Bryan DeArdo· Sep 26, 2026
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.
“While those things could happen, I'm taking the Bengals in a close, defensive game.”
published in writing · CBS Sports · read the original →
One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.
The call scored 50 out of 100, against 94 for a naive guess at the same calls.
Where do you stand? Pick this and every open claim on Picks →
Who this take is about
The game in this take
- Bengals at Steelers 13 calls
1 checkable claim in this take
Each one is scored on its own against the published methodology. A pundit naming several outcomes is graded on each, not on all-or-nothing.
- Score PredictionsCincinnati BengalsSep 26, 2026
Cincinnati Bengals 20 — Steelers 17
“While those things could happen, I'm taking the Bengals in a close, defensive game. Score: Bengals 20, Steelers 17”
Close · 50Scored 50a naive guess scored 93.97-83.11 skillHow this was scored
- score:
- 27-30
- skill:
- -83.11
- they picked:
- CIN
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 50
- baseline:
- 93.97
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- actual margin:
- 3
- weeks left when called:
- 16
- naive home margin:
- 0.47
- predicted margin:
- 3
What others said about the same people
- John MiddlekauffGame Outcome Picks · Cincinnati BengalsMiss · 0Middlekauff 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.
- Chad Ochocinco JohnsonGame Outcome Picks · Cincinnati BengalsMiss · 0Johnson said Marvin Harrison Jr. needs a change of scenery in his make-or-break third year, and predicted the Bengals would handle the Steelers' secondary in their upcoming meeting.
- Danny ParkinsGame Outcome Picks · Cincinnati BengalsMiss · 0In 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.
- Geoff SchwartzGame Outcome Picks · Cincinnati BengalsMiss · 0Filling in on the chips segment, Schwartz took Jacksonville to beat New England, the Bengals to beat the Steelers, and the Cowboys to beat the Ravens on the Brazil field.
- John MiddlekauffGame Outcome Picks · Cincinnati BengalsMiss · 0Reacting to the Packers' blowout loss at Lambeau, Middlekauff said Green Bay's own pick (now owned by the Jets) will land somewhere between 7 and 12 overall, picked Cincinnati to beat Pittsburgh and expected Seattle and Kansas City to roll over Washington and Miami. He also guessed Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss would run about a 4.48-4.50 forty, said Seattle won't trade Drew Lock, and expected Sam Darnold to play in Week 3.
- Jordan DajaniScore Predictions · Cincinnati BengalsClose · 40Dajani gave final-score predictions for eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Buccaneers (upset), Ravens, Broncos (upset) and Eagles to win.
More score predictions
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
- Richie BradshawScore Predictions · San Francisco 49ersHit · 83Bradshaw picks the 49ers to beat the Cardinals in their Week 3 matchup, predicting a final score of 27-14 in San Francisco's favor.
- Pat FitzmauriceScore Predictions · Tampa Bay BuccaneersMiss · 36Fitzmaurice 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.
- Derek BrownScore Predictions · Tampa Bay BuccaneersClose · 40Brown 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.
- Alain PoupartScore Predictions · Kansas City ChiefsClose · 74Previewing the Week 3 home opener, he predicted the Chiefs would comfortably beat the Dolphins, saying Miami's defense couldn't contain Kansas City and its offense wasn't ready for a shootout.
- Nick WrightScore Predictions · New Orleans SaintsMiss · 33On his Week 3 pick show, Nick Wright gave straight-up final-score predictions for five games, calling blowouts by Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami, a Jacksonville home win over New England, a narrow New Orleans win over the Raiders and a low-scoring Baltimore win over Dallas in Brazil. He also called Seattle the best team in the NFL with the league's best defense.
- Randy GurziScore Predictions · Seattle SeahawksMiss · 21Predicted Seattle would survive a slow start and pull away in the second half for a two-touchdown road win over Washington, 27-13.