# Rich Eisen: Eisen gave his top three in his power rankings after two weeks (Bills, Seahawks, 49ers), picked the Bengals to win the AFC North, expected Tyson Bagent to start for Chicago and Marcus Mariota to start for Washington, assumed Sam Darnold would return for Seattle's upcoming stretch, and insisted the Chargers will not trade Justin Herbert. **Claimed:** Sep 21, 2026 **Pundit:** Rich Eisen — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/rich-eisen **Outlet:** Overreaction Monday (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.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/ESP8610293022.mp3 6 checkable claims — 2 depth chart calls, 1 availability call, 1 division winner, 1 power ranking and 1 trade and signing call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 9 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 2 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room on every one. > Bills are top of my power rankings, and you got Seattle just out of respect. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Cincinnati Bengals to win the division** - Kind: Division Winners · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet - **their first game at Seattle, which is a massive week five game. And we assume Sam Donald is going to be back for all of that.** - Kind: Availability Calls · About: Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks - Verdict: not settled yet - **the the the niners were top my power rankings, after, two weeks... You have him third? ... So still top Bills are top of my power rankings, and you got Seattle just out of respect.** - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Marcus Mariota to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tyson Bagent to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears - Verdict: not settled yet - **Justin Herbert to stay with Los Angeles Chargers** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bengals - Sam Darnold — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/sam-darnold - Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/seahawks - Marcus Mariota — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/marcus-mariota - Washington Commanders — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/commanders - Tyson Bagent — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/tyson-bagent - Chicago Bears — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bears - Justin Herbert — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/justin-herbert - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/chargers ## What others said about the same people - Michael Hanich on Seattle Seahawks: Hanich argues the Week 2 road game at Arizona is not a true trap game, citing Seattle's long winning streak in the series, Mike Macdonald's preparation and injuries in the Cardinals' secondary, and rates his confidence in the Seahawks at 7. He also suggests safety Nick Emmanwori may miss a second straight game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/735e7874-81a3-4bde-8c8f-d718cadf6e33 (scored 100) - Trevor Ripley on Chicago Bears: Ripley picks the Bears to beat the Vikings at Soldier Field in Week 2, 30-19, arguing Minnesota's offense is hobbled by injuries while Chicago's offense edges an aggressive but star-thin Vikings defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1fa96607-4b84-4eb4-b501-94ce307ff357 (scored 38.1) - Chris Broussard on Chicago Bears: Brew stood by the Lions as division winners and playoff team, picked the Texans over Cincinnati, the Bears over Minnesota, the Patriots to beat Pittsburgh with a solid Drake Maye game, flagged Jacksonville over Denver as his upset alert, and said he still feels good about the Ravens winning the AFC. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a54915e0-49e6-427b-a7a5-4feb5d0f3cbb (scored 0) - Greg Jennings on Chicago Bears: Jennings put the Cardinals up as his upset alert over Seattle, backed the Texans over Cincinnati and the Bears over Minnesota with chips, put two chips on Denver beating Jacksonville, and wrote a headline of the Packers beating the Jets; he also called the Bengals a playoff team and the Chiefs winners over Indianapolis. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/420d3e29-6224-43a2-8d68-b15c864838cd (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Chicago Bears: Parkins picked the Giants to beat the Rams outright, backed Jacksonville over Denver, Cincinnati over Houston and Chicago over Minnesota in the chips segment, endorsed Buffalo as the AFC's Super Bowl representative, and predicted Deshaun Watson has started his last NFL game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/36d4ede8-3066-4102-abbc-cb08e4544c92 (scored 0) - Nick Shook on Los Angeles Chargers: Shook said he would take the Steelers and Jaguars to win outright on the road, still expects the Chargers to beat the Raiders, and thinks Baltimore's run game will turn the Saints game into a double-digit Ravens win. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/b377b42a-7d78-4210-af2a-f8d1088561b2 (scored 0) ## More depth chart calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Pat Fitzmaurice on Aaron Jones: In previewing the 10 most intriguing fantasy performers of Week 2, Fitzmaurice expects Atlanta's quarterback problems to persist with Tua Tagovailoa unlikely to play and Michael Penix Jr. not ready to return, flags Falcons slot corner Billy Bowman Jr. as a possible Week 2 returnee, and describes Aaron Jones as Minnesota's lead back and Kaelon Black as the clear backup to Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/31adc8bb-8f15-453f-bbcf-cab44e29b8b3 (scored 100) - Matt Severance on Deshaun Watson: The CBS Sports preview backs Tampa Bay to beat Cleveland in the Bucs' Week 2 home opener, and states that Deshaun Watson — not Shedeur Sanders — will be Cleveland's starting quarterback in Week 2. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/944568ce-7205-409f-8354-a392016fd8bf (scored 100) - Rafael Zamorano on Deshaun Watson: Zamorano reports Watson will start Week 2 at Tampa Bay and suggests there's little reason to expect improvement, raising the possibility Watson's five-year contract never yields more than single-digit wins. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/d7d7e0a2-61e0-4525-970b-b01a2356f11b (scored 100) - Rich Hribar on Tua Tagovailoa: Hribar expects Tua Tagovailoa to be Atlanta's starting quarterback for Week 2 while Michael Penix stays out, with Penix's return closer to Week 4. He is unenthusiastic about the Falcons' offense either way and treats Bryce Young as a fringe fantasy starter. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/124ac755-a942-4382-8bad-177da7f8170d (scored 0) - Bradley Locker on Carson Wentz: PFF's unsigned adjusted power rankings after Week 1 of the 2026 season place the Bills first, the Rams second and the Dolphins last, with notes on quarterback situations in Seattle, Minnesota and Cleveland. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a3716f21-0488-4fc8-a414-c25c2d781a6e (scored 100) - Tyler Sullivan on Michael Penix Jr.: In a Week 1 recap with no named byline, CBS Sports suggested Michael Penix Jr. would take over as Atlanta's Week 2 starter if healthy, called Ashton Jeanty's sophomore breakout imminent, and warned readers not to overlook San Francisco as NFC West winners. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1000d8d0-5de1-405e-b8ce-255cde75a32d (scored 0) --- 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.thegoodapps.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.thegoodapps.co/corrections?pundit=rich-eisen