# John Breech: The piece plays down the injury scare, saying Cincinnati is unlikely to have to hand the offense to Joe Flacco on Sunday — i.e., Burrow should start against the Texans.

**Claimed:** Sep 16, 2026
**Pundit:** John Breech — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/john-breech
**Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/cbs-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/joe-burrow-injury-watch-nfl-week-2/

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

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

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> If Burrow can't play on Sunday, then the Bengals would turn the offense over to Joe Flacco, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **If Burrow can't play on Sunday, then the Bengals would turn the offense over to Joe Flacco, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen.**
  - Kind: Availability Calls · About: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Joe Burrow — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/joe-burrow
- Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals

## What others said about the same people

- Jay Morrison on Mitchell Tinsley: Following the preseason opener against Detroit, Morrison updated his Cincinnati Bengals 53-man roster projection, naming starters and backups at every position group and identifying which players are on the bubble. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f0a72a3d-7feb-4331-bc2c-8f92d529d752 (scored 100)
- 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 Cincinnati Bengals: 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)

## More availability calls

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

- Andrew Erickson on Jayden Daniels: In his Week 4 buy/sell column, Erickson makes a handful of forward-looking calls: Chase Brown remains Cincinnati's lead back, Keenan Allen is no better than the Colts' third pass-catcher, Mack Hollins is New England's No. 1 target, Jeremiyah Love owns Arizona's backfield, George Kittle is again a top-five fantasy tight end, and Brock Purdy belongs in the MVP conversation. He also makes several availability calls for Week 4 and on Jayden Daniels' return. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3502f74a-4354-4631-8698-10cd219c53c1 (not settled)
- Jacob Herlin on Bryce Young: Ranks all 32 team defenses for fantasy purposes in Week 4, with projected points allowed, sacks, turnovers and fantasy points, putting Minnesota first and Carolina last. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/594ed80e-c3ac-49aa-a927-751407fc26bf (not settled)
- Mike Fanelli on Jayden Daniels: Fanelli expects Jayden Daniels to sit out Washington's Week 4 game in London against the Colts, roughly two weeks after dislocating his elbow, leaving Marcus Mariota to start. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/58e08e6d-989c-437b-a697-dc91f145fb3c (not settled)
- Ralph Ventre on Christian Benford: Ventre expects Christian Benford's toe injury to sideline him for at least the Week 4 game against New England, and believes the Bills will have to add a cornerback to the 53-man roster this week — likely by moving Benford to injured reserve — with practice squad rookie Kani Walker the most likely player elevated. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/94b844fe-bb22-4517-81f5-6263eb0213f1 (not settled)
- Fox Sports on Jayden Daniels: With surgery ruled out, Washington's outlet speculates Jayden Daniels avoids injured reserve and, if he isn't back for the Week 4 game in London, returns either in Week 5 against the Giants or Week 6 against the 49ers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/38c42e1c-1990-46fb-a145-d6cf5a1d8c33 (not settled)
- Ian Rapoport on J.J. McCarthy: On the JJ McCarthy trade he expects Jameis Winston to keep starting for the Giants while McCarthy learns, with McCarthy ready to go around midseason weeks six through eight; he also expects Tyson Bagent to start for the Bears next week with Caleb Williams out. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b34b40aa-92b6-4ca8-95a0-4c25741e3d19 (not settled)

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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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