The Announcer Jinx is the most dreaded curse in all of football. Second to that is the equally potent but less appreciated Unanimous Game Predictions by a pre-game show or studio show. We were reminded of just how ominous that situation is when ESPN’s NFL Live crew realized they had all selected the Houston Texans to upset the New England Patriots in their NFL Playoff game on Sunday. During Friday’s show, host Hannah Storm was going through the analysts’ predictions for each of the weekend’s NFL Playoff games, revealing which team she, Mina Kimes, Ryan Clark, Dan Orlovsky, and Marcus Spears had picked beforehand. When they got to the Texans-Patriots game, Storm said she was “surprised” to see everyone on the panel picked the upset. Wait for the NFL Live crew to realize they all picked Houston 😭 pic.twitter.com/62sNKE0MVj — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 16, 2026 Every panel member reacted in horror in their own way. Kimes exclaimed, “No way!” and disappeared from view, hiding from reality. She later emerged to say, “I thought when Nico Collins was ruled out, everybody would change it but me. I hate this,” before leaving the frame once more. Clark made the same exclamation and immediately demanded that they “change my pick.” He then blamed a production crew member who “got my paper wrong,” claiming, presumably in jest, that he had actually picked the Patriots. Orlovsky covered his face with his hands and silently processed what had happened, eventually saying, “I don’t love it.” Spears also demanded that someone change his pick, repeating “This is bad” several times. “No Houston team has been to a conference championship game since the Oilers in 1979,” shared Storm, in a bit of pretzel logic (the Texans are the only post-Houston team to exist), to drive home how out of the norm the pick was. Adding insult to injury for any Texans fans watching at home, the crew had a very different reaction when they realized they’d all picked the Seattle Seahawks to beat the San Francisco 49ers. Their bafflement was exclusive to Houston and their chances against the 14-3 AFC East champions. Congratulations to the New England Patriots on advancing to the AFC Championship [image or embed] — Mina Kimes (@minakimes.bsky.social) January 16, 2026 at 6:57 PM The Patriots are a field-goal favorite heading into the AFC Divisional Round showdown, but if the Texans can pull off the upset, those horrified reactions will turn around pretty quickly come Monday. Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com. "It's hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled." "I just don't think Cooks really has firm possession of the football when both players hit the ground." The Broncos' overtime win over the Bills was a wild, erratic, and thrilling football game. How much Tony Romo improved or ruined the experience depends on who you're talking to. "I made that decision a long time ago..." "I always felt like you could take a shot to the end zone here..." This Tony Romo slip-up did not slip by social media. "It's hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled." "I just don't think Cooks really has firm possession of the football when both players hit the ground." The Broncos' overtime win over the Bills was a wild, erratic, and thrilling football game. How much Tony Romo improved or ruined the experience depends on who you're talking to. "I made that decision a long time ago..." "I always felt like you could take a shot to the end zone here..." This Tony Romo slip-up did not slip by social media.