Chargers: Pundits Are 0-for-30 Picking Them to Win in a 0-6 Season | MissedTakes Daily

How bad has pundit confidence in the Chargers been this season?

Every graded game-outcome call on the Los Angeles Chargers in 2026 picked them to win, and all 30 were wrong. The Chargers sit at 0-6, and the 30 graded calls average 0 accuracy and a MissedTakes Score of -38 (above zero would mean a call beat picking the home team; these came in well below). Not one graded call this season picked an opponent to beat Los Angeles outright.

The pattern holds across the season's bigger swings. Eric Mangini backed the Chargers as a Week 5 upset special over Denver on October 9, and they lost 23-17. David Droegemeier picked them to beat Buffalo before Week 3, telling his audience "I feel like the chargers can beat the bills, and I feel like they will" and that call scored a MissedTakes Score of -200, as low as the scale goes. Sam Monson, Eric Williams and Kevin Wildes all took that same Buffalo upset and all lost the same way.

Which prediction types has the club drawn?

Score predictions and game-outcome picks dominate the record on the Chargers, and neither is where this team's pundits have done well. The 57 graded-or-pending game-outcome calls average 18.9 accuracy, the worst of any heavily-called category on the club. Score predictions fare a little better (46.1 accuracy on 11 graded calls), and roster-spot and depth-chart calls, thinner categories with 20 and 18 graded calls, average 80 and 94. The split suggests pundits read the Chargers' roster moves better than they read the Chargers' Sundays.

One piece of context softens the picture some: playoff-berth calls on the Chargers average 96.2 accuracy across 26 graded picks, mostly tied to last year's team, which went 11-6 and made the playoffs in 2025. Pundits had a real read on that Chargers team. This year's is a different team, and the record shows it.

Which pundits have the Chargers right, and which don't?

Among pundits with at least five graded Chargers calls, Kyle Brandt and Rich Eisen lead the group, while Jason McIntyre and John Middlekauff trail it.

Did anyone back off the Chargers as the losses piled up?

Win-total calls on the Chargers fell hard once the season started going wrong. In August, before a game was played, forecasters put the team near 10 or 11 wins: Moe Moton had them at 10-7, Nate Tice and Hayden Winks both said 11, and Colin Cowherd called them "a 12-win team" on August 25. By September 7, John Breech still had the Chargers at 9-8. Once the 0-5 start set in, the same kind of shows walked it back fast. Matt Harmon said "maybe they might win four games" on October 15, Chris Long followed with "four and thirteen" the next day, and John Middlekauff, on October 23, put the Chargers' realistic range at "two or three games this year."

What's left to predict with the season already lost?

With the Chargers winless, the forward-looking calls have shifted to the trade deadline and next year's draft slot. Chris Roling and John Middlekauff both argued in October that Justin Herbert won't be traded despite the record, while Alain Poupart wrote on October 19 that the race for the No. 1 overall pick in 2027 could come down to the Chargers and the Dolphins. Field Yates' latest mock draft, published October 23, already has Los Angeles taking Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith at that spot. None of those calls are graded yet; the season, and the draft, haven't happened.

How did Michael Irvin's Cowboys season predictions score?

Michael Irvin posted the best graded results in football punditry this past week, going 2-for-2 at 100 accuracy on detailed game-by-game Dallas Cowboys season predictions, each worth a MissedTakes Score of 200. At the bottom, a co-host identified only as "Jarvis" scored 0 accuracy and a -200 score on a full set of division-winner and Super Bowl picks. Those two calls bookend the 335 takes graded across the league in the past seven days, a volume that still leaves Bryan DeArdo atop the pundit leaderboard, with an 86.15 MissedTakes Score on 22 graded calls.