# Bill Simmons: Looking at Cleveland's remaining schedule he sees roughly nine wins in there, pegs Pittsburgh for an 8-9 or 9-8 type season, and expects New England to lose to Buffalo in Week 4. **Claimed:** Oct 2, 2026 **Pundit:** Bill Simmons — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/bill-simmons **Outlet:** The Bill Simmons Podcast (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-bill-simmons-podcast-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us **Original:** https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4671155573.mp3 3 checkable claims — 2 season win totals and 1 game outcome pick — 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. 1 of 3 have settled so far, averaging 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the rest of the room. > I think they're supposed to lose this game, and I think they will. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Buffalo Bills to beat Patriots** - Kind: Game Outcome Picks · About: Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - Line: Closing line (Oct 4, 2026): Bills by 7 · favorite pick, Bills about 3 in 4 (74%). Source: nflverse; context only, never part of the grade. - **Pittsburgh Steelers to finish with ? wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Pittsburgh Steelers - Verdict: too vague to check - **Cleveland Browns to finish with 9 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Cleveland Browns - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills - Pittsburgh Steelers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/steelers - Cleveland Browns — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/browns ## What others said about the same people - Doug Joubert on Cleveland Browns: Joubert picks the Browns to win 28-17, saying the Saints haven't improved over the first half of the season despite Cleveland starting Shedeur Sanders. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1dc26285-5f15-45a0-93a7-62d8bd585adc (scored 26.19) - Pat McAfee on Cleveland Browns: McAfee picked the Browns, with Shedeur Sanders starting, to beat the Saints in New Orleans. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9d0f9dd7-1016-4f2f-ab92-fe6567b2b0be (scored 0) - Michael Moore on Shedeur Sanders: In a Week 9 injury roundup, Moore forecast which banged-up fantasy contributors would play or sit: Deshaun Watson, Garrett Wilson, David Montgomery, Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, TreVeyon Henderson and Terrance Ferguson are expected out, while Travis Kelce, Saquon Barkley, Michael Wilson, Christian Watson and Emeka Egbuka should play. He also expects Shedeur Sanders and Drew Lock to start at quarterback. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e26319a3-10aa-49a6-a24d-a257521363f0 (scored 100) - Zachary Pereles on Shedeur Sanders: Pereles writes that if Deshaun Watson can't clear concussion protocol in time, the Browns would likely turn to second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders to start Week 9 against the Saints. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6dad75dd-1818-4a6a-91ea-832f491c2530 (scored 100) - Mitchell Eisenstein on Cleveland Browns: Mitchell gave his Week 9 top-five power rankings, keeping Buffalo first and the 49ers second while elevating the Bears, Jaguars and Lions, and picked a slate of Week 9 games including a Packers win in New England, a Panthers upset of Denver, and blowouts for Detroit, Kansas City and Houston. He also tabbed Jonah Coleman as a late-season Offensive Rookie of the Year pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6a1c5f64-cb1f-4e3d-846c-281720efb544 (scored 0) - Richard Sherman on Cleveland Browns: Sherman ranked the 49ers first in his Week 9 top five ahead of Buffalo, Chicago, Jacksonville and Denver, picked every Week 9 game with scores, and gave midseason award picks headlined by Brock Purdy for MVP and Kyle Shanahan for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/97d44ed7-e136-4f44-babc-78b1d8d020ad (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 his 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 his 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; he also likes 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. He also makes 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 his 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) --- 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. 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