# Henry McKenna: McKenna picks the Rams to win Super Bowl LXI over the Bengals, 26-20, calling Los Angeles runaway favorites and tabbing Cincinnati as a surprise team that reaches the Super Bowl.

**Claimed:** Sep 9, 2026
**Pundit:** Henry McKenna — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/henry-mckenna
**Outlet:** Fox Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2026-super-bowl-predictions-picks

5 checkable claims — 2 conference champions, 1 score prediction, 1 super bowl pick and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

> There is no team that's more complete.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl**
  - Kind: Super Bowl Picks · About: Los Angeles Rams
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Los Angeles Rams 26 — Bengals 20**
  - Kind: Score Predictions · About: Los Angeles Rams
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Cincinnati Bengals to beat expectations**
  - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Cincinnati Bengals
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Cincinnati Bengals to reach the Super Bowl**
  - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Cincinnati Bengals
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Los Angeles Rams to reach the Super Bowl**
  - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Los Angeles Rams
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams
- Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on Cincinnati Bengals: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 40.48)
- Chris Long on Cincinnati Bengals: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 0)
- Matt Harmon on Los Angeles Rams: Harmon picked the Bengals to beat the Texans in Week 2, expecting Nico Collins to miss the game with a hamstring injury, and also predicted the Titans would be shut out by the Eagles. He took the Rams over the Giants, the Bears over the Vikings, and the Jaguars at Denver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/21a71025-ab65-4716-ac2c-e77ad5ce3348 (scored 100)
- Nate Tice on Cincinnati Bengals: Tice picked the Bengals over the Texans in a low-scoring game, the Jaguars at Denver, the Bears over the Vikings, the Patriots over the Steelers and the Rams to edge the Giants, and his Hail Mary was the Cowboys scoring 40 on Washington. He also floated Abdul Carter as a possible All-Pro. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6211c80-3d1c-46b8-8a0c-151fc0ba92de (scored 73.81)
- 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.co/opinions/8115d255-82e3-442e-aeef-c3eaa3587603 (scored 0)
- 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.co/opinions/105a1dc7-6107-450a-bc8d-a65798ee0257 (scored 50)

## More conference champions

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Chris Brockman on Seattle Seahawks: Brockman argues the Seahawks are at the start of a dynasty, predicting they will win multiple Super Bowls over the next five years, and that they are set up to return to the Super Bowl the following season in Los Angeles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7755a3be-efa7-417e-aefe-47d37d5fb067 (scored 100)
- Damonza Byrd on Seattle Seahawks: The co-host picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams in the NFC Championship game, and says he believes New England will win in Denver even though he is taking the Broncos with the points. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c59694cc-b2ff-401f-ae64-3313b822cd5a (scored 100)
- Nick Wright on New England Patriots: The host picks the Rams to beat the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game and believes the winner of that game wins the Super Bowl, i.e. that this is the Rams' year; he also picks New England to win in Denver despite taking the Broncos with the points, and says Stafford is winning MVP. He calls Sean McVay the second-best coach in the NFL. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5d16f975-ba4e-46f4-8717-8962b81c5bdf (scored 100)
- Nick Wright on Denver Broncos: Wright picked the Broncos to beat the Patriots in a low-scoring AFC Championship game (17-16), said Sean Payton would coach Denver to the Super Bowl, picked the Rams to win outright in Seattle 31-20, believes the winner of the NFC game wins the Super Bowl with the Rams the better team, and expects Matt Stafford to be named league MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/afd8c9a0-6068-4bfc-8dac-3bcc196f1231 (scored 50)
- Derek Murphy on Seattle Seahawks: Bone said after watching film that Seattle will handle the Rams in the NFC Championship Game, and that the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a5f623b2-e1e6-4687-b345-df2d9f35641f (scored 100)
- Connor "Boston Connor" Campbell on New England Patriots: Connor expects a tight first half in Denver before New England pulls away in the second half and advances to the Super Bowl. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c31dff9f-7c0a-422d-9df1-e7423b9edcc8 (scored 100)

---

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.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.co/corrections?pundit=henry-mckenna
