Rich Eisen#38 of 87 NFL pundits · Jul 31, 2026

Eisen says they'll again pick both the Bears and the Jaguars to win their divisions, and lays out a top-five sleeper-team list (teams that missed the playoffs but will make them): 5) Browns, 4) Saints, 3) Titans, 2) Giants, 1) Bengals, with Cincinnati winning the AFC North and potentially the AFC and Super Bowl. They also add the Vikings with JJ McCarthy as a sleeper that reaches the playoffs.

Said on air, transcribed by us · The Rich Eisen Show (podcast)Hear the original

Waiting16 calls, none settled yet

—Average accuracynothing settled yet

—A naive guessthe same calls, no knowledge

0 of 16Settled16 still waiting

#38Rich Eisen’s rankof 87 ranked NFL pundits

What Rich Eisen said

By the way, I'm gonna pick both those teams to win their divisions again.

Rich Eisen, the lead quote

Where it was said: The Rich Eisen Show (podcast)
The episode: Hour 3: Rich’s Top 5 NFL Sleeper Teams, plus Seth Rollins Talks WWE SummerSlam
The original: Hear the original
Read it wrong?: Tell us and we will look

The page this came from has changed since we captured it on Aug 12, 2026. The quote and evidence here are from our capture, not from what the page says today.

Box score, by kind

HitCloseMissWaiting

Group	Hits	Close	Misses	Waiting	Calls
Division Winners	0	0	0	3
Surprise Team Calls	0	0	0	6
Conference Champions	0	0	0	1
Playoff Picks	0	0	0	5
Super Bowl Picks	0	0	0	1
All	0	0	0	16

How each call scored

16 checkable claims — 6 surprise team calls, 5 playoff picks, 3 division winners, 1 conference champion and 1 super bowl pick — 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.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

Each call is scored 0 to 100 against what happened, on its own, by the published methodology. The naive guess is what knowing nothing would have scored on the same calls; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.

Division Winners3 waitingShow ▸

Jacksonville Jaguars to win the division
“By the way, I'm gonna pick both those teams to win their divisions again.”
Jacksonville Jaguars
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Chicago Bears to win the division
“Although, I'm not sitting here saying the Bears are regressing. I am also not talking about Jacksonville as much. ... By the way, I'm gonna pick both those teams to win their divisions again.”
Chicago Bears
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Cincinnati Bengals to win the division
“I think the Bengals are the number one sleeper team, and what that means is win the division, go deep in the playoffs”
Cincinnati Bengals
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?

Surprise Team Calls6 waitingShow ▸

New York Giants to beat expectations
“Okay. Number two on the list. I'm buying into this hype too. I'm doing it. The Giants.”
New York Giants
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Tennessee Titans to beat expectations
“Number three on this list. They are bald and they are beautiful ahead of the Tennessee time. ... What if Cam Ward gets this coaching From Daybell.”
Tennessee Titans
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Cincinnati Bengals to beat expectations
“And then number one, my sleeper team of the year ... The Cincinnati Bengals, I think, can win the AFC and win the whole damn shooting match.”
Cincinnati Bengals
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Cleveland Browns to beat expectations
“Number five. I'm going with the Cleveland Browns here. ... I think the Browns can be better than you think.”
Cleveland Browns
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
New Orleans Saints to beat expectations
“I'm buying into some of the bandwagon talk on the Saints. ... So I'm putting the Saints here.”
New Orleans Saints
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Minnesota Vikings to beat expectations
“I'm going to I'm gonna go next level. The Vikings are a sleeper team. With JJ McCarthy? Bingo.”
Minnesota Vikings
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?

Conference Champions1 waitingShow ▸

Cincinnati Bengals to reach the Super Bowl
“The Cincinnati Bengals, I think, can win the AFC ... make it back here to so fine.”
Cincinnati Bengals
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?

Playoff Picks5 waitingShow ▸

New York Giants to make the playoffs
“these are teams that I think that didn't make the playoffs, that are gonna make the playoffs ... Number two on the list ... The Giants.”
New York Giants
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
New Orleans Saints to make the playoffs
“these are teams that I think that didn't make the playoffs, that are gonna make the playoffs ... So I'm putting the Saints here.”
New Orleans Saints
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Minnesota Vikings to make the playoffs
“The kid gets time, and then the kid starts showing up, and the kid gets them to the playoffs ... Minnesota Vikings with JJ McCarthy.”
Minnesota Vikings
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Tennessee Titans to make the playoffs
“these are teams that I think that didn't make the playoffs, that are gonna make the playoffs ... Number three on this list ... Tennessee”
Tennessee Titans
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
Cleveland Browns to make the playoffs
“So these are teams that didn't make the playoffs, and these are teams that I think that didn't make the playoffs, that are gonna make the playoffs. ... Number five. I'm going with the Cleveland Browns here.”
Cleveland Browns
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?

Super Bowl Picks1 waitingShow ▸

Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl
“The Cincinnati Bengals, I think, can win the AFC and win the whole damn shooting match.”
Cincinnati Bengals
—Waiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?

Who this take is about

Where do you stand on this one?Pick every open claim on Picks →

Others on the same people

Sam Monson · Game Outcome Picks · New York Giants · Miss 0
Monson picked every Week 10 game, taking the Giants, Lions, Packers, Panthers, Colts, Texans, Bills, Chiefs, Jaguars, Seahawks, Rams, Cowboys, Bengals and Ravens, and also suggested the Chargers' only likely wins the rest of the way come against the Jets and Dolphins.
Pete Prisco · Score Predictions · New York Giants · Miss 36
Prisco picks the Giants to beat the Commanders 23-14 on Thursday night and the Lions to beat the Patriots 30-24 in Munich.
Jared Dubin · Score Predictions · New York Giants · Close 43
Dubin picks the Giants to beat the Commanders 20-14 on Thursday night and takes the Packers over the Vikings 17-14 in a low-scoring Week 10 game.
Jared Dubin · Score Predictions · New York Giants · Close 43
Dubin picks the Giants to beat the Commanders at home on Thursday night, projecting a 20-14 final score.
Pete Prisco · Score Predictions · New York Giants · Miss 36
Prisco picked the Giants to beat the Commanders at home in the Thursday night Week 10 game, 23-14, citing New York's dominant front seven containing Jayden Daniels.
Jared Dubin · Score Predictions · New York Giants · Close 43
Dubin predicted final scores for seven Week 10 games, taking the Giants over the Commanders, the Lions, Chiefs, Packers, 49ers, Bengals and Ravens to win their respective matchups.

More surprise team calls

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

Nick Wright · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Wright expects the 49ers to handle Dallas, the Lions to beat New England, the Packers to beat Minnesota and the Chiefs to win in Atlanta, while naming the Texans again as the league's second-half surge team, picking Joe Burrow for MVP and saying Kansas City still makes the playoffs.
Dan Orlovsky · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Named Houston and Detroit as the underrated teams in each conference, said the Texans could reach 11-6 and the playoffs, and predicted CJ Stroud's next contract will start with a seven annually, with Caleb Williams getting even more afterward.
Bill Simmons · Surprise Team Calls · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · Waiting
Simmons named the Houston Texans as the AFC's second-half surge team and, reluctantly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the NFC's, arguing both clubs sitting at or below.500 will make a run down the stretch.
Danny Kelly · Surprise Team Calls · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · Waiting
Kelly argued the Buccaneers are the one NFC South club capable of a second-half surge, citing a soft remaining schedule and the league's top defensive EPA.
Logan Lazarczyk · Surprise Team Calls · Houston Texans · Waiting
Lazarczyk argues the Raiders can still contend for the AFC's final wild-card spot, naming the Bills, Broncos, Jaguars, Steelers, Chiefs and Bengals as locks for the top six seeds, calling Houston a sleeper, and predicting Las Vegas can beat the Chargers, Titans and Cardinals down the stretch.
Jordan Dajani · Surprise Team Calls · Pittsburgh Steelers · Waiting
Halfway through the season, Dajani sorts the playoff field into contenders and pretenders: they suggest Joe Burrow could win MVP this year, and while they dismiss Pittsburgh as a true Super Bowl threat, they expect the Steelers to be a playoff team and a possible sleeper.