Just about every media personality who covers the NFL expected the Baltimore Ravens to beat the Cleveland Browns in their season finale. But very few did so with the accuracy that former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano did on Thursday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show.
Pagano, who is a regular guest on The Pat McAfee Show alongside his former player in Indianapolis for five seasons, broke down each of the NFL games taking place in Week 18.
In his breakdown of the Ravens-Browns game, Pagano was shocked at first when he was notified by McAfee that the Ravens were 18-point favorites on the majority of sports books. But ultimately, he did indeed pick the Ravens to cover the game and win 35-10.
“I love the Ravens,” said Pagano. “But 18 points?”
“That’s a lot,” replied McAfee.
“My god. It’ll be 35-10. Give me the Ravens,” added Pagano.
Sure enough, the Ravens did indeed win 35-10 thanks to two fourth-quarter touchdowns from Derrick Henry.
KING. HENRY. 👑
📺: #CLEvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/IVEuCo53Mm— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
One viewer of The Pat McAfee Show cashed in on Pagano’s correct prediction in a big way. Shortly after the Ravens-Browns game went final, McAfee posted a screenshot of what appears to be a text exchange that showed someone placing a $5 bet on Pagano’s exact score prediction, which ended up winning the viewer $700.
You’re a wizard @ChuckPaganoNFL pic.twitter.com/oyOCkUcJZa
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 5, 2025
It’s one thing for Pagano to predict the Ravens to win as heavy favorites or even for the Ravens to cover the 18-point spread. But to pick the exact score of the game for both teams like Pagano did is certainly something you will rarely see from any NFL analyst across all networks.
Only time will tell whether Pagano has this level of success across the remainder of the Week 18 slate of games. But it sure is a great start.
