John Breech#34 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 17, 2026

Breech picks the Bills to beat the Lions 38-31 on Thursday night, floats the game as a Super Bowl preview, and takes the Cardinals to upset the Seahawks 20-17 in Week 2.

Published in writing · CBS SportsRead the original

1 of 2calls landed1 hit · 1 miss · 2 waiting

46.4Average accuracyout of 100, across 2 calls

39.7A naive guessthe same calls, no knowledge

2Games calledeveryone’s picks below

#34John Breech’s rankof 87 ranked NFL pundits

What John Breech said

our reading, beside the words we read it from

I believe in Arizona and I think the Cards are going to pull off the upset here.

John Breech, the lead quote · each call’s own words are below

Where it was published: CBS Sports
The piece: Lions-Bills predictions for Thursday, plus NFL Week 2 picks for all 16 games and ranking each starting QB
The original: Read the original
Read it wrong?: Tell us and we will look

SaidSep 17
PlayedSep 17–20
GradedSep 18–21

1Arizona Cardinals 20 — Seahawks 17“John Breech -- Cardinals (+4.5) 20-17 over Seahawks.”
2Buffalo Bills 38 — Lions 31“John Breech's pick: Bills 38-31 over Lions”
3Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl“the Bills (1-0) will be hosting the Lions (1-0) in a possible SUPER BOWL PREVIEW. Is it too early to say that? Probably, but I'm going to say it anyway.”
4Detroit Lions to reach the Super Bowl“the Bills (1-0) will be hosting the Lions (1-0) in a possible SUPER BOWL PREVIEW. Is it too early to say that? Probably, but I'm going to say it anyway.”

Box score

HitCloseMissWaiting

Call	Kind	What happened	Score	Naive	Skill
Arizona Cardinals 20 — Seahawks 17¹	Score Predictions	Seahawks 31–7	0	0	0
Buffalo Bills 38 — Lions 31²	Score Predictions	Bills 41–31	92.86	79.41	+26.08
Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl³	Conference Champions	—	—	—	—
Detroit Lions to reach the Super Bowl⁴	Conference Champions	—	—	—	—
4 calls · 1 hit · 1 miss · 2 waiting			46.4	39.7

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 naive

4 checkable claims — 2 conference champions and 2 score predictions — 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.

2 of 4 have settled so far, averaging 46.4 out of 100, against 39.7 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.

1Score Predictions Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals 20 — Seahawks 17
What happenedSeahawks 31–7called Cardinals by 3 · lost by 24
0Miss · naive 0
0this call0a naive guess0better than naive1.94difficulty0skill
Closing line (Sep 20): Seahawks by 3.5, total 40.5 · this 20–17 calls a Cardinals win (by 3; the line gave the Cardinals about 1 in 3 (34%)) and fewer points (37). Graded on the margin called, not on the spread.
How this was scored
score:
31-7
skill:
0
they picked:
ARI
season:
2026
accuracy:
0
baseline:
0
difficulty:
1.94
weeks in the season:
18
actual margin:
24
weeks left when called:
17
naive home margin:
−0.52
predicted margin:
3
Think this is wrong?
2Score Predictions Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills 38 — Lions 31
What happenedBills 41–31called Bills by 7 · won by 10
92.86Hit · naive 79.41
92.86this call79.41a naive guess13.45better than naive1.94difficulty+26.08skill
Closing line (Sep 17): Bills by 5.5, total 54.5 · this 38–31 calls a bigger Bills win (by 7) and more points (69).
How this was scored
score:
31-41
skill:
26.08
they picked:
BUF
season:
2026
accuracy:
92.86
baseline:
79.41
difficulty:
1.94
weeks in the season:
18
actual margin:
10
weeks left when called:
17
naive home margin:
1.35
predicted margin:
7
Think this is wrong?
3Conference Champions Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
4Conference Champions Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaiting
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
Think this is wrong?
All
The take as a whole
the average of 2 settled calls, each counted once
46.4naive 39.7

The games in this take

every pundit’s pick on each

Who this take is about

Where do you stand on this one?Pick every open claim on Picks →

Others on the same people

Pete Prisco · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Prisco picked the Bills to win 21-14 at Minnesota.
Jordan Dajani · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 62
Dajani picked the Bills to edge the Vikings 24-23.
Jared Dubin · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 74
Dubin picked Buffalo to win a low-scoring Monday night game in Minnesota, 20-14.
Tyler Sullivan · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Sullivan picked the Bills to beat the Vikings 24-17.
Trevor Ripley · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Ripley picks the Bills to beat the Vikings in their Week 9 Monday night matchup, predicting a 27-20 Buffalo win, and expects Carson Wentz to start for Minnesota with Kyler Murray sidelined.
Brooke Cersosimo · Game Outcome Picks · Buffalo Bills · Hit 100
Picks the Bills over the Vikings.

More conference champions

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

Chris Brockman · Conference Champions · Seattle Seahawks · Hit 100
Brockman argues the Seahawks are at the start of a dynasty, predicting they will win multiple Super Bowls over the next five years, and that they are set up to return to the Super Bowl the following season in Los Angeles.
Damonza Byrd · Conference Champions · Seattle Seahawks · Hit 100
The co-host picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams in the NFC Championship game, and says they believe New England will win in Denver even though they are taking the Broncos with the points.
Nick Wright · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
The host picks the Rams to beat the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game and believes the winner of that game wins the Super Bowl, i.e. that this is the Rams' year; they also pick New England to win in Denver despite taking the Broncos with the points, and says Stafford is winning MVP. They call Sean McVay the second-best coach in the NFL.
Nick Wright · Conference Champions · Denver Broncos · Close 50
Wright picked the Broncos to beat the Patriots in a low-scoring AFC Championship game (17-16), said Sean Payton would coach Denver to the Super Bowl, picked the Rams to win outright in Seattle 31-20, believes the winner of the NFC game wins the Super Bowl with the Rams the better team, and expects Matt Stafford to be named league MVP.
AJ Hawk · Conference Champions · Los Angeles Rams · Close 50
Hawk picked the Patriots to win in Denver despite liking Stidham and the Broncos defense, and in the NFC they stuck with the Rams, saying Stafford gets to the Super Bowl.
Derek Murphy · Conference Champions · Seattle Seahawks · Hit 100
Bone said after watching film that Seattle will handle the Rams in the NFC Championship Game, and that the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl.