# Aaron Schatz: Presenting his FTN Football Almanac projections, Schatz/Shotts calls the Texans the clear best team in the AFC and AFC Super Bowl favorite, ranks Seahawks, Rams and Texans as the top three teams in DVOA, projects Bengals and Ravens as strong playoff teams in an easy AFC North schedule, calls Cleveland the worst team in the league, and pegs the Bears with a top-2 offense and the league's worst defense. **Claimed:** Jul 16, 2026 **Pundit:** Aaron Schatz — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/aaron-schatz **Outlet:** Around the NFL (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/around-the-nfl-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/nfl-daily/eight-surprising-team-projections 14 checkable claims — 4 position group rankings, 3 playoff picks, 3 power rankings, 2 season win totals, 1 conference champion and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 5 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 2 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room on every one. > There's enough of a gap between them and the rest of the AFC that they still look like the best team in the AFC. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Baltimore Ravens to finish with 9.8 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Houston Texans to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Houston Texans - Verdict: not settled yet - “It's a pretty clear top three teams in the NFL for you too, in terms of DVOA, it's the Seahawks, Rams, and the Texans.” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - “So to go from eighth to like fourteenth... You have them as a bottom three offense” - Kind: Position Group Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - “to have him go from fifth to fourteenth, which is where they're projected... seventeenth and eighteenth overall in DVOWAY... the projections actually had the Dolphins at twenty sixth in DVOA... I was a little stunned that you had them thirty first in DVOA” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Cincinnati Bengals to finish with 9.8 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet - **Indianapolis Colts to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: not settled yet - “you have them as the second ranked offense and the worst defense in the league... You had the Packers as the fourth best offense and the twenty sixth best defense” - Kind: Position Group Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - “you have them as the second ranked offense and the worst defense in the league. ... You had the Packers as the fourth best offense and the twenty sixth best defense” - Kind: Position Group Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet - “And Cleveland is the worst team in the league.” - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Arizona Cardinals to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Arizona Cardinals - Verdict: not settled yet - “It's offense. I mean, we have them projected with the top five offense.” - Kind: Position Group Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Baltimore Ravens — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/ravens - Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals - Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/colts - Arizona Cardinals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/cardinals ## What others said about the same people - John Middlekauff on Anthony Richardson: Middlekoff's bold predictions, as relayed on the show, have the Patriots and Colts making the playoffs; they also argue the Colts whiffed on Anthony Richardson, comparing them to Trey Lance. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/eaacd99d-867e-4bab-9c40-015de85caa35 (scored 100) - Bobby Skinner on Stefon Diggs: Skinner predicted Daniel Jones signs with and wins the starting job in Indianapolis, Milton Williams to New England, Lavonte David back to Tampa, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to the Giants, DJ Reid to Arizona, Hassan Reddick to Washington and Justin Fields staying in Pittsburgh, plus alternates they had listed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6bc51663-60f7-4897-b5dc-40e284f869a2 (scored 0) - Pete Prisco on Houston Texans: Prisco gives score predictions for every Week 9 NFL game, picking the Bengals to rout the Falcons in Madrid, the Cowboys to rebound at Indianapolis, and the Jaguars to win in Baltimore without Lamar Jackson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dc43909b-bc7f-47aa-b208-5cf7c95844bc (scored 54.76) - Jared Koch on Houston Texans: Koch predicts the Texans will beat the winless Chargers on the road in Week 9 by at least 10 points, with Houston's defense forcing a couple of turnovers to set up a multiple-score win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e2861ce9-d1de-4f34-b001-83e64c3f5770 (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Houston Texans: Simms gave a predicted final score for every Week 9 game, picking the Bengals, Chiefs, Broncos, Lions, Giants, Rams, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bears and Bills, and also said they wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 80.95) - Connor Rogers on Houston Texans: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 100) ## More position group rankings The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Rich Eisen: Eisen ranked their top five defenses remaining in the NFL playoffs, with the Texans first, Seahawks second, Broncos third, Bills fourth and Rams fifth. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2a3ce061-cd05-485c-9f71-c7d0ce390a1a (scored 75) - Gregg Rosenthal: In a snake draft of the NFL's best position groups, Rosenthal took the Eagles' tackles as the No. 1 group in the league, followed by the Steelers' edge rushers, Bengals receivers, Texans corners, Lions safeties, Rams defensive tackles, Broncos corners, Chiefs quarterbacks, Patriots corners and Seahawks defensive tackles. They also rated Ja'Marr Chase a top-two receiver and A.J. Brown a top-five receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5539f810-db04-4de0-bf1f-5e3006379250 (scored 75) - Nick Shook: Shook's picks in the best-position-group draft: Buccaneers receivers (over the Bengals), Lions tackles, Ravens tight ends, Steelers interior offensive line, Lions running backs, Giants edge rushers, Ravens safeties, Commanders quarterbacks, Lions defensive tackles and Texans safeties. They also called Jordan Addison one of the league's best No. 2 receivers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/eefce1fd-b4db-4466-b850-79c0f88969a9 (scored 0) - Brandon Graham: Graham ranked their top five wide receiver duos with the Eagles first, and predicted Philadelphia returns to the Super Bowl, the Rams make the playoffs again, and picked the Commanders' duo over the Cowboys' new pairing. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a054e705-4e72-4c3f-b475-95b2643e8699 (scored 0) - Kyle Brandt: Kyle Brandt ranked their top five NFL wide receiver duos, deliberately excluding newly formed pairings, with Cincinnati first and Tampa Bay fifth. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/88c49d42-2a19-4ded-807c-4ac54bece76b (scored 40) - Jamie Erdahl on Los Angeles Rams: Erdahl ranked their top five wide receiver duos, putting Philadelphia first, Detroit above Minnesota, and Cincinnati fifth. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/331b284f-f71c-4588-9b70-948bf0e82147 (scored 80) --- 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=aaron-schatz