# 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 call. 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 - Pete Prisco on Buffalo Bills: Prisco picked the Bills to win 21-14 at Minnesota. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/baf85732-a389-4d56-8efe-5ce1e77fb8ae (scored 76.19) - John Breech on Buffalo Bills: Breech picked the Bills to beat the Vikings on Monday night by a score of 24-17. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4d22cd22-c9e2-4e03-ac32-129a116a34d0 (scored 76.19) - Jordan Dajani on Buffalo Bills: Dajani picked the Bills to edge the Vikings 24-23. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/28009098-d828-4465-9c7f-f92dac661f0a (scored 61.9) - Jared Dubin on Buffalo Bills: Dubin picked Buffalo to win a low-scoring Monday night game in Minnesota, 20-14. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4535f610-1df1-45e9-a603-fae7ef72893f (scored 73.81) - Tyler Sullivan on Buffalo Bills: Sullivan picked the Bills to beat the Vikings 24-17. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bd29eda0-d993-4b00-af09-edb0051a4f4b (scored 76.19) - 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) ## 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) --- 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