# John Middlekauff: Previewing the NFL's Australia game in Week 1, Middlekauff picks the underdog 49ers to beat the Rams, arguing San Francisco's long acclimation trip and Kyle Shanahan's edge over Sean McVay make them a live dog.

**Claimed:** Sep 10, 2026
**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://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/44c6e42b-f663-4492-888d-ae330034680f/05ddf7c5-957a-4985-9fd6-b4c1007c6402/audio.mp3?in_playlist=bf391792-153e-41b3-9d3d-ae3300346ad8

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

The call scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> So 49ers to win the game.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **San Francisco 49ers to win**
  - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: San Francisco 49ers
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess

## Who this take is about

- San Francisco 49ers — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/49ers

## What others said about the same people

- Mike Tannenbaum on Stefon Diggs: Tannenbaum argues the Chiefs should lean on the run game early while Mahomes recovers, says the Bills haven't done enough at receiver and would repeat their playoff shortcoming, expects AJ Brown to have a massive impact in New England, thinks George Pickens will earn a big raise, and offers free-agent fits: Deebo Samuel to Buffalo, Joey Bosa to Tampa Bay, Taylor Decker to Houston, and Stefon Diggs to San Francisco. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/f7a29c18-face-49c0-b84f-33715b4c6678 (scored 0)
- Evan Silva on San Francisco 49ers: In his 2020 fantasy defense/special teams rankings, Silva puts the Steelers first, the 49ers second and the Ravens third, citing pass rush, favorable early schedules and game scripts. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/180b1036-60e5-494b-9b4d-90b5dc3d6528 (scored 0)
- Tyler Sullivan on San Francisco 49ers: An unsigned CBS Sports piece flags five Week 1 underdogs as upset candidates: the 49ers over the Rams in Melbourne, the Texans over the Bills, the Panthers over the Bears, the Jets over the Titans, and the Broncos over the Chiefs on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/cd6c3269-8c90-4044-9c48-0b1fc3537699 (scored 100)
- Richard Sherman on San Francisco 49ers: Sherman picked Seattle to beat New England 28-17 in the opener, ran through score picks for the rest of the week one slate (49ers, Cowboys, Bills, Bears, Vikings, Colts, Broncos), said the Seahawks would also beat the Cardinals, Commanders and Chargers, backed Dallas to win its division, and predicted Christian Gonzalez's deal would come in barely above Devon Witherspoon's. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/3b4f1960-4810-4136-8023-c9a76a0598a3 (scored 59.52)
- Eva Geitheim on San Francisco 49ers: Geitheim's Week 1 straight-up picks for all 16 games. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/599df4d8-af5a-4097-b802-1d21ce7b6ce1 (scored 100)
- Mike Kadlick on San Francisco 49ers: Kadlick's Week 1 straight-up picks for all 16 games. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/934613ff-97e3-4894-a383-faa755bdfc35 (scored 100)

## More game outcome picks

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

- Danny Parkins on Denver Broncos: Parkins picked the Giants to upset Dallas, the Steelers to beat Atlanta by two scores, the Bears to beat Carolina, the Bills to beat Houston and Denver to beat Kansas City outright; he also said Justin Herbert will win an MVP and had the Bengals as AFC North champs. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/36c480cc-6b54-4cea-8204-3fc00ea6493c (scored 0)
- Eric Mangini on Denver Broncos: Mangini's upset alert was Washington over Philadelphia; in the chips segment he backed Houston, Dallas and Denver; and his Monday headline was Cincinnati mauling Tampa Bay, with Joe Burrow as his MVP and the Bengals as AFC North champs. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/e5bc3ec1-bf97-4273-a223-f5661d0cca8a (scored 0)
- Shannon Sharpe on Denver Broncos: Sharpe predicted Matthew Stafford would throw four touchdowns in the Thursday night game against the 49ers, picked Tampa Bay to beat Cincinnati at home, took the Broncos over Kansas City on Monday night with Bonitto getting 2.5 sacks, and expects big fantasy value from kicker Brandon Aubrey. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/7f7bf5cf-1f4a-4432-beab-5ec7c9549fc7 (scored 0)
- Tyler Sullivan on Denver Broncos: An unsigned CBS Sports piece flags five Week 1 underdogs as upset candidates: the 49ers over the Rams in Melbourne, the Texans over the Bills, the Panthers over the Bears, the Jets over the Titans, and the Broncos over the Chiefs on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/cd6c3269-8c90-4044-9c48-0b1fc3537699 (scored 0)
- Mitch Goldich on Denver Broncos: Goldich's Week 1 straight-up picks for all 16 games. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/643de3da-467f-48c2-a141-4656c392ab89 (scored 0)
- John Pluym on Kansas City Chiefs: Pluym's Week 1 straight-up picks for all 16 games. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/e7e5c159-21f2-4766-92de-857294ef51cf (scored 100)

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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:
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