# John Middlekauff: Middlekauff says Denver's floor is ten wins, predicts Miami implodes to four or five wins and a top-three-or-four draft slot with Tyreek Hill traded, thinks the 49ers beat expectations with nine or ten wins, sees the Patriots at eight or nine wins, calls the Chargers over 9.5 a lock, expects Jared Goff to make five or six Pro Bowls, and says the Packers are flying under the radar. **Claimed:** Aug 25, 2025 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-colin-cowherd-podcast-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-colin-cowherd-podcast/best-of-john-middlekauff-broncos-incredible-turnaround-packers-projections-top-10-qbs-nfl-win-totals 10 checkable claims — 5 season win totals, 2 surprise team calls, 1 pro bowl and all-pro call, 1 team draft slot call and 1 trade and signing call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 9 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 4 of 10 have settled so far, averaging 20 out of 100, against 27.5 for a naive guess at the same calls. > I think they are a lock. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **San Francisco 49ers to finish with 9–10 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: San Francisco 49ers - Verdict: scored 60 out of 100, against 5 for a naive guess - **New England Patriots to finish with 8–9 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Denver Broncos to finish with 10 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Denver Broncos - Verdict: scored 20 out of 100, against 5 for a naive guess - **Jared Goff to make Pro Bowl** - Kind: Pro Bowl and All-Pro Calls · About: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Miami Dolphins to pick “drafting three or four”** - Kind: Team Draft Slot Calls · About: Miami Dolphins - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tetairoa McMillan to move** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Tetairoa McMillan - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Chargers to finish with ? wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: too vague to check - **Green Bay Packers to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Green Bay Packers - Verdict: not settled yet - **Miami Dolphins to finish with ? wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Miami Dolphins - Verdict: too vague to check - **San Francisco 49ers to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: San Francisco 49ers - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - San Francisco 49ers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/49ers - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots - Denver Broncos — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/broncos - Jared Goff — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jared-goff - Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions - Miami Dolphins — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/dolphins - Tetairoa McMillan — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/tetairoa-mcmillan - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chargers - Green Bay Packers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/packers ## What others said about the same people - Chris Simms on San Francisco 49ers: 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 88.1) - Connor Rogers on Detroit Lions: Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/83d1e88b-95a0-45ba-83d3-f86297170c6c (scored 100) - Chris Long on Detroit Lions: 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 100) - Steven Ruiz on Denver Broncos: Previewing Week 3, Ruiz picked the Ravens to beat the Cowboys in Brazil, Jacksonville over New England in a low-scoring game, an upset by the Broncos over the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears, the Lions over the Jets, and his Hail Mary that Houston beats Indianapolis by two touchdowns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a30ff469-4972-4c48-855b-ba984e4de9d0 (scored 100) - Nate Tice on Detroit Lions: Tice matched his guest on every Week 3 game, picking the Ravens over the Cowboys, the Jaguars over the Patriots in a close game, the Broncos to upset the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears and the Lions over the Jets. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b8378e16-ea5c-4107-a883-28aaf0e71134 (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Green Bay Packers: Simms picked the Packers to beat the Falcons in the Thursday night game by a low score, expecting a defensive struggle. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b12420c5-837c-4a24-8a8e-c74b10cc697c (scored 9.52) ## More season win totals The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Colin Cowherd on Dallas Cowboys: Cowherd projects the NFC East with the Giants winning the division ahead of Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas, pegging the Cowboys as a six- or seven-win team. He also expects Malik Willis to land a big free-agent deal, Kayvon Thibodeaux to be moved, and Baltimore to lose Isaiah Likely, and he floats the Rams reaching on Ty Simpson late in round one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cd243624-9451-4824-a8a4-7b468d681c8f (scored 100) - Richard Sherman on Washington Commanders: Sherman previewed every division: he picked Seattle to win the NFC West on a tiebreaker over San Francisco (both 11-11 wins), the Lions over the Packers in the North, the Eagles to run away with the East, Tampa Bay in the South, and Kansas City, Buffalo and the Ravens' division rivals in the AFC. He picked an Eagles–Chiefs Super Bowl with Philadelphia repeating, Joe Burrow for MVP, and gave a top-five power ranking. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ec43b02b-8e3a-4b2e-8c36-1839c9c52e3c (scored 20) - Nick Wright on Houston Texans: Nick Wright gave his early AFC win-total leans: overs on the Jets, Ravens, Jaguars, Chiefs and Raiders, plus projected win ranges for the Dolphins, Texans, Chargers and Broncos, and predicted the Raiders take Ashton Jeanty at No. 6. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cc9d1905-c3e9-4d7f-8dbb-0f840dbb7535 (scored 60) - Chris Brockman on Carolina Panthers: Brockman pitched that the Eagles are the NFL's best team and that Saquon Barkley will win MVP as the first non-quarterback since 2011. He also declared the AFC playoff field already set with six weeks to go, said the Cowboys will make the playoffs, predicted Buffalo would blast the 49ers, and reiterated his earlier call that Carolina would win five or six games. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bf1a843e-6b29-497e-b58c-b8394d790374 (scored 100) - JP Acosta on New York Giants: Acosta expects John Harbaugh's Giants to jump to roughly seven wins in year one, and forecast several offseason moves: Aaron Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh, Daniel Jones returning to the Colts, Kirk Cousins being released by Atlanta, and Brandon Aiyuk leaving San Francisco. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17ab1ec5-a2f1-41c6-a6df-a0e6d949351b (scored 40) - Rich Eisen on New Orleans Saints: 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 40) --- 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=john-middlekauff