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John Middlekauff#48 of 87 NFL pundits · 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.

Said on air or in an interview · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff (podcast)Hear the original

0 of 2calls landed2 misses · all settled
0Average accuracyout of 100, across 2 calls
100A naive guessthe same calls, no knowledge
2Games calledeveryone’s picks below
#48John Middlekauff’s rankof 87 ranked NFL pundits

What John Middlekauff said

our reading, beside the words we read it from
So Pittsburgh loses this thing.
John Middlekauff, the lead quote · each call’s own words are below
Where it was said
3 and Out with John Middlekauff (podcast)
The episode
3 & Out - Best Of The Week: Grass vs. Turf, Week 3 Four-Box, Predictions
The original
Hear the original
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  1. SaidSep 26
  2. PlayedSep 27
  3. GradedSep 28
  1. 1Tennessee Titans to beat New York Giants“If Jameis is taking snaps, I gotta take the Titans... I like the Titans.”
  2. 2Seattle 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”

Box score

HitCloseMissWaiting
VerdictCallKindWhat happenedScoreNaiveSkill
Tennessee Titans to beat New York Giants1Game Outcome PicksGiants 12–70100−189
Seattle Seahawks to beat Washington2Game Outcome PicksCommanders 33–310100−189
2 calls · 2 misses · all settled0100

Game calls show that game’s closing betting line under their grade: a dated fact from nflverse, for context and never part of a grade. MissedTakes takes no bets and earns nothing from any sportsbook.

How each call scored

a naive guessbetter than naiveworse than naive

2 checkable claims — 2 game outcome picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

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

All 2 have settled, averaging 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess at the same calls.

Each call is scored 0 to 100 against what happened, on its own, by the published methodology. The naive guess is what knowing nothing would have scored on the same calls; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.

  1. 1Game Outcome PicksTennessee Titans

    Tennessee Titans to beat New York Giants

    What happenedGiants 12–7Titans at Giants
    0Miss · naive 100
    0this call100a naive guess−100worse than naive1.89difficulty−189skill

    Closing line (Sep 27): Giants by 2.5 · underdog pick, Titans 46%.

    How 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
    Think this is wrong?

  2. 2Game Outcome PicksSeattle Seahawks

    Seattle Seahawks to beat Washington

    What happenedCommanders 33–31Seahawks at Commanders
    0Miss · naive 100
    0this call100a naive guess−100worse than naive1.89difficulty−189skill

    Closing line (Sep 27): Seahawks by 8.5 · favorite pick, Seahawks about 3 in 4 (77%).

    How 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
    Think this is wrong?
  3. All

    The take as a whole

    the average of 2 settled calls, each counted once

    0naive 100

The games in this take

every pundit’s pick on each

Who this take is about

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