# Rich Eisen: Rich Eisen reaffirmed his pick of the Lions to win the NFC while insisting the Eagles remain the team to beat, predicted the Colts beat the Cardinals on a last-second field goal, said the Chargers will not miss the playoffs, and expects Jake Browning to keep starting in Cincinnati and JJ McCarthy to return as Minnesota's starter. He also praised Jonathan Taylor as the best running back and OPOY-caliber, called Emeka Abuka the offensive rookie of the year, agreed Kyle Shanahan is the coach of the year front-runner, and said the Jets will pick in the top five. **Claimed:** Oct 6, 2025 **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/ESP7929384888.mp3?updated=1759771553 10 checkable claims — 2 award picks, 2 depth chart calls, 1 coach award pick, 1 conference champion, 1 game outcome pick, 1 playoff pick, 1 positional finishe and 1 team draft slot call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 11 players and teams, each linked to their own record. All 10 have settled, averaging 56.7 out of 100, against 56.7 for a naive guess at the same calls. > The lines, I chose to win the NFC. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Detroit Lions to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Detroit Lions - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Los Angeles Chargers to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **J.J. McCarthy to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 91.67 for a naive guess - **Emeka Egbuka to win Offensive Rookie of the Year** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Jake Browning to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: scored 83.33 out of 100, against 91.67 for a naive guess - **New York Jets to pick “top five” (picks 1–5)** - Kind: Team Draft Slot Calls · About: New York Jets - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 91.7 for a naive guess - **Jonathan Taylor to finish top 1 at his position, by rushing yards** - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 83.33 out of 100, against 91.67 for a naive guess - **Kyle Shanahan to win Coach of the Year** - Kind: Coach Award Picks - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Jonathan Taylor to win Offensive Player of the Year** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Indianapolis Colts to beat Arizona Cardinals** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess ## Who this take is about - Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/lions - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/chargers - J.J. McCarthy — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/j-j-mccarthy - Minnesota Vikings — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/vikings - Emeka Egbuka — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/emeka-egbuka - Tampa Bay Buccaneers — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/buccaneers - Jake Browning — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/jake-browning - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bengals - New York Jets — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/jets - Jonathan Taylor — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/jonathan-taylor - Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/colts ## What others said about the same people - Carmen Vitali on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 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 0) - Tracy Sandler on Minnesota Vikings: 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) - John Middlekauff on Cincinnati Bengals: Middlekauff expects blowout wins for Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami in Week 3, picks Cincinnati to beat Pittsburgh in the AFC North matchup, and takes Tennessee over the Giants if Jameis Winston is taking snaps. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/8115d255-82e3-442e-aeef-c3eaa3587603 (scored 0) - Pat Fitzmaurice on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Fitzmaurice gave rest-of-season positional rankings for several Chiefs and other skill players, including Mahomes as his QB10, Kenneth Walker as RB4 behind Gibbs, Bijan and McCaffrey, Kelce at TE8 and Worthy down at WR50, and he picked Tampa Bay to beat Minnesota 21-20. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/31b15133-9938-492f-a5a8-48d1dd02b911 (scored 35.71) - Derek Brown on Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Brown laid out aggressive rest-of-season positional rankings — Mahomes QB8, Kenneth Walker RB3, Kelce up to TE7, Rashee Rice all the way down at WR31 and Worthy at WR42 — called Drake London a WR1 with Penix back, and picked Tampa Bay 21-18 over Minnesota while declaring Zay Flowers will not play in Brazil. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/889acfb2-8238-4174-89cb-a194ff0948ff (scored 40.48) - Bryan DeArdo on Cincinnati Bengals: He picks the Bengals to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in a low-scoring, defensive game, arguing Pittsburgh's struggling offense can't break through against Cincinnati's strong defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/105a1dc7-6107-450a-bc8d-a65798ee0257 (scored 50) ## 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) - 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) - 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