# John Middlekauff: Middlecoff predicts Daniel Jones leads the Colts to the playoffs with nine or ten wins, that Zac Taylor's Bengals will fire him and have a new coach in 2026, and that the Patriots make the playoffs. He also expects Jackson Dart to be inserted as the Giants' starter early and thinks the Giants win only four or five games, while believing Josh Allen will win a Super Bowl. **Claimed:** Jun 24, 2025 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd/hour-1-bold-predictions 9 checkable claims — 2 depth chart calls, 2 playoff picks, 2 season win totals, 2 surprise team calls and 1 super bowl pick — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 6 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 7 of 9 have settled so far, averaging 68.6 out of 100, against 64.5 for a naive guess at the same calls. > Daniel Jones leads the Colts to the playoffs. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Jaxson Dart to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Jaxson Dart, New York Giants - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 91.67 for a naive guess - **Indianapolis Colts to finish with 9 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 80 out of 100, against 95 for a naive guess - **New England Patriots to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **New York Giants to finish with 4 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: New York Giants - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 65 for a naive guess - **Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl** - Kind: Super Bowl Picks · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Daniel Jones to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Indianapolis Colts to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Indianapolis Colts to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: not settled yet - **New England Patriots to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Jaxson Dart — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/jaxson-dart - New York Giants — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/giants - Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/colts - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/patriots - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bills - Daniel Jones — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/daniel-jones ## What others said about the same people - Carmen Vitali on Buffalo Bills: In the show's weekly picks segment Vitali took the Broncos over the Rams, the Ravens over the Cowboys in Rio, Tampa at home over Minnesota, the Bills over the Chargers and the Eagles on the road in Chicago. She also agreed that Caleb Williams would be out roughly two to three weeks. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/948bc684-6a05-4cb4-a5ff-72861da00102 (scored 100) - Tracy Sandler on Buffalo Bills: Sandler predicted Caleb Williams would miss two to three weeks with his hamstring injury, and in the picks segment took the Broncos, Ravens, Vikings, Bills and Bears (switching off an earlier Tampa pick). — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/74f12600-9587-488a-af00-2e8c11643531 (scored 100) - Chris Broussard on New England Patriots: Broussard picked the Bills to beat the Chargers in a competitive, higher-scoring game, said the Chiefs will rout the Dolphins, and for upset alert parlayed the Patriots over the Jaguars and the Raiders over the Saints. He also restated his Cowboys-versus-Ravens Super Bowl matchup pick. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/dee7585c-6da6-4afc-9954-ff32cf8de4e3 (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on New England Patriots: In the winners-only chips segment Parkins backed the Patriots over the Jaguars, the Bengals over the Steelers and the Ravens over the Cowboys in Brazil. He also said New England has a real shot at a top-10 defense and that Kayshon/Romeo Dobbs will be the Patriots' number one target. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/88f60b41-3824-4b00-b0f0-f434c55c539b (scored 0) - Dwight Freeney on Buffalo Bills: Freeney said the Chargers' volume of mistakes is too great to fix in a week and that fans shouldn't expect Los Angeles to beat Buffalo. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/128f1ccf-a606-47eb-b077-4f74a9999bf5 (scored 100) - Colin Cowherd on Buffalo Bills: The co-host (identified only as "Mitchell") made his own Week 3 picks, including blowout wins for Seattle and San Francisco, Cincinnati 27-17, Detroit 37-13, Denver 24-21 over the Rams, and predicted Jonah Coleman takes over the Broncos' running back role. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/4ccbceaa-54ca-4a2e-ad90-006f1ded0ad2 (scored 100) ## More depth chart calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Pat Fitzmaurice on Jonah Coleman: In his Week 3 waiver column, Fitzmaurice makes several depth-chart calls around injuries: Jonah Coleman leading Denver's backfield, Marcus Mariota taking over in Washington, Michael Penix Jr. starting once healthy, and Malik Washington serving as Miami's top receiver, plus availability expectations for Detroit's injured safeties. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/2cbd48f6-15ea-4aa5-84bc-bcc50d94d09a (scored 0) - Fox Sports on Michael Penix Jr.: Fox Sports states that a healthy Tua Tagovailoa will serve as Atlanta's backup quarterback in Week 3, with Michael Penix Jr. handling the starting duties against Green Bay. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a90e69a8-707f-43e9-a63e-cdb3e7bd0829 (scored 100) - 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) --- 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=john-middlekauff