Steven RuizSep 9, 2026
Ruiz picks the Rams to blow out the Bills 38-17 in the Super Bowl, with a Rams-Seahawks NFC title game rematch and Buffalo beating Baltimore in the AFC Championship.
Published in writing · Fox SportsRead the original
What Steven Ruiz said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromThey'll beat Baltimore in a surprisingly low-scoring game to make their first Super Bowl in three decades, only to get blown out by the Rams two weeks later.
- Where it was published
- Fox Sports
- The piece
- 2026 Super Bowl Predictions: Battle Of L.A.? Cowboys Win It All? Our Super Bowl LXI Picks
- The original
- Read the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- SaidSep 9
- PlayedOct 12
- GradedOct 13
- 1Los Angeles Rams 38 — Bills 17“Score prediction: Rams 38, Bills 17”
- 2Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl“I'll take the Bills ... to make their first Super Bowl in three decades”
- 3Buffalo Bills to beat Baltimore“They'll beat Baltimore in a surprisingly low-scoring game to make their first Super Bowl in three decades”
- 4Los Angeles Rams to reach the Super Bowl“Steven Ruiz: Rams Defeat Bills”
- 5Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl“Steven Ruiz: Rams Defeat Bills”
- 6Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs“which is why I'm predicting another matchup between these teams in the NFC title game”
- 7Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs“They'll beat Baltimore in a surprisingly low-scoring game”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Rams 38 — Bills 171 | Score Predictions | Bills 37–34 | 7.14 | 43.52 | −72.75 | |
| Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl2 | Conference Champions | — | — | — | — | |
| Buffalo Bills to beat Baltimore3 | Game Outcome Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| Los Angeles Rams to reach the Super Bowl4 | Conference Champions | — | — | — | — | |
| Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl5 | Super Bowl Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs6 | Playoff Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs7 | Playoff Picks | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 calls · 1 miss · 6 waiting | 7.1 | 43.5 | ||||
How each call scored
a naive guessbetter than naiveworse than naive7 checkable claims — 2 conference champions, 2 playoff picks, 1 game outcome pick, 1 score prediction and 1 super bowl pick — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.
It names 4 players and teams, each linked to their own record.
1 of 7 have settled so far, averaging 7.1 out of 100, against 43.5 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 PredictionsLos Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams 38 — Bills 17
What happenedBills 37–34called Rams by 21 · lost by 37.14Miss · naive 43.527.14this call−43.52a naive guess=−36.38worse than naive×2difficulty=−72.75skillThink this is wrong?How this was scored
- score:
- 37-34
- skill:
- −72.75
- they picked:
- LAR
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 7.14
- baseline:
- 43.52
- difficulty:
- 2
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- actual margin:
- 3
- weeks left when called:
- 18
- naive home margin:
- 0.28
- predicted margin:
- 21
2Conference ChampionsBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
3Game Outcome PicksBuffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills to beat Baltimore
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
4Conference ChampionsLos Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams to reach the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
5Super Bowl PicksLos Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
6Playoff PicksSeattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
7Playoff PicksBaltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
The game in this take
every pundit’s pick on eachWho this take is about
Others on the same people
Pete Prisco · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Prisco picked the Bills to win 21-14 at Minnesota.John Breech · Score Predictions · Buffalo Bills · Close 76
Breech picked the Bills to beat the Vikings on Monday night by a score of 24-17.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.
More conference champions
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
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.Connor "Boston Connor" Campbell · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Connor expects a tight first half in Denver before New England pulls away in the second half and advances to the Super Bowl.Gregg Rosenthal · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Rosenthal picks the Patriots to beat the Broncos in a close, low-scoring AFC Championship in Denver (while liking Denver to cover the 4.5 points), takes the Seahawks over the Rams in a defensive NFC Championship they peg around 23-19, and forecasts a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl.Richard Sherman · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Sherman picks the Seahawks to beat the Rams comfortably at home, 27-17, with a defensive score, and says the winner of that NFC Championship game will win the Super Bowl. They also pick the Patriots to win comfortably in Denver, 21-15, and assumes Matthew Stafford will be named league MVP.Mitchell Eisenstein · Conference Champions · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Mitchell picks Seattle to beat the Rams by a touchdown, 27-20, and advance to the Super Bowl, picks New England to beat Denver and reach the Super Bowl, and calls Kenneth Walker as Super Bowl MVP.