Lance Zierlein#11 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 18, 2026
They backed off picking Houston, saying that without Nico Collins too much pressure falls on C.J. Stroud and they are worried about the secondary — effectively taking Cincinnati in the game.
Said on air, transcribed by us · John and Lance — ESPN Houston (podcast)Hear the original
What Lance Zierlein said
I'd like to say I do, and I did earlier in the week. But without Nico Collins, I just think there's a tremendous amount of pressure on the on on CJ, frankly, to be perfect.
- Where it was said
- John and Lance — ESPN Houston (podcast)
- The episode
- 9.18 Hour 2: Where does the Texans WR room rank? + Lane Kiffin touches hot stoves
- The original
- Hear the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- SaidSep 18
- PlayedSep 20
- GradedSep 21
How the call scored
a naive guessbetter than naiveOne checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.
The call scored 100 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls.
The 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 call; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.
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.
Game Outcome PicksCincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals to beat Texans
What happenedBengals 20–6Bengals at Texans100Hit · naive 0100this call−0a naive guess=100better than naive×1.94difficulty=+194skillClosing line (Sep 20): Texans by 3 · underdog pick, Bengals 43%.
Think this is wrong?How this was scored
- won:
- CIN
- score:
- 20-6
- skill:
- 194
- they picked:
- CIN
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 0
- the naive pick:
- HOU
- difficulty:
- 1.94
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 17
The game in this take
every pundit’s pick on eachWho this take is about
Others on the same people
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More game outcome picks
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
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