# Steve Palazzolo: Palazzolo said Rams-Broncos was his preseason Super Bowl matchup and suggested Seattle's defense under Mike Macdonald is a top-three unit in the league. **Claimed:** Sep 24, 2026 **Pundit:** Steve Palazzolo — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/steve-palazzolo **Outlet:** Check the Mic (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/check-the-mic-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us **Original:** https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/256/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.megaphone.fm/RSV9063045304.mp3 3 checkable claims — 2 conference champions and 1 position group finish — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 3 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 above the rest of the room. > Are they, like, are they just the top three defense in perpetuity here with McDonald? They might be. They're that good. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Denver Broncos to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Denver Broncos - Verdict: not settled yet - **Los Angeles Rams to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Los Angeles Rams - Verdict: not settled yet - **Seattle Seahawks defense to be top 3 in the league** - Kind: Position Group Finish · About: Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Denver Broncos — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/broncos - Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams - Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/seahawks ## What others said about the same people - Jared Dubin on Los Angeles Rams: Dubin picks the Rams to beat the Bills in the Week 5 Monday night game, projecting a 28-24 final score as Los Angeles' Nacua-Adams-Williams trio proves too much for Buffalo's defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4d5c92bc-d4b9-48e9-bb9f-695f82fee90b (scored 47.62) - Anthony "Tone Digz" DiGuilio on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night because of their defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3c8da282-f981-43ec-97e4-d147ef00b42a (scored 0) - Darius Butler on Los Angeles Rams: Said Brian Flores could be Coach of the Year for what he is doing with the Vikings defense, and picked the Rams to beat the Bills on Monday night with Stafford outplaying Josh Allen. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/bbaeb70d-e67f-4a28-88ea-c0d95a26f4e9 (scored 0) - Pat McAfee on Los Angeles Rams: Picked the Rams to beat the Bills in the Monday night game at SoFi Stadium. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b11b3677-3d44-49d4-ac2d-bb8ac3179121 (scored 0) - AJ Hawk on Los Angeles Rams: Took the Rams over the Bills on Monday night, saying they win by seven in a high-scoring quarterback duel. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/95507356-2ff5-404a-82b1-0963b8665fff (scored 0) - Ty Schmit on Los Angeles Rams: Predicted a 38-34 Rams win over the Bills on Monday night, and said Micah Parsons will be back on the field for the Packers within the next week or two. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/95627559-9ab1-4c1a-bb21-bb46709b6b6f (scored 47.62) ## More conference champions The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Wright on New England Patriots: The host picks the Rams to beat the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game and believes the winner of that game wins the Super Bowl, i.e. that this is the Rams' year; he also picks New England to win in Denver despite taking the Broncos with the points, and says Stafford is winning MVP. He calls Sean McVay the second-best coach in the NFL. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5d16f975-ba4e-46f4-8717-8962b81c5bdf (scored 100) - Connor "Boston Connor" Campbell on New England Patriots: Connor expects a tight first half in Denver before New England pulls away in the second half and advances to the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c31dff9f-7c0a-422d-9df1-e7423b9edcc8 (scored 100) - Gregg Rosenthal on New England Patriots: Rosenthal picks the Patriots to beat the Broncos in a close, low-scoring AFC Championship in Denver (while liking Denver to cover the 4.5 points), takes the Seahawks over the Rams in a defensive NFC Championship he pegs around 23-19, and forecasts a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/830a8ed3-b98f-4161-a71c-4c7beb80f350 (scored 100) - Richard Sherman on New England Patriots: Sherman picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams comfortably at home, 27-17, with a defensive score, and says the winner of that NFC Championship game will win the Super Bowl. He also picks the Patriots to win comfortably in Denver, 21-15, and assumes Matthew Stafford will be named league MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4711f09c-65e6-4c33-8374-9601a907fa43 (scored 100) - Mitchell Eisenstein on New England Patriots: Mitchell picks Seattle to beat the Rams by a touchdown, 27-20, and advance to the Super Bowl, picks New England to beat Denver and reach the Super Bowl, and calls Kenneth Walker as Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fd716584-0e06-4a91-abb9-56f7d9e79b5d (scored 100) - Pat Gustavson on New England Patriots: Gustafson picks the Patriots, Bills, Seahawks and Bears in the divisional round with a Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl, predicts Mike Tomlin and Matt LaFleur stay, Aaron Rodgers returns to Pittsburgh, and lays out his own coaching landing spots. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/06884586-5b21-40c8-9439-e303a3e8a806 (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=steve-palazzolo