# Rich Eisen: Eisen backs the Texans to win the AFC South and buys a listener's premise that no division repeats, which to him means Buffalo takes the AFC East; separately he names the Bengals as his AFC North pick. He also thinks Todd Monken belongs in the Coach of the Year picture, endorses the Giants rolling with their rookie quarterback going forward, and expects Indianapolis to clean house around Jonathan Taylor, with Daniel Jones gone. **Claimed:** Oct 19, 2026 **Pundit:** Rich Eisen — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/rich-eisen **Outlet:** Overreaction Monday (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/overreaction-monday-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us **Original:** https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP5336443147.mp3 6 checkable claims — 3 division winners, 1 coach award pick, 1 depth chart call 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. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room. > And the Bengals who are my choice to win the division, they're they're at Baltimore next. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Buffalo Bills to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: not settled yet - **J.J. McCarthy to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: J.J. McCarthy, New York Giants - Verdict: not settled yet - **Houston Texans to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Houston Texans - Verdict: not settled yet - **Cincinnati Bengals to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet - **Daniel Jones to move — “I think he's gonna go”** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Daniel Jones - Verdict: not settled yet - **Todd Monken to win Coach of the Year** - Kind: Coach Award Picks - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills - J.J. McCarthy — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/j-j-mccarthy - New York Giants — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/giants - Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals - Daniel Jones — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/daniel-jones ## What others said about the same people - Pete Prisco on Houston Texans: 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 54.76) - Jared Koch on Houston Texans: Koch predicts the Texans will beat the winless Chargers on the road in Week 9 by at least 10 points, with Houston's defense forcing a couple of turnovers to set up a multiple-score win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e2861ce9-d1de-4f34-b001-83e64c3f5770 (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Houston Texans: Simms gave a predicted final score for every Week 9 game, picking the Bengals, Chiefs, Broncos, Lions, Giants, Rams, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bears and Bills, and also said he wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 80.95) - Connor Rogers on Houston Texans: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 100) - Nick Wright on Houston Texans: Wright made several outright game calls for Week 9 alongside his spread picks: Kansas City beating the Jets 31-20, Detroit winning at Miami, New England edging Green Bay by a field goal or so, Carolina winning outright over Denver, and Houston blowing out the Chargers 27-12. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/14c1f8dd-d8ff-498f-b705-4b468ff964f8 (scored 83.33) - John Shipley on Houston Texans: Shipley expects Jacksonville to keep Brian Thomas Jr. at the trade deadline while adding two defenders, most likely Derrick Brown, and he thinks the winless Chargers will again come up short against Houston in Week 9. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1c3cc043-b892-4670-b2d9-2fd2721fd419 (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. He also gives 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 Los Angeles Chargers: Cowherd unveiled his 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. He also names 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 he'd probably pick the Rams to come out of the NFC. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/23bf1e09-f607-4b9a-bdb4-888da7992c89 (scored 0) - 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 he thinks 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) - Nick Shook on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Shook picks the Rams to win the Super Bowl and to beat the Lions, agrees the Buccaneers still hold the edge in the NFC South, and drops Patrick Mahomes to 12th in his QB Index behind Brock Purdy. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cd498dba-6f44-461d-9beb-f748424098a3 (scored 0) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. 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