# Seton O'Connor: O'Connor names the Patriots as a potential shocker team that could reach the AFC title game or win just five games. **Claimed:** Aug 28, 2025 **Pundit:** Seton O'Connor — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/seton-o-connor **Outlet:** The Dan Patrick Show (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/the-dan-patrick-show-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-dan-patrick-show/hour-3-sleeper-teams-cfp-player-bonuses One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened. Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in. > Yeah, I think the Patriots could be a shocker team. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **New England Patriots to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: New England Patriots - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/patriots ## What others said about the same people - Chris Broussard on New England Patriots: 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 100) - Rich Eisen on New England Patriots: Eisen picked Josh Allen to lead the NFL in total touchdowns over any QB-WR or QB-RB combo, flipped from the Lions to the Bears as NFC North winner, and made several Week 2 game calls, including the Patriots at home, the Jets over Green Bay, and both LA teams winning. He also picked a Jaguars-Broncos AFC title game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/76dcca59-cf3e-4bfd-a7c6-66574a348a51 (scored 100) - Connor "Boston Connor" Campbell on New England Patriots: Connor predicted the Patriots would rout the Steelers at home in Week 2, expecting a heavy run game in bad weather. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/312d03b3-fae7-4f2c-8c89-a0b9978b6b39 (scored 100) - Jordan Dajani on New England Patriots: Dajani has New England edging Pittsburgh 16-13 and the Rams beating the Giants 30-21 on a late field goal. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/39641ffd-eec4-4481-9447-b4bd25762044 (scored 66.67) - Jonas Knox on New England Patriots: Knox took the Bears to cover against the Vikings, said New England would probably beat Pittsburgh even while taking the points, picked the Bengals to win outright in Houston, and took the Broncos over the Jaguars and the Rams over the Giants. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/56c27b64-468b-43b3-8ae8-39364973c7d6 (scored 100) - Pete Prisco on New England Patriots: Prisco picks final scores for every Week 2 NFL game, with several teams that lost in Week 1 — the Chargers, Patriots, Cowboys, Packers and Rams — bouncing back, and the Bills outlasting the Lions in a shootout. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/29185ff4-dec4-498f-aa45-4ca2d72dcbe3 (scored 76.19) ## More surprise team calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Carter Bahns on Cincinnati Bengals: Bahns named the Bengals a dark-horse Super Bowl contender on the strength of their retooled defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/498b82e1-23f4-4817-a025-fb862176a7d5 (not settled) - John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Breech expects Caleb Williams to return quickly from his hamstring injury, at the latest by Week 4 against the Jets or Week 5 against the Packers, and he picked the Rams to beat the Giants on Monday night. He also floated the Saints as a potential surprise team this season. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/66fd2840-c785-4c7f-9284-eb570c4dd0c4 (not settled) - Ralph Vacchiano on New Orleans Saints: Vacchiano says the Saints, whom he had already called the NFC's biggest surprise of the season, are good enough to win the weak NFC South, though not yet a championship contender. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/5f9c80c5-56ee-4c30-9938-09b673e1cb7f (not settled) - Gilberto Manzano on Las Vegas Raiders: Manzano calls the 2-0 Raiders under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak one of the season's biggest surprise teams and a club now thinking playoffs, sees the 2-0 49ers headed for another winning season, and views New Orleans as the class of the NFC South with Tyler Shough playing well. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/fa21a317-d0b7-4f3e-81de-9d115e1a8be7 (not settled) - John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Grading Week 2, Breech says the Saints — fresh off upsetting the Ravens in Baltimore — look like a club that could beat expectations this season. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1a27a5ac-d1f0-4578-b0d0-9ef7e24f7639 (not settled) - Nick Wright on Atlanta Falcons: Wright stuck by his preseason call of a 12-5 Bills team that wins its division, picked the Jaguars to beat Denver outright, leaned Texans over Cincinnati, still has Atlanta as his deep sleeper, counts New England among his 14 playoff teams, and recalled pegging Washington for a 5-12 or 6-11 year with a bottom-six defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/d9357a30-3f1d-4be4-8ce6-529f21f9aeac (not settled) --- 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=seton-o-connor