- 5/17/2025
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime has a bold prediction about the Texans' season. John Lopez and B.Scott discuss on In The Loop whether they are buying it.
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00:00And we got some bold predictions, or at least one, a bold prediction regarding the Texans' schedule.
00:06And we've been breaking down the schedule throughout the day, gave our initial reactions to it,
00:10even went through the schedule and gave our wins and losses.
00:15But my guy, DJ B enemy, over at ESPN, imagine this was an assignment for all of the ESPN beat writers,
00:24NFL beat writers, to kind of give your overall analysis and add in a bold prediction about the team that you cover
00:33as it relates to their schedule.
00:35And I want to get y'all's thoughts about this, because when I read this, look, I...
00:40Last year, didn't he, last year, he had the Colts winning the division?
00:44Man, he...
00:44Was that DJ?
00:45I think that was him, yeah.
00:46DJ...
00:46He was on with me in the comps.
00:48DJ has a thing for giving the AFC South way more credit than it clearly deserves.
00:57Now, I'm going to be honest about this.
00:59I think I've been right there with him in years past, but this was the year I decided I would not be duped.
01:05I would not be fooled by this here AFC South, thinking that it's better than it's supposed to be,
01:10or better than we thought.
01:11But I want y'all to check out this bold prediction.
01:13He goes through the schedule.
01:15He's got, like, key stretches and dates to circle, and we can get into those a little bit later.
01:20But I want to get to this bold prediction and see what y'all think of it.
01:24Do you agree?
01:25Disagree?
01:26Would you poke any holes in this?
01:28The Texans...
01:29Bold prediction from DJ B enemy at ESPN.
01:31Quote,
01:32The Texans will be fighting in Week 18.
01:37Each team in the AFC South has added talent, while the Texans have a first-place schedule.
01:42So, it's not guaranteed the Texans will run away with the division like they did in 2024.
01:49The field has closed the gap on Houston.
01:53I want to focus on that last sentence here.
01:55Yeah.
01:56Or maybe even the first two.
01:57The first sentence and the last sentence.
02:00He says the Texans will be fighting to clinch the division at the end of the season,
02:04and that the field has closed the gap on Houston.
02:07Do you agree?
02:07Yeah, as I saw that, I'm kind of in two different lanes at the same time.
02:13The one lane is, as you saw when we made the predictions week by week,
02:19I only had the Texans going 10-7, but I think sweeping the division.
02:24I might have had them losing one game at Indianapolis.
02:28I don't remember.
02:29But dominating the division.
02:31You got them dominating the division.
02:32So, on the one hand, I don't agree because I think they're going to win the division,
02:37they're going to dominate the division, and if there's any ties,
02:39they're going to have all the tiebreakers.
02:40However, I'm not going to say that the division has closed the gap on Houston,
02:46but I think there are places where they're closing the gap,
02:49and that's a big difference between closed and closing.
02:53Because Travis Hunter is a scary proposition in Jacksonville,
02:56but as much as that's scary, he's not a quarterback.
02:59You know, he can affect games.
03:01He can maybe win games if he's as good as I think he's going to be.
03:04You know, they have a new coach and a new general manager in Jacksonville,
03:07but they're completely unproven, and I have no confidence in either one of those cats.
03:11Yeah, so...
03:13I was in the gap.
03:16I just don't think it really matters.
03:18Yeah.
03:19Like, I don't think the closing of the gap or whatever gains they made on said gap,
03:24metaphorical gap here that we're talking about,
03:26I don't think that those gains are significant enough
03:29to where the Texans are going to be sweating it by the end of the year.
03:34Right.
03:34Nor is it significant enough to make them as good as the Texans.
03:38Exactly.
03:38I just don't think that that's the case.
03:40Now, I could obviously be wrong about that,
03:42but, I mean, you just think about it.
03:45The Colts and their quarterback situation is so bad
03:48that they done went out and got Daniel Jones,
03:50and none of us know who their quarterback is.
03:52They got two quarterbacks that we know of whose names we know,
03:56guys we've heard of, and we don't know who their quarterback is.
03:59Is it Anthony Richardson?
03:59Is it Daniel Jones?
04:00Is it either option a good one?
04:02So there's that.
04:03Then you go over to the Jacksonville Jaguars,
04:07which are like the epitome of disappointment and underachieving.
04:10Now, they have leveled up.
04:12They add Travis Hunter.
04:14You know, they're doing some things along the margins.
04:15They've got, you know, a new GM or a new –
04:18they've got new leadership, so they're doing some different things, right?
04:23You can't tell me that you really believe that they've closed the gap
04:26in a significant enough way to make them –
04:29like, are you picking them to beat the Texans in this division
04:31or to win this division?
04:32I just said no.
04:33Absolutely not.
04:34The league itself doesn't even respect Jacksonville enough
04:38to give them more than one nationally televised game.
04:40And then the Titans are the one that are kind of interesting to me
04:45because they're the one –
04:48the Titans are the only ones that believe in themselves
04:50or the only ones that believe in the Titans.
04:54Because they operate on the season like they were going to be somebody.
04:57Yeah.
04:58And now, obviously, now they –
04:59They were splurging, too.
05:00They were splurging, dog.
05:02And then they go out there.
05:02They had me a little nervous.
05:04I'm like, maybe they could be a thorn, and then you know what.
05:06They're splurging again.
05:07No, I want to –
05:08Look, I'm going to take a victory lap on this.
05:11Yeah.
05:11I took note of the splurge, but I was like, look, good for them.
05:15But I don't think that's going to make them that much better.
05:18I don't think they're going to be good.
05:19Yeah.
05:19You know, like if I was a Titans fan,
05:21I'd be happy about them investing in the team the way that they were
05:24and being aggressive the way that they were.
05:27But there wasn't a lot going on over there
05:29that made me think that they were going to be much better.
05:31And then, lo and behold, they're picking first overall
05:33with a chance at Cam Ward.
05:35Now, Cam Ward, to me, is the biggest wild card in the division
05:39because he's the one where I just cannot tell you what is that.
05:44Yeah.
05:44What is that supposed to be?
05:46What is that supposed to look like?
05:48What is ultimately the impact on Cam Ward adding a real –
05:54if he is, in fact, a real quarterback to a team that has pieces around it,
05:58like we're talking about.
05:59They have made solid investments into their team.
06:01What Cam Ward is ultimately will determine how much of the gap
06:07the division has actually closed
06:08because I don't believe in those other two teams.
06:09Yeah, no, I agree, but I do think –
06:12I think you can argue all three are at least making moves
06:15that could be closing the gap,
06:16even if you don't believe they actually are closing the gap.
06:19You know, Jaguars, they did get a new coach and a general manager.
06:22I just don't think they're very good.
06:23Some people might.
06:24They did get Travis Hunter, who I think is the best all-around player.
06:27I mean, independent of a position, best player in the draft.
06:30You know, they are doing something.
06:32The Titans – I mean, it's just a defensive front.
06:36They do.
06:37And that's –
06:38They beat you last year at home with Will Evans.
06:40Yeah, and that's not going anywhere.
06:42And then kind of a wild card in Cam Ward, as you just illustrated.
06:45The Colts are the ones, to me, that are just like –
06:48I mean, they've got –
06:51You know what?
06:51I mean, like –
06:52The Colts would be the answer to this question had they –
06:56like, let's just say somehow they hit the number one overall.
06:58Sure.
06:58Right?
06:58Like, if they hit properly, or maybe properly is not the right word
07:02because I feel like they did what they could,
07:04but if they had better addressed the quarterback situation,
07:06either that be Anthony Richardson actually being what they drafted him to be
07:09or going out and getting a proven, let's just say, better quarterback
07:14than Daniel Jones, that to me would have been closing the gap
07:18because that's where it's closest, right?
07:19Yeah.
07:19So, roster-wise, Indianapolis is still the team that I look at as the biggest threat
07:25or the closest to the Texans, but they're still lacking that key thing.
07:30Anthony Richardson somehow figures it out, or Daniel Jones is the Daniel Jones that he was,
07:34what, two years ago or whatever it was when he had a good year.
07:37Okay, now we're talking about something different.
07:39But both of those guys got more evidence of being not that than actually being that,
07:44and so I'm going to lean towards them not having a quarterback.
07:48I mean, they flat out said that, hey, we were going to have an open quarterback competition
07:53between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.
07:57That doesn't put any fear in anyone.
07:59But I also feel like they feel like they could be, you know,
08:03they're quarterback away or whatever it might be,
08:05but they have some pieces that they could be closing the gap a little bit
08:09and some pieces on the defensive side as well.
08:12But, no, I...
08:14I think I get where DJ might have landed there, but that's a big leap.
08:18But it does seem like you agree with his first point,
08:21and this is probably what I disagree with more, is that they'll be,
08:24and this is based off of us, going through the schedule
08:27and giving y'all the win-loss record as we see it.
08:30He's got them fighting to clinch the division.
08:33I think part of the logic is because he thinks the division is better.
08:36But, you know, they obviously play more teams than just the division.
08:39He's got them fighting to clinch the division at the end.
08:41And I, notably, have them with the ability to rest guys.
08:46Well, you saw when we went through the schedule,
08:47I said they were 9-7 going into last week,
08:49and they had to win the last week, and they'll have to win that last game.
08:53I think they will, but I think the division will pretty much be in pocket.
08:56That's just to get to 10 wins.
08:57Yeah.
08:57So, I don't see any of these, although I did see this morning,
09:02someone had the Jaguars finishing 10-7 in 2020.
09:06What are they smoking on?
09:07I don't know what's in their cup.
09:10What's in their cup.
09:11Right, exactly.
09:14You'd have to.
09:16That's somebody that's definitely going all in on Trevor Lawrence and the Travis Hunter.
09:20Yeah, I was going to say, you're probably thinking somebody will unlock Trevor Lawrence at that point.
09:26They think Liam Cohen is a magician.
09:28Yeah, they think they're going to unlock Trevor Lawrence and be the person he thought he was going to.
09:32We all thought he was going to be this franchise quarterback.
09:37Hey, side note, is Liam Cohen, is he going to turn out to be a kind man?
09:41He talks kind of like a.
09:42They both do.
09:44So does the magnificent Gladstone.
09:46Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:49Really, the magnet.
09:50You know, that's really the one.
09:51All the little isms and the magnificent.
09:56That's the dude I can see from, you know, 10 years from now.
09:58You look up like, man, this dude lied on his resume.
10:01No, I'm just kidding.
10:02But it definitely gives those snake oil salesman kind of vibes.
10:08Like, I don't know what this guy is.
10:09In the back of my mind, I'd be a little worried, though,
10:12because I felt like we had the same conversation with Nick Sirianni.
10:16Just whenever he spoke.
10:18And it's just like, man, what is this guy?
10:20So like, I'm just a little worried.
10:23The difference is.
10:24It's a small little piece, just worried.
10:25Sirianni sounded like an idiot and turns out he's not.
10:28This guy sounds like, you know, is trying to sound overly smart.
10:33But is he really, though?
10:34It's like you just turned on Siri by saying Sirianni on my phone.
10:38Oh, really?
10:39Look at that.
10:40It's walking everywhere.
10:41Hey, I wonder how often that happens in Philly.
10:43Yeah.
10:44I wonder.
10:44That's wild.
10:45Like, why is, oh, you said Sirianni.
10:47Yeah.
10:48And through the mic at that, they hear it through the headphones.
10:51I say Jose Siri.
10:53That's right.
10:54But I'm kind of with Figgy on this one, like, hesitance I have.
10:59Just a small little part.
11:01But it's slightly different.
11:03Like, Liam Cohen and the magnificent Gladstone, they make Sirianni look cool.
11:09Like, they make him look hip.
11:10That's true.
11:11You know, that's how dorky they are.
11:12And the only thing I'm hesitating on is, all right, so this has turned into, like, a very dorky sports world.
11:21It's a nerd-based sports world.
11:24They're leaning all into it with that organization, too.
11:27And they are going all, could we be wrong, could I be wrong, on maybe they're just really nerdy, but they're good.
11:37But because it seemed like that organization was going with the hard asses, the football hard asses, now they just won a 180.
11:46And now let's get this nerdy, dorky GM.
11:49And what if it works?
11:52I mean, just out of all the teams in the division, the Jaguars are the ones that I've always taken the least seriously.
11:56Me, too.
11:57And so it is literally going to have to work for me to look at them differently.
12:03Like, I can't give it no optimism, glass half full.
12:08The Jags stay the Jags.
12:10The Jags be the Jags.
12:12So, like, until they do something different, until they give me a reason, I mean, if going out and drafting Trevor Lawrence,
12:19supposedly the most surest of things that you can possibly find out there, haven't fixed it, I don't know.
12:26I don't know if some nerdy Gladstones and Coens is going to fix it.
12:29I agree with that.
12:31I agree with that.
12:32But it's just a small part of my brain is like, what if they unlock it?
12:35Like, I'm not all in.
12:36I get, I use data and stats and advanced metrics.
12:39We all do now.
12:40But not like that.
12:41We're not, like, in the lab, you know.
12:43Yeah.
12:43And just completely taking the human element out of things.
12:47They have.
12:48And it works for some people.
12:50What if it works?
12:51That's the only hesitance I have.
12:52Yeah.
12:53It might be a slim chance, though.
12:55Yeah.
12:55Careful what you wish for and what you may predict.
12:58Because it's very possible that the Jaguars could have egg on my face by the end of the season.
13:04Hopefully not.
13:05He does have one of the mentions before we get out of here.
13:06DJ says the date to circle on the schedule is week five against the Ravens.
13:13That, that, for me, be the date to, like, forget about.
13:20Or, like, circle this date to go to a, to see a horror movie.
13:24Yeah.
13:25Or let's go in this haunted house.
13:26Or let's go to brunch.
13:28Let's just.
13:28Let's go to the scene of the murder.
13:30Let's go do almost anything else to distract us from the torture that's about to take place.
13:36So.
13:36That's like circling the date.
13:37You want to see this dead body on this date?
13:39You want to see a dead body?
13:39Like, I don't want to see that.
13:40But you know what, the other side of it, which, and I'll give him credit for this,
13:44the circling of the date, and he makes this point, they win that game.
13:48Oh, yeah.
13:48Going into the bye week.
13:50I don't know if you could, like, I don't know if there could be a more significant.
13:54Right.
13:56Morale boosting regular season win that you could possibly get for the Texans right now.
14:00They're going to rise up in the rankings.
14:02Yeah.
14:02You're going to have people like ESPN, like, oh, yeah, the Houston, the top three team.
14:06Exactly.
14:07No, a hundred percent.
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