Steven Ruiz· Sep 25, 2026
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.
“I expect a similar turnaround this season.”
published in writing · Fox Sports · read the original →
One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.
Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.
Where do you stand? Pick this and every open claim on Picks →
Who this take is about
1 checkable claim in this take
Each one is scored on its own against the published methodology. A pundit naming several outcomes is graded on each, not on all-or-nothing.
- Surprise Team CallsHouston TexansSep 25, 2026
Houston Texans to beat expectations
“Last year, the Texans got off to a miserable 0-3 start and then lost two games the rest of the way. I expect a similar turnaround this season... they should rack up enough low-quality wins to stick around the playoff race all season.”
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
What others said about the same people
- Gregg RosenthalGame Outcome Picks · Houston TexansMiss · 0Outside 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.
- Jordan DajaniScore Predictions · Houston TexansClose · 40Dajani gave final-score predictions for eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Buccaneers (upset), Ravens, Broncos (upset) and Eagles to win.
- Jared DubinScore Predictions · Houston TexansClose · 45Dubin gave final-score predictions for the same eight Week 3 games, picking the Packers, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Vikings, Ravens, Rams and Eagles.
- Richard ShermanScore Predictions · Houston TexansClose · 48Sherman 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.
- John BreechScore Predictions · Houston TexansClose · 45Presenting 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.
- Pete PriscoScore Predictions · Houston TexansMiss · 29Prisco picks every Week 3 game with exact scores, highlighting upsets by Tampa Bay over Minnesota and Cleveland over Carolina, and expects the Giants to rally behind Jameis Winston.
More surprise team calls
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
- Eric WilliamsSurprise Team Calls · Los Angeles ChargersPendingWilliams 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.
- Ralph VacchianoSurprise Team Calls · Indianapolis ColtsPendingVacchiano 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.
- Carter BahnsSurprise Team Calls · Cincinnati BengalsPendingBahns named the Bengals a dark-horse Super Bowl contender on the strength of their retooled defense.
- John BreechSurprise Team Calls · New Orleans SaintsPendingBreech 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.
- Ralph VacchianoSurprise Team Calls · New Orleans SaintsPendingVacchiano 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.
- Gilberto ManzanoSurprise Team Calls · Las Vegas RaidersPendingManzano 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.