# Bradley Locker: A PFF piece previewing the 10 most important games of the 2026 season suggests the Seahawks-Rams Week 18 game could decide the NFC West and the No. 1 overall seed, that the Lions-Packers Week 18 game could decide the NFC North, that Bills-Broncos could determine AFC home-field advantage, and that the Rams are Super Bowl 61 favorites. **Claimed:** Aug 21, 2026 **Pundit:** Bradley Locker — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/bradley-locker **Outlet:** Pro Football Focus — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/pro-football-focus **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.pff.com/news/10-games-that-will-define-the-2026-nfl-season/ 3 checkable claims — 2 seeding, byes and home field and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 3 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. > There's a serious chance this Monday night gem serves as a Super Bowl preview, with Los Angeles and Buffalo holding two of the three highest spots in PFF's Power Ratings. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Los Angeles Rams to take the top seed** - Kind: Seeding, Byes and Home Field · About: Los Angeles Rams - Verdict: not settled yet - **Buffalo Bills to take the top seed** - Kind: Seeding, Byes and Home Field · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: not settled yet - **New Orleans Saints to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: New Orleans Saints - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills - New Orleans Saints — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/saints ## What others said about the same people - Chris Simms on New Orleans Saints: 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) - Chris Long on Los Angeles Rams: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 0) - Matt Harmon on Los Angeles Rams: Harmon picked the Bengals to beat the Texans in Week 2, expecting Nico Collins to miss the game with a hamstring injury, and also predicted the Titans would be shut out by the Eagles. He took the Rams over the Giants, the Bears over the Vikings, and the Jaguars at Denver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/21a71025-ab65-4716-ac2c-e77ad5ce3348 (scored 100) - Nate Tice on Los Angeles Rams: Tice picked the Bengals over the Texans in a low-scoring game, the Jaguars at Denver, the Bears over the Vikings, the Patriots over the Steelers and the Rams to edge the Giants, and his Hail Mary was the Cowboys scoring 40 on Washington. He also floated Abdul Carter as a possible All-Pro. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6211c80-3d1c-46b8-8a0c-151fc0ba92de (scored 100) - Ralph Ventre on Christian Benford: Ventre expects Christian Benford's toe injury to sideline him for at least the Week 4 game against New England, and believes the Bills will have to add a cornerback to the 53-man roster this week — likely by moving Benford to injured reserve — with practice squad rookie Kani Walker the most likely player elevated. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/94b844fe-bb22-4517-81f5-6263eb0213f1 (scored 0) - Carmen Vitali on Buffalo Bills: In the show's weekly picks segment Vitali took the Broncos over the Rams, the Ravens over the Cowboys in Rio, Tampa at home over Minnesota, the Bills over the Chargers and the Eagles on the road in Chicago. She also agreed that Caleb Williams would be out roughly two to three weeks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/948bc684-6a05-4cb4-a5ff-72861da00102 (scored 100) ## More seeding, byes and home field The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Wright on Seattle Seahawks: Wright argues Matt Stafford deserves MVP but predicts Drake Maye will win the award; he also picks Kyle Shanahan for Coach of the Year and Christian McCaffrey for Offensive Player of the Year over JSN. He makes several Week 18 game calls and thinks Seattle beats San Francisco to take the NFC's one seed, while the Raiders' loss scenario yields the No. 1 overall pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8fe4099d-27ce-4dd0-9e0a-d4f2940e2e73 (scored 100) - Kevin Wildes on New England Patriots: Wildes' upset alert is the Chargers beating the Broncos straight up, which he says 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. 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) - 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. He 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) --- 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=bradley-locker