John Middlekauff· Sep 26, 2026
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.
“So Pittsburgh loses this thing.”
said on air or in an interview · The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) · read the original →
4 checkable claims — 4 game outcome picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.
It names 4 players and teams, each linked to their own record.
All 4 have settled, averaging 25 out of 100, against 75 for a naive guess at the same calls.
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Who this take is about
The games in this take
- Bengals at Steelers 13 calls
- Chiefs at Dolphins 15 calls
- Titans at Giants 8 calls
- Seahawks at Commanders 45 calls
4 checkable claims 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.
- Game Outcome PicksKansas City ChiefsSep 26, 2026
Kansas City Chiefs to beat Miami
“the Chiefs now, Monday night football, Sunday night football, getting up for road game against, I'm pretty sure, the least talented team in the league. If they try, that's a massacre.”
Hit · 100Scored 100a naive guess scored 0+189 skillHow this was scored
- won:
- KC
- score:
- 24-10
- skill:
- 189
- they picked:
- KC
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 0
- the naive pick:
- MIA
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 16
- Game Outcome PicksTennessee TitansSep 26, 2026
Tennessee Titans to beat New York Giants
“If Jameis is taking snaps, I gotta take the Titans... I like the Titans.”
Miss · 0Scored 0a naive guess scored 100-189 skillHow this was scored
- won:
- NYG
- score:
- 7-12
- skill:
- -189
- they picked:
- TEN
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 100
- the naive pick:
- NYG
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 16
- Game Outcome PicksSeattle SeahawksSep 26, 2026
Seattle Seahawks to beat Washington
“Seattle, Washington, Chiefs, Miami... if Seattle maintains the same edge that they had on defense against the Patriots... Mariota doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell... those got blowout written all over them”
Miss · 0Scored 0a naive guess scored 100-189 skillHow this was scored
- won:
- WAS
- score:
- 31-33
- skill:
- -189
- they picked:
- SEA
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 100
- the naive pick:
- WAS
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 16
- Game Outcome PicksCincinnati BengalsSep 26, 2026
Cincinnati Bengals to beat Pittsburgh
“So Pittsburgh loses this thing... to me, the only way I see Cincinnati not winning this game is like it's going to have to be one of those banana Steelers defense do crazy shit.”
Miss · 0Scored 0a naive guess scored 100-189 skillHow this was scored
- won:
- PIT
- score:
- 27-30
- skill:
- -189
- they picked:
- CIN
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 100
- the naive pick:
- PIT
- difficulty:
- 1.89
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 16
What others said about the same people
- Bryan DeArdoScore Predictions · Cincinnati BengalsClose · 50He 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.
- 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 · Kansas City ChiefsHit · 83On 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.
- 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.
- Chris BroussardGame Outcome Picks · Kansas City ChiefsHit · 100Broussard picked the Bills to beat the Chargers in a competitive, higher-scoring game, said the Chiefs will rout the Dolphins, and for upset alert parlayed the Patriots over the Jaguars and the Raiders over the Saints. He also restated his Cowboys-versus-Ravens Super Bowl matchup pick.
- Nick WrightGame Outcome Picks · Kansas City ChiefsHit · 100Wright guaranteed a start-to-finish Chiefs blowout of the winless Dolphins in Miami, saying Kansas City will score 30-plus for a third straight game. He also compared this year's Cowboys to last year's Bengals, pegging Dallas for roughly eight to ten wins.
More game outcome picks
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
- Carmen VitaliGame Outcome Picks · Buffalo BillsHit · 100In 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.
- Tracy SandlerGame Outcome Picks · Baltimore RavensHit · 100Sandler 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).
- Chris BroussardGame Outcome Picks · New England PatriotsMiss · 0Broussard picked the Bills to beat the Chargers in a competitive, higher-scoring game, said the Chiefs will rout the Dolphins, and for upset alert parlayed the Patriots over the Jaguars and the Raiders over the Saints. He also restated his Cowboys-versus-Ravens Super Bowl matchup pick.
- Geoff SchwartzGame Outcome Picks · Jacksonville JaguarsHit · 100Filling 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.
- Danny ParkinsGame Outcome Picks · New England PatriotsMiss · 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.
- Eric ManginiGame Outcome Picks · Los Angeles ChargersMiss · 0In his taped upset alert, the coach took the winless Chargers to beat the undefeated Bills, citing Los Angeles' desperation and Buffalo's leaky defense.