# Carter Bahns: Bahns named the Bengals a dark-horse Super Bowl contender on the strength of their retooled defense. **Claimed:** Sep 21, 2026 **Pundit:** Carter Bahns — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/carter-bahns **Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/cbs-sports **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-2-winners-losers-plus-caleb-williams-injury-details-rams-giants-picks/ One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened. Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in. > Through two weeks, everything appears to be coming together for what might be a dark-horse Super Bowl contender. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Cincinnati Bengals to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bengals ## What others said about the same people - Danny Parkins on Cincinnati Bengals: Parkins picked the Giants to beat the Rams outright, backed Jacksonville over Denver, Cincinnati over Houston and Chicago over Minnesota in the chips segment, endorsed Buffalo as the AFC's Super Bowl representative, and predicted Deshaun Watson has started his last NFL game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/36d4ede8-3066-4102-abbc-cb08e4544c92 (scored 100) - Lance Zierlein on Cincinnati Bengals: He backed off picking Houston, saying that without Nico Collins too much pressure falls on C.J. Stroud and he is worried about the secondary — effectively taking Cincinnati in the game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/fcf4502c-2097-4ddb-989f-796469c8138e (scored 100) - Jonas Knox on Cincinnati Bengals: 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) - Tyler Sullivan on Cincinnati Bengals: A CBS Sports column flags five Week 2 favorites on upset alert, effectively backing the underdogs — Lions at Bills, Bengals at Texans, Jets over Packers, Jaguars at Broncos and Saints at Ravens — to pull off wins. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/0ee2daf0-868b-4ffd-a252-f478174d97f6 (scored 100) - Colin Cowherd on Cincinnati Bengals: The co-host (identified only as "Mitchell") gave his own Week 2 picks: Seattle, the Niners in dominant fashion, his Lions over Buffalo, Cincinnati 31-27 at Houston, Chicago, Pittsburgh 24-21 as a road upset, Jacksonville by at least a touchdown, Dallas 26-22, and Kansas City handily. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/5e7a2965-bd9c-4c78-81b8-cb9ff18f6520 (scored 76.19) - John Breech on Cincinnati Bengals: Breech picks every Week 2 game with scores, takes the Cardinals to upset the Seahawks, sees a Bills-Lions shootout, predicts Baker Mayfield's revenge win over Cleveland, and says the Browns will miss the playoffs while the Dolphins go winless. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/eb6d274b-c294-4c3d-ba42-d3dee06c6e87 (scored 73.81) ## More surprise team calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - 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) - Pete Prisco on New York Jets: A Week 2 NFL power rankings column places the Seahawks first and the Dolphins last, with the 49ers rising six spots after beating the Rams and the Cowboys falling 12 after losing to the Giants. It also suggests the Cardinals and Jets could be better than expected. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/c5b3ea52-abec-4709-9830-c2d0c3016f61 (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=carter-bahns