansas City, Miami to cover 12 at New England, and Pittsburgh to cover at home against Baltimore. They also predicted Seattle wins the No. 1 seed and Mike Evans scores a touchdown. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5b8d3261-b400-493b-aef5-edc07e2d4c0a (scored 100)
- Rich Eisen on Los Angeles Chargers: 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)
- Nick Wright on Philadelphia Eagles: On the Christmas-week gambling show, Nick Wright made five picks and, in doing so, predicted outright wins for Dallas (a blowout of Washington), Jacksonville over Indianapolis, Pittsburgh over Cleveland, Buffalo over Philadelphia and Chicago over San Francisco, plus a Rams win at Atlanta and a Tampa Bay win at Miami. They also said Philadelphia will end up as the No. 3 seed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bb1df3c7-03a3-462a-a2a9-73f8a2539535 (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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