# Steven Ruiz: Ruiz expects the Texans to repeat last year's turnaround, saying their defense and schedule will let them pile up wins and stay in the playoff race all season.

**Claimed:** Sep 25, 2026
**Pundit:** Steven Ruiz — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/steven-ruiz
**Outlet:** Fox Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/which-0-2-team-will-turn-around-why-we-think-texans-most-likely-do-so

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> I expect a similar turnaround this season.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Houston Texans to beat expectations**
  - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Houston Texans
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on Houston Texans: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 47.62)
- Gregg Rosenthal on Houston Texans: Outside of his spread picks, Rosenthal referenced his season-long pick of the Texans to win the Super Bowl and said he expects Houston to beat the Colts on Sunday. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2fb84ac9-889f-4649-8c4d-f170f7b65f66 (scored 0)
- Jordan Dajani on Houston Texans: Dajani gave final-score predictions for eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Buccaneers (upset), Ravens, Broncos (upset) and Eagles to win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c96aaa6d-2d0c-41cc-a9f7-c21ac21886ac (scored 40.48)
- Jared Dubin on Houston Texans: Dubin gave final-score predictions for the same eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Vikings, Ravens, Rams and Eagles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fe04828a-d532-414c-a58a-54f6505f2263 (scored 45.24)
- Richard Sherman on Houston Texans: Sherman picked winners and several exact scores across the Week 3 slate, favoring Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, Carolina, New Orleans, Baltimore, the Rams, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Kansas City, Minnesota, the Giants, Jacksonville and Houston, and named Kenneth Walker his MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c2102f61-711d-4041-af08-065e95ccaf03 (scored 47.62)
- John Breech on Houston Texans: Presenting CBS Sports' simulation of the rest of the season, he projects the full 14-team playoff field — Chiefs as AFC No. 1 seed and Seahawks as NFC No. 1 — and picks every playoff game score through Super Bowl LXI, where Seattle beats Kansas City 20-19 to win back-to-back titles. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/059e283f-cead-4908-8c14-a522cf1c8c65 (scored 45.24)

## More surprise team calls

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

- Eric Williams on Los Angeles Chargers: Williams picks the Chargers as the 0-2 team to rebound, comparing it to the 2017 team that started 0-4 and finished 9-7, and suggests they will rise up on the road against Buffalo rather than collapse. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/57fe59dc-bfbb-44cb-8e4c-191db478fce2 (not settled)
- Ralph Vacchiano on Indianapolis Colts: Vacchiano picks the Colts over the Texans as the 0-2 team most likely to rebound, trusting their offense with Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor to keep them in the playoff race. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b89c2f84-25e6-4916-b297-fcb0e14c9ba7 (not settled)
- Carter Bahns on Cincinnati Bengals: Bahns named the Bengals a dark-horse Super Bowl contender on the strength of their retooled defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/498b82e1-23f4-4817-a025-fb862176a7d5 (not settled)
- John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Breech expects Caleb Williams to return quickly from his hamstring injury, at the latest by Week 4 against the Jets or Week 5 against the Packers, and he picked the Rams to beat the Giants on Monday night. He also floated the Saints as a potential surprise team this season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/66fd2840-c785-4c7f-9284-eb570c4dd0c4 (not settled)
- Ralph Vacchiano on New Orleans Saints: Vacchiano says the Saints, whom he had already called the NFC's biggest surprise of the season, are good enough to win the weak NFC South, though not yet a championship contender. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5f9c80c5-56ee-4c30-9938-09b673e1cb7f (not settled)
- Gilberto Manzano on Las Vegas Raiders: Manzano calls the 2-0 Raiders under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak one of the season's biggest surprise teams and a club now thinking playoffs, sees the 2-0 49ers headed for another winning season, and views New Orleans as the class of the NFC South with Tyler Shough playing well. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fa21a317-d0b7-4f3e-81de-9d115e1a8be7 (not settled)

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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.

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