# 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.thegoodapps.co/pundits/aaron-schatz **Outlet:** Around the NFL (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.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 bet. 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 - **So to go from eighth to like fourteenth... You have them as a bottom three offense** - Kind: Position Group Rankings - 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 - **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 - **Arizona Cardinals to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Arizona Cardinals - 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 - **It's offense. I mean, we have them projected with the top five offense.** - Kind: Position Group Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Cincinnati Bengals to finish with 9.8 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Cincinnati Bengals - 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 - **Baltimore Ravens to finish with 9.8 wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Indianapolis Colts to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Indianapolis Colts - Verdict: not settled yet - **And Cleveland is the worst team in the league.** - Kind: Power Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: not settled yet - **Houston Texans to reach the Super Bowl** - Kind: Conference Champions · About: Houston Texans - Verdict: not settled yet - **Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs** - Kind: Playoff Picks · About: Cincinnati Bengals - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Arizona Cardinals — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/cardinals - Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bengals - Baltimore Ravens — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/ravens - Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/colts - Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/texans ## What others said about the same people - Colin Cowherd on Houston Texans: Cowherd repeats his claim that Caleb Williams will be viewed as a top four or five quarterback by the end of the season, restates his preseason pick of the Ravens to win their division, and expects a angry Houston defense to beat Cincinnati on Sunday. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/e43d4655-1b30-4892-a8ee-3cfe6bf29dba (scored 0) - Chris Broussard on Houston Texans: Brew stood by the Lions as division winners and playoff team, picked the Texans over Cincinnati, the Bears over Minnesota, the Patriots to beat Pittsburgh with a solid Drake Maye game, flagged Jacksonville over Denver as his upset alert, and said he still feels good about the Ravens winning the AFC. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a54915e0-49e6-427b-a7a5-4feb5d0f3cbb (scored 0) - Greg Jennings on Houston Texans: Jennings put the Cardinals up as his upset alert over Seattle, backed the Texans over Cincinnati and the Bears over Minnesota with chips, put two chips on Denver beating Jacksonville, and wrote a headline of the Packers beating the Jets; he also called the Bengals a playoff team and the Chiefs winners over Indianapolis. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/420d3e29-6224-43a2-8d68-b15c864838cd (scored 0) - Nick Wright on Houston Texans: Wright stuck by his preseason call of a 12-5 Bills team that wins its division, picked the Jaguars to beat Denver outright, leaned Texans over Cincinnati, still has Atlanta as his deep sleeper, counts New England among his 14 playoff teams, and recalled pegging Washington for a 5-12 or 6-11 year with a bottom-six defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/d9357a30-3f1d-4be4-8ce6-529f21f9aeac (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Cincinnati Bengals: Parkins picked the Giants to beat the Rams outright, backed Jacksonville over Denver, Cincinnati over Houston and Chicago over Minnesota in the chips segment, endorsed Buffalo as the AFC's Super Bowl representative, and predicted Deshaun Watson has started his last NFL game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/36d4ede8-3066-4102-abbc-cb08e4544c92 (scored 100) - Nick Shook on Baltimore Ravens: Shook said he would take the Steelers and Jaguars to win outright on the road, still expects the Chargers to beat the Raiders, and thinks Baltimore's run game will turn the Saints game into a double-digit Ravens win. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/b377b42a-7d78-4210-af2a-f8d1088561b2 (scored 0) ## More position group rankings The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Rich Eisen: Eisen ranked his top five defenses remaining in the NFL playoffs, with the Texans first, Seahawks second, Broncos third, Bills fourth and Rams fifth. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.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. He also rated Ja'Marr Chase a top-two receiver and A.J. Brown a top-five receiver. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.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. He also called Jordan Addison one of the league's best No. 2 receivers. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/eefce1fd-b4db-4466-b850-79c0f88969a9 (scored 0) - Brandon Graham: Graham ranked his 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.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a054e705-4e72-4c3f-b475-95b2643e8699 (scored 0) - Kyle Brandt: Kyle Brandt ranked his top five NFL wide receiver duos, deliberately excluding newly formed pairings, with Cincinnati first and Tampa Bay fifth. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/88c49d42-2a19-4ded-807c-4ac54bece76b (scored 40) - Jamie Erdahl on Los Angeles Rams: Erdahl ranked her top five wide receiver duos, putting Philadelphia first, Detroit above Minnesota, and Cincinnati fifth. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.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.thegoodapps.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.thegoodapps.co/corrections?pundit=aaron-schatz