# Matt Severance: The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts Cincinnati for nine wins and less than a coin-flip chance of reaching the playoffs. **Claimed:** Aug 4, 2026 **Pundit:** Matt Severance — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/matt-severance **Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/cbs-sports **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/bengals-2026-nfl-futures-odds-bettors-loving-joe-burrow-for-mvp-but-what-about-new-look-cincinnati-defense/ One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened. Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room. > The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts them for 9.0 wins and a 42.9% shot at the playoffs. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Cincinnati Bengals to finish with 9 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - 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 season win totals The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Colin Cowherd on Dallas Cowboys: Cowherd projects the NFC East with the Giants winning the division ahead of Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas, pegging the Cowboys as a six- or seven-win team. He also expects Malik Willis to land a big free-agent deal, Kayvon Thibodeaux to be moved, and Baltimore to lose Isaiah Likely, and he floats the Rams reaching on Ty Simpson late in round one. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cd243624-9451-4824-a8a4-7b468d681c8f (scored 100) - Richard Sherman on Green Bay Packers: Sherman previewed every division: he picked Seattle to win the NFC West on a tiebreaker over San Francisco (both 11-11 wins), the Lions over the Packers in the North, the Eagles to run away with the East, Tampa Bay in the South, and Kansas City, Buffalo and the Ravens' division rivals in the AFC. He picked an Eagles–Chiefs Super Bowl with Philadelphia repeating, Joe Burrow for MVP, and gave a top-five power ranking. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ec43b02b-8e3a-4b2e-8c36-1839c9c52e3c (scored 40) - Nick Wright on New England Patriots: Nick Wright walked through the Browns' quarterback situation and then gave leans and bets on every AFC team's win total, offering concrete win-count expectations for several clubs plus a call on Brock Bowers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1e745abb-ae8f-4f8c-893e-bfb5d53589b1 (scored 20) - John Middlekauff on San Francisco 49ers: Middlekauff says Denver's floor is ten wins, predicts Miami implodes to four or five wins and a top-three-or-four draft slot with Tyreek Hill traded, thinks the 49ers beat expectations with nine or ten wins, sees the Patriots at eight or nine wins, calls the Chargers over 9.5 a lock, expects Jared Goff to make five or six Pro Bowls, and says the Packers are flying under the radar. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/af06c2e6-9beb-4a7e-b444-620680dbccd1 (scored 60) - Colin Cowherd on New England Patriots: Cowherd takes the Titans over their five-and-a-half win total on the strength of Cam Ward and Brian Callahan, calls New England an eight-to-nine win team, picks Green Bay to win the NFC North, expects the Giants to lose all four games to Washington and Philadelphia, and sketches a quarterback ranking with C.J. Stroud around 10th and Baker Mayfield 11th. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e32a708a-5651-4292-b71b-672f2216a48e (scored 0) - Nick Wright on Denver Broncos: Nick Wright gave his early AFC win-total leans: overs on the Jets, Ravens, Jaguars, Chiefs and Raiders, plus projected win ranges for the Dolphins, Texans, Chargers and Broncos, and predicted the Raiders take Ashton Jeanty at No. 6. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/cc9d1905-c3e9-4d7f-8dbb-0f840dbb7535 (scored 20) --- 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=matt-severance