# John Middlekauff: After the Packers' Thursday night win over Carolina, Middlekauff set Green Bay's season range at nine to about eleven wins, said Jordan Love will throw double-digit interceptions this year, and picked Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Jacksonville to win their Week 8 games. He also predicted the Titans win only three games, that Jeffrey Simmons is a lock for another All-Pro if healthy, that the Bears will draft in the 20s, that Cleveland will never give Deshaun Watson another dollar, and he named Brian Flores his Coach of the Year. **Claimed:** Oct 30, 2026 **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://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/arttrk.com/p/D5CA5/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/prfx.byspotify.com/e/claritaspod.com/measure/mgln.ai/e/808/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/44c6e42b-f663-4492-888d-ae330034680f/1bb29c87-b14b-4b2d-a76f-b4f3009a5946/audio.mp3?in_playlist=40b7ab93-19e3-455f-8fd2-ae3300346819 9 checkable claims — 4 game outcome picks, 2 season win totals, 1 coach award pick, 1 pro bowl and all-pro call and 1 team draft slot call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 8 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 4 of 9 have settled so far, averaging 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess at the same calls. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room. > I would say, worst case, they're nine wins. Best case, 11-ish. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Pittsburgh Steelers to beat Cleveland Browns** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Pittsburgh Steelers - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Nov 1, 2026): Steelers by 3.5 · favorite pick, Steelers 64%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Jacksonville Jaguars to beat Colts** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Jacksonville Jaguars - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Nov 1, 2026): Jaguars by 10 · favorite pick, Jaguars about 4 in 5 (80%). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Detroit Lions to beat Minnesota** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Detroit Lions - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Nov 1, 2026): Lions by 3 · favorite pick, Lions 60%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat Atlanta** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Nov 1, 2026): Buccaneers by 2.5 · favorite pick, Buccaneers 54%. Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Jeffery Simmons to make All-Pro** - Kind: Pro Bowl and All-Pro Calls · About: Jeffery Simmons, Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Chicago Bears to pick “drafting in the 20s”** - Kind: Team Draft Slot Calls · About: Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Flores to win Coach of the Year** - Kind: Coach Award Picks - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tennessee Titans to finish with 3 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Tennessee Titans - Verdict: not settled yet - **Green Bay Packers to finish with ? wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Green Bay Packers - Verdict: too vague to check ## Who this take is about - Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers - Jacksonville Jaguars — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/jaguars - Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions - Tampa Bay Buccaneers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/buccaneers - Jeffery Simmons — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jeffery-simmons - Chicago Bears — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bears - Tennessee Titans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/titans - Green Bay Packers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/packers ## What others said about the same people - Bill Huber on Green Bay Packers: Huber argues Green Bay has no excuses left and will beat New England in Foxborough, and expects Christian Watson to play despite his rib injury. He also sketches the projected interior offensive line, with John Williams at center and Laken Tomlinson at right guard. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5ab5fa3a-4526-46a4-b11b-a2bc99820cb8 (scored 100) - Pete Prisco on Green Bay Packers: Prisco gives score predictions for every Week 9 NFL game, picking the Bengals to rout the Falcons in Madrid, the Cowboys to rebound at Indianapolis, and the Jaguars to win in Baltimore without Lamar Jackson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dc43909b-bc7f-47aa-b208-5cf7c95844bc (scored 64.29) - Bryan DeArdo on Chicago Bears: DeArdo picks the Bears to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday night in a defensive game, predicting a 20-16 final score. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7b882443-b481-48fb-b19b-e7f989d85e46 (scored 97.62) - Christian Booher on Anthony Lucas: Booher previews the Lions' Week 9 trip to Miami, predicting Derrick Barnes takes over as the green-dot linebacker in Jack Campbell's absence, Juice Scruggs starts at center, and boldly forecasting Detroit's first defensive touchdown of the season on an Aidan Hutchinson strip-sack recovered and returned by Barnes. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/228a7c0e-608b-4043-a8fa-eb3f8b2c4ce8 (scored 0) - Derek Brown on Green Bay Packers: Brown picked the Bengals to beat the Falcons in Madrid, the Packers to win outright in New England and the Bills to beat the Vikings on Monday night. He was bullish on Jonah Coleman's rest-of-season value, expected Jonathan Taylor to play for the Colts, floated a Breece Hall trade, and did not expect DJ Reed to play in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b4014405-6764-427e-9708-679baf6b06de (scored 100) - Danny Parkins on Green Bay Packers: Parkins named the seven AFC teams he believes are already set as the playoff field, expects Chicago, Buffalo and Kansas City to win this week, took Green Bay over New England and Atlanta over Cincinnati outright, and kept Bills–Bears as his Super Bowl matchup with the Giants still winning the NFC East. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/272d1f8a-06f7-4b8b-8480-94d370ae5e6f (scored 100) ## More game outcome picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Jeremy Brener on Seattle Seahawks: Brener picked the Seahawks to beat the Cardinals in Week 9 by a multi-score margin, giving a final score of 27-13, and expressed confidence Seattle would be fine with Drew Lock starting at quarterback. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7eb2d245-63d0-4be0-80ba-3f60197e2b16 (scored 100) - Albert Breer on Seattle Seahawks: Breer picks the Seahawks to beat the Cardinals in their Week 9 NFC West matchup. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4d67a8a5-0c05-4abe-b2ca-f0cef8390b1d (scored 100) - Tyler Sullivan on Seattle Seahawks: Sullivan picks the Seahawks to win in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dfca04b3-5c80-4a2e-b0de-8ac3a25f225b (scored 100) - Dave Richard on Seattle Seahawks: Richard picks the Seahawks over the Cardinals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d3db433e-52c6-42d1-a3b0-6b342aac8a9e (scored 100) - John Pluym on Seattle Seahawks: Pluym picks the Seahawks over the Cardinals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e3897747-c55f-4340-9e82-03f9730f87ba (scored 100) - Pamela Maldonado on Seattle Seahawks: Maldonado picks the Seahawks in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/38b2ad8f-9672-44e8-b3c2-b8ad3b004c09 (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