# John Middlekauff: Middlecoff says Anthony Richardson's Colts career is finished and expects them to be traded within ten days for any value, even a fifth-round pick. They back the Texans to win the AFC South, calls the Ravens, Bills and Chiefs playoff locks with Baltimore and Buffalo winning their divisions, and expects Buffalo to win 14-plus games. **Claimed:** Aug 20, 2025 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** 3 and Out with John Middlekauff (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/anthony-richardson-out-in-indy-what-is-going-on-rankings-jon-gruden-back-to-coaching 8 checkable claims — 3 division winners, 3 playoff picks, 1 season win total and 1 trade and signing call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 6 players and teams, each linked to their own record. All 8 have settled, averaging 20 out of 100, against 34.4 for a naive guess at the same calls. > I would imagine the next ten days if they get any bit of value a fifth round pick he's traded, it's over. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Anthony Richardson to move to Indianapolis Colts** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Buffalo Bills to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Baltimore Ravens to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Houston Texans to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Houston Texans - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Kansas City Chiefs to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Kansas City Chiefs - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Buffalo Bills to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Buffalo Bills to finish with 14 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 60 out of 100, against 75 for a naive guess - **Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess ## Who this take is about - Anthony Richardson — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/anthony-richardson - Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/colts - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills - Baltimore Ravens — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/ravens - Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans - Kansas City Chiefs — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chiefs ## What others said about the same people - Chris Clark on Nikko Remigio: Clark expects the Chiefs to bring back exclusive-rights receiver Nico (Remigio) and long snapper James Winchester, to re-sign JuJu Smith-Schuster as a cheap veteran fifth receiver, and not to bring back Hollywood Brown, Josh Dobbs-type depth, Gardner Minshew, Janarius Robinson or Mike Caliendo; they also say the Chiefs will not use a franchise tag and believes Bryan Cook won't return. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/99521265-d5c0-4db1-b2a0-fe77908ea0b3 (scored 0) - Gilberto Manzano on Josh Downs: Previewing the trade deadline, he expects Justin Herbert to stay in Los Angeles despite the Chargers' 0–7 start, thinks the Jets will keep Garrett Wilson and pair him with their young weapons, expects a receiver-hungry Kansas City to be aggressive with Josh Downs the likeliest target, and suggests expiring Eagles contracts Moro Ojomo and Riq Woolen could be dealt for mid-round picks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/67d5af78-94ea-4ee2-a277-5e68347022de (scored 100) - Joshua Poniatowski on Josh Downs: Poniatowski names several trade targets, predicting Malik Willis underperforms this week against New England, that Omarion Hampton could become a viable RB2 if Adam Gase takes over play-calling, that Josh Downs gets traded (ideally to Kansas City, where they'd be a top-24 WR), that Brian Thomas Jr. could be dealt to the Rams or 49ers, and that Travis Kelce remains a consistent weekly TE. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d1752582-a799-48b9-984b-39bf7cb8b709 (scored 100) - Andrew Erickson on Josh Downs: Erickson floated Kansas City as the landing spot for Josh Downs and said a trade there would make them at least a WR3 rest of season; they also expect Rashee Rice to leave the Chiefs after this season as a free agent. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e97e28f2-31fc-4702-915c-63c38477e97d (scored 100) - Jordan Dajani on Josh Downs: After reporting that Colts receiver Josh Downs requested a trade, they identify five clubs as plausible landing spots for them: the Rams, Patriots, Falcons, Chiefs and Raiders, and suggests Las Vegas could also give them a long-term extension. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f5af1657-8608-4071-a63e-0e7d6124e627 (scored 100) - Mike Kadlick on Josh Downs: Kadlick names the Chiefs, Patriots and 49ers as the three best trade landing spots for Colts wide receiver Josh Downs ahead of the Nov. 10 deadline. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/45c94482-ef71-413f-834b-2a246271691d (scored 100) ## More division winners The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Daniel DiBerardinis on Atlanta Falcons: Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. They also give a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8a8e0b7c-9f1c-4c13-8138-1332d73b9b02 (scored 0) - Colin Cowherd on New York Giants: 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. They also expect Malik Willis to land a big free-agent deal, Kayvon Thibodeaux to be moved, and Baltimore to lose Isaiah Likely, and they float the Rams reaching on Ty Simpson late in round one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cd243624-9451-4824-a8a4-7b468d681c8f (scored 0) - Colin Cowherd on Los Angeles Chargers: Cowherd unveiled their top 10 NFL teams entering next season, with Seattle first, the Rams second and the Chiefs tenth, and separately picked the Chargers to win the AFC West. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/78de302a-c2f9-41b4-8897-87943ca44caa (scored 0) - Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: 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) - Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: 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) - Chris Brockman on Chicago Bears: Brockman called the Broncos-Packers game the best of the day, said Denver looks poised to lock up the AFC's No. 1 seed and reach the AFC Championship Game, predicted the Bears win the NFC North and the Eagles win their division (though they think they lose to a five seed from the NFC West), and said Philip Rivers will be in the NFL in 2026. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e86c9e4d-7802-432a-a26c-4edefb3b6aee (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=john-middlekauff