# Rich Eisen: Eisen picks the Bengals to win the AFC North, has the Browns finishing fourth, sees the Steelers as a 10-win playoff team, and expects the Patriots to win somewhere in the 11-13 range.

**Claimed:** Sep 3, 2026
**Pundit:** Rich Eisen — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/rich-eisen
**Outlet:** The Rich Eisen Show (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-rich-eisen-show-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us
**Original:** https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP9878258172.mp3

5 claims — 2 season win totals, 1 division winner, 1 playoff pick and 1 power ranking — the 4 we can check each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 3 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of the 4 calls we can check have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

The other one was too vague to check, so it is not graded.

Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the rest of the room.

> So I'm going to Bengals to win the division.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Pittsburgh Steelers to finish with 10 wins**
  - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Pittsburgh Steelers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- “I think they're gonna be like, 11 wins, twelve, thirteen.”
  - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: New England Patriots
  - Verdict: too vague to check
- **Cincinnati Bengals to win the division**
  - Kind: Division Winners · About: Cincinnati Bengals
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Pittsburgh Steelers to make the playoffs**
  - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Pittsburgh Steelers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- “The Browns, as much as I'm, like, talking about them as a sleeper team, I just I just can't choose them anything but fourth... So I'm going to Bengals to win the division.”
  - Kind: Power Rankings
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers
- New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots
- Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals

## What others said about the same people

- Bryan DeArdo on Joey Porter Jr.: The piece predicts Joey Porter Jr. most likely stays with the Steelers through 2026, while listing possible trade destinations if they were moved. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a6edcb85-bcff-47cb-ba7d-e09dc7549fe1 (scored 0)
- Pat Fitzmaurice on New England Patriots: Fitzmaurice predicted a 24-21 Patriots win over the Packers, said they would not be surprised if Jonathan Taylor were inactive amid trade talk, pegged Jonah Coleman as an RB22 rest-of-season value, expected Evan Hull to be Arizona's backup back, and saw Kerby Joseph returning in Week 10 or 11. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/41cd806b-d6f3-401d-ac46-33a027d3a0fd (scored 14.29)
- Kevin Wildes on New England Patriots: Wildes took Minnesota over Buffalo, predicted a comfortable roughly 10-point New England win over Green Bay, and switched their Super Bowl matchup to Jaguars–Bears. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f31ce48f-df1b-41cf-9d17-ec463ba972d4 (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on New England Patriots: Wright argued the Jaguars are the AFC's most complete team, calling them the considerable favorite for the No. 1 seed and the only club essentially locked into the playoffs. They also picked Tampa Bay to upset Chicago, had Kansas City sweeping its next three games, liked New England over Green Bay by about a field goal, and updated their Super Bowl matchup to Chiefs–49ers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/878403ae-b780-41f0-b38a-200b1a3e36ff (scored 0)
- Eric Mangini on New England Patriots: Mangini picked New England to beat Green Bay by more than a field goal, flagged Tampa Bay as their upset alert over Chicago, expects Kansas City to handle the Jets, took Buffalo over Minnesota, backed Cincinnati over Atlanta in Madrid, and updated their Super Bowl to Rams–Bengals. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/af0819c3-4662-44a2-a451-a08fa3b7e59a (scored 0)
- Connor Rogers on New England Patriots: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 0)

## More season win totals

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

- Nick Wright on Chicago Bears: Nick Wright lays out their season win-total picks (overs on Jaguars, Bears, Chiefs, Buccaneers, Raiders, Falcons; unders on Bengals, Colts, Broncos, Cowboys, Vikings, 49ers), playoff berth and miss calls, three division winners, a Chiefs-over-Buccaneers Super Bowl exacta, and five Week 1 picks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5049c576-4d69-4d73-a0ba-6296e5e50ff2 (scored 100)
- Damonza Byrd on Jacksonville Jaguars: Nick Wright's co-host picks the Jaguars over as their favorite of the six over bets and calls the Baltimore/Buffalo division-winner parlay a safe one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5eaf9823-e809-4008-855a-c72518f10f08 (scored 100)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Jacksonville Jaguars: Rosenthal's Week 1 picks: the Giants win at Washington, the Lions beat the Packers, and the Jaguars beat the Panthers; they also like the Jets over the Steelers and the Dolphins over the Colts, and expects Jacksonville to clear 7.5 wins. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9443503e-89b7-461f-8b67-e99f60c8b5d2 (scored 100)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Dallas Cowboys: Rosenthal expects a high-scoring Eagles-Cowboys kickoff game, guesses a scoreline around 41-27, still believes Dallas can clear its win total and reach the playoffs, likes the Giants to beat expectations with Jackson Dart taking over as starter early. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a11f697d-1616-4bbe-9b7f-5bde7c6653ea (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Baltimore Ravens: Nick Wright predicts Shedeur Sanders stays behind Dylan Gabriel on the Browns depth chart, forecasts a season where Flacco is benched a third of the way in, Gabriel then fails, Shedeur then fails, and Cleveland drafts a quarterback next year. They also make a long list of win-total, playoff and division calls across the AFC North and beyond. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4e17eca2-e154-41f3-b116-389f8335f9c8 (scored 0)
- Nick Wright on Jacksonville Jaguars: In part two of their gambling show, Nick Wright ran through NFC (and recapped AFC) win-total picks, division winners and make/miss-the-playoffs bets, backing the Chiefs, Jaguars, Raiders, Bears, Buccaneers and Falcons to clear their totals while predicting Commanders, Bucs and Rams division titles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/252a575e-6524-48d2-86c4-356e2509e8f5 (scored 100)

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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.

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