# John Middlekauff: Middlekauff reiterated his pick of the Packers to win the NFC North, set a nine-win floor for the 49ers while being more bullish on them than consensus, and argued Denver's floor with a dominant defense and Sean Payton is about ten wins.

**Claimed:** Jun 30, 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/colin-cowherd-podcast-who-wins-nfc-north-broncos-poised-for-breakout-pay-micah-parsons-liv-tour

4 checkable claims — 2 season win totals, 1 division winner and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 3 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

3 of 4 have settled so far, averaging 20 out of 100, against 3.3 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> anything other than nine wins if you're the forty nine ers based on this schedule, based on you know, investing in the quarterback would be viewed as a disaster

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Green Bay Packers to win the division**
  - Kind: Division Winners · About: Green Bay Packers
  - 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
- **San Francisco 49ers to finish with 9 wins**
  - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: San Francisco 49ers
  - Verdict: scored 40 out of 100, against 5 for a naive guess
- **San Francisco 49ers to beat expectations**
  - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: San Francisco 49ers
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Green Bay Packers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/packers
- Denver Broncos — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/broncos
- San Francisco 49ers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/49ers

## 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)
- 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 Denver Broncos: 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)
- Richie Bradshaw on San Francisco 49ers: Bradshaw picks the 49ers to beat the Cardinals in their Week 3 matchup, predicting a final score of 27-14 in San Francisco's favor. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/56e0c2a3-ddff-46f8-8359-2a546546a29c (scored 83.33)
- Tracy Sandler on Denver Broncos: Sandler predicted Caleb Williams would miss two to three weeks with his hamstring injury, and in the picks segment took the Broncos, Ravens, Vikings, Bills and Bears (switching off an earlier Tampa pick). — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/74f12600-9587-488a-af00-2e8c11643531 (scored 100)

## 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 New England Patriots: Nick Wright walked through the Browns' quarterback situation and then gave leans and bets on every AFC team's win total, offering concrete win-count expectations for several clubs plus a call on Brock Bowers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1e745abb-ae8f-4f8c-893e-bfb5d53589b1 (scored 20)
- Colin Cowherd on New England Patriots: Cowherd takes the Titans over their five-and-a-half win total on the strength of Cam Ward and Brian Callahan, calls New England an eight-to-nine win team, picks Green Bay to win the NFC North, expects the Giants to lose all four games to Washington and Philadelphia, and sketches a quarterback ranking with C.J. Stroud around 10th and Baker Mayfield 11th. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e32a708a-5651-4292-b71b-672f2216a48e (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Los Angeles Chargers: 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 80)
- Richard Sherman on Detroit Lions: Sherman picks the Chiefs to beat the Bills in the AFC Championship Game despite Buffalo's turnover dominance, and picks the Commanders to upset the Eagles in Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. He also expects Saquon Barkley to win Offensive Player of the Year, though he hedges that voters may give it to Lamar or Josh Allen. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fd0cf59d-3729-4865-8641-02792d0b6b24 (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