# Jacob Punturi: Punturi argues the Steelers' defense is elite enough to carry Pittsburgh to a second straight AFC North title, but warns the season will be wasted unless Omar Khan trades for a playmaking receiver before the deadline.

**Claimed:** Nov 4, 2026
**Pundit:** Jacob Punturi — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/jacob-punturi
**Outlet:** Sports Illustrated — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/sports-illustrated
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.si.com/nfl/steelers/onsi/pittsburgh-steelers-defense-deserve-offensive-trade

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> It's so good, in fact, that it could carry this team to a second consecutive division championship.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Pittsburgh Steelers to win the division**
  - Kind: Division Winners · About: Pittsburgh Steelers
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers

## What others said about the same people

- Bryan DeArdo on Joey Porter Jr.: The piece predicts Joey Porter Jr. most likely stays with the Steelers through 2026, while listing possible trade destinations if they were moved. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a6edcb85-bcff-47cb-ba7d-e09dc7549fe1 (scored 0)
- Bryan DeArdo on Pittsburgh Steelers: DeArdo picks the Steelers to beat the Browns at home in Week 8, citing Pittsburgh's quarterback edge and a running game that should exploit Cleveland's weak run defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ea81598d-c498-4a5f-a479-a76cec7979e6 (scored 59.52)
- Greg Jennings on Pittsburgh Steelers: Jennings backed the Vikings to upset the Lions in Detroit, put chips on the Steelers over the Browns, and took the Chiefs to win in Denver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f2a33e52-9cab-46bf-a1bf-a5a8e87a5244 (scored 100)
- Chris Simms on Pittsburgh Steelers: Simms gave straight-up winners with predicted final scores for every Week 8 game, including upset calls on the Ravens in Buffalo, the Broncos over the Chiefs, the Jets over the Raiders and the Seahawks over the Bears, and they expected Josh Downs to play for the Colts despite their trade request. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/257149d0-81ab-4feb-a725-ef5bebba04b0 (scored 73.81)
- Connor Rogers on Pittsburgh Steelers: Rogers picked straight-up winners across the Week 8 slate, siding with the Bills over the Ravens, the Lions, Steelers, Jaguars, Bengals, Falcons, Raiders, Broncos, Rams, Patriots, Commanders and the Bears in Seattle. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/14b3a81b-ba4d-4270-b122-8cfe7fc959b0 (scored 100)
- James Harrison on Pittsburgh Steelers: Harrison picked the Steelers to beat the Browns in their Sunday meeting, saying Pittsburgh would even the season series at 1-1 after losing the first matchup. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/0cd70cea-f5fe-44d1-a99f-bd527f74e175 (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)
- Colin Cowherd on Baltimore Ravens: Cowherd likes Jacksonville, Chicago and Pittsburgh (with DK Metcalf back) in the wild-card round, ranks the league's head coaches with McVay first and Ben Johnson seventh, and predicts Lamar Jackson has about two strong years left. They also name the Rams as a possible team to draft a receiver and floats next year's draft having seven first-round quarterbacks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/432d7268-d5b1-49f6-9435-12c9442d3023 (scored 0)
- Danny Parkins on Baltimore Ravens: Parkins lays the points with the Eagles and Cowboys, takes Baltimore to beat Pittsburgh and win the AFC North, picks Carolina over Tampa Bay and Seattle over San Francisco, and says they'd probably pick the Rams to come out of the NFC. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/23bf1e09-f607-4b9a-bdb4-888da7992c89 (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)

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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.

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