# Darius Butler: Said Brian Flores could be Coach of the Year for what he is doing with the Vikings defense, and picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night with Stafford outplaying Josh Allen.

**Claimed:** Oct 12, 2026
**Pundit:** Darius Butler — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/darius-butler
**Outlet:** The Pat McAfee Show (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-pat-mcafee-show-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us
**Original:** https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP1682187990.mp3

2 checkable claims — 1 coach award pick and 1 game outcome pick — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

1 of 2 have settled so far, averaging 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> Brian Flores might be the damn coach of the year this year.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Los Angeles Rams to beat Bills**
  - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Los Angeles Rams
  - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess
  - Line: Closing line (Oct 12, 2026): Rams by 3.5 · favorite pick, Rams 62%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade.
- **Brian Flores to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams

## What others said about the same people

- Jared Dubin on Los Angeles Rams: Dubin picks the Rams to beat the Bills in the Week 5 Monday night game, projecting a 28-24 final score as Los Angeles' Nacua-Adams-Williams trio proves too much for Buffalo's defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4d5c92bc-d4b9-48e9-bb9f-695f82fee90b (scored 47.62)
- Anthony "Tone Digz" DiGuilio on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night because of their defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3c8da282-f981-43ec-97e4-d147ef00b42a (scored 0)
- Pat McAfee on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills in the Monday night game at SoFi Stadium. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b11b3677-3d44-49d4-ac2d-bb8ac3179121 (scored 0)
- AJ Hawk on Los Angeles Rams: Took the Rams over the Bills on Monday night, saying they win by seven in a high-scoring quarterback duel. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/95507356-2ff5-404a-82b1-0963b8665fff (scored 0)
- Ty Schmit on Los Angeles Rams: Predicted a 38-34 Rams win over the Bills on Monday night, and said Micah Parsons will be back on the field for the Packers within the next week or two. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/95627559-9ab1-4c1a-bb21-bb46709b6b6f (scored 47.62)
- Tyler Sullivan on Los Angeles Rams: Sullivan picked the Rams to beat the Bills 28-24 on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/71e3f67c-e086-4efb-ac04-e77eeafc855b (scored 47.62)

## More coach award picks

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

- Matt Hasselbeck: Hasselbeck agreed on the Bills and Ravens as AFC division winners, picked the Colts (with Daniel Jones) to win the AFC South, the Broncos to win the AFC West, the Seahawks to win the NFC West, and tabbed Brian Flores for a Coach of the Year-type honor. He also said the Patriots would make a big jump and potentially reach the playoffs, and named Minnesota, Las Vegas, New England and Chicago as offseason winners. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/757877f8-ca0d-4888-b062-a4a6dd71d0e6 (scored 0)
- Richard Sherman: Sherman picked the Eagles, Vikings, Ravens and Bills in their wild-card games, named Lamar Jackson MVP, Patrick Surtain DPOY, Kevin O'Connell Coach of the Year, put Jared Verse in the top three of Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and gave a Week 18 power ranking with Kansas City first. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2d7cf80e-1b0e-4129-92f3-225d97061cbe (scored 100)
- Chris Brockman: Brockman argued that Kyle Shanahan deserves Coach of the Year after the 49ers' road win in Philadelphia, a take Rich Eisen partly called an overreaction since it's a regular-season award. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4da2fac2-7a9e-4cf2-a606-9dc6c7fd548d (scored 0)
- Pat Gustavson: Gustafson picked the Bears, Eagles, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, the Rams and Bears in the NFC, the Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, and the Patriots to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. His awards slate included Stafford for MVP, Puka for OPOY and Liam Cohen for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/671b9c4f-1f25-4f11-ad26-16a1126ea3b8 (scored 0)
- Brandon Carney: Carney made a full playoff bracket, picking the Bears, Niners, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, then Seahawks and Rams in the NFC divisional, Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, with the Rams beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He also gave award picks including Stafford for MVP and Vrabel for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/88101820-7344-4240-93f1-caa15fe95de9 (scored 100)
- Rich Eisen: Eisen gave his Week 13 power rankings, with the Rams first, Patriots second and the Cowboys entering at No. 10, and also named New England and Philadelphia as the first teams to clinch playoff spots, picked Seattle to beat Minnesota, and tabbed Drake Maye as an MVP finalist and Mike Vrabel as Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/960141f1-11b7-4c57-9ef8-0f7b8b41bc99 (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=darius-butler
