In a relatively short 16 game season, a slow start can be a death blow. Around 90% of teams who start the season 0-2 end up missing the playoffs. Some teams can put it behind them and turn their season around, but not many. The 2007 Giants started off 0-2 and ended up winning the Super Bowl, as did the 2001 Patriots.
There are currently seven teams sitting at 0-2, and none of their prospects look particularly bright. Several of them have solid franchise quarterbacks and recent playoff success, and none of them are giving up. So which, if any, has the best chance of turning around their disappointing campaigns?
Two teams in the NFC West are 0-2. The Seahawks have lost a pair of close games, both of which they had opportunities to win in the first quarter. The Cardinals on the other hand have been blown out twice, and have scored just six total points. The Seahawks have the clear advantage at quarterback, the Cardinals have David Johnson, and neither has much of an offensive line. The Cardinals have plenty of theoretical talent and a strong defense, while Russell Wilson has shown he’s capable of carrying a team in the past. Both teams will be returning home for do-or-die games in Week 3. The Cardinals get the Bears, while the Seahawks host the Cowboys.
The other two winless teams in the NFC are the Lions and Giants. Both teams have new head coaches and Matt Patricia and Pat Shurmur have both gotten off to terrible starts. The Lions’ defense has been a mess while Eli Manning has looked like he has very little left in the tank. Like Wilson, Stafford has carried successful teams in the past while the Giants have plenty of playmakers around Manning in Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, and Odell Beckham. The Lions will host Patricia’s old team, the Patriots, on Sunday Night Football, while the Giants will face off against another winless team, the Texans.
The Texans have failed to meet expectations as Deshaun Watson returned from the torn ACL that cut his phenomenal 2017 season short. They understandably dropped a road opener to the Patriots, but lost a head-scratcher last week to the Titans in a game where Blaine Gabbert took all the snaps. They’ve got Watson and a slew of other big name players, but if they lose to the Giants on Sunday it will be awfully hard to rebound.
The last two 0-2 teams in the AFC are the Raiders and the Bills. Jon Gruden took a lot of heat for trading Khalil Mack, and hasn’t been able to deliver through two weeks. His team hung tough against the Rams in Week 1, then blew a late lead against the Broncos last week. The Bills have potentially the worst outlook of any of these teams. In the midst of a full blown rebuild, Buffalo was forced to bench Nathan Peterman after just one start. Josh Allen will be under center the rest of the way, and the season will be more focused on his development rather than winning games. The Raiders will travel to Miami in Week 3 to take on the Dolphins, while the Bills will head to Minnesota to face the Vikings.
Which of these teams do you think has the best chance of rebounding and turning the season around? Will we see the next ’07 Giants rise up from this crop of 0-2 teams? Vote in the poll below and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section!
I would’ve been interested to see the Steelers on this list, they aren’t 0-2 but still don’t have a win. With how they’ve looked I really doubt they can make the playoffs without Bell and Shazier.
0% chance the Bills or Cards make the playoffs, Texans are by far the likeliest to make it followed by the Giants imo.
Bell and Shazier aren’t the issue with the Steelers. Shazier can’t cure their defensive issues and Bell’s presence is overrated. It’s purely a lack of talent on defense and bad coaching.
So nice to not see my Browns on this list.
None of those 0-2 teams will make the playoffs
I think Houston has the best shot of having a better season than any of the other teams !
Ditto. Great roster, very good coaching. We’ll see if they can pull it off.
Houston needs a new coach.
Why do they need a new coach? He’s so underrated it’s not even funny, he lead 2 teams to the playoffs with 3rd string QBs. They have one bad season because they lost Watt and Watson. Congrats on having 0 football knowledge
I agree. I like Bill O’Brien. He needs more time and better health from his players.
Winning the worst division in football with a 9-7 record is underrated? He gets out coached constantly. They won because Luck was out and the Titans and Jags sucked. Congrats on proving you have 0 football knowledge.
Love your films by the way
Lol!!
The Jags sucked? You mean those same Jags that were one game away from the Super Bowl last year
I think he means the jags sucked the year the Texans won the division, the Too achievement of the Headcoach they are defending.
yeah i have to disagree with clark. ill admit im not watching every texans game but it seems to me that he gets out coached constantly. i mean he just lost to blaine gabbert. steven st croix is right though, the year he won the division, the jags, titans and colts were all awful. there was no andrew luck or mariota yet and then the texans got shutout in kansas city. the next season was mariotas first season and they were the texans biggest competitor but texans won again at 9-7 and had derek carr not gotten injured they would have lost in the first round again. id say if it wasnt for jj watt having an all world run those 2 years and had any of those other 3 teams been a little bit better than crappy, o brien would be fired by now.
Usually there’s a contender that just manages to have a slow start, but it’s interesting because all of these teams are legitimately bad or have glaring weaknesses. None of these look like flukes.
If there’s a team that recovers, I’d pick the Seahawks because of Russell Wilson and the fact that they still have some of the guys that won a lot in the past. Maybe the Texans if Watson steps up. That said, I don’t see any of these teams recovering though.
(Also, as a Browns fan, I want to see the Steelers on this list since they’re winless even though they technically aren’t 0-2 like the rest.)
The Hawks don’t have an O-line or a running game or very good receivers
Why can’t they ever link the correct David Johnson…
Houston
Not Detroit
Giants woes shouldn’t be 100% blamed on Eli, although his immobility greatly hurts the team. That line is a trainwreck, mainly Ereck Flowers. Then we trade Brett Jones (depth) to the Vikes for nothing… I just am hoping by 2022 this team will be back in playoff contention. This is getting hard to watch. I am a former PSL + Season Ticket Holder. I just couldn’t do it any more. I had to get out.
And they originally thought Ben jones was the replacement for richburg (not sure of proper spelling) so that makes it even worse that they let him go for nothing.
Given the Raider’s recent history, if they did rebound and make the playoffs, they would shop that ticket around to the highest bidder.
Houston is the team for sure. They lost 2 one possession games both on the road. 3 of the next 4 games are against Giants, Bills, and Cowboys. They find a way to beat Indy in that 4 game mix and they are sitting at 4-2 and very much in the playoff picture.
Giants will win this Sunday Roddy
I think the NY Giants . This week will tell it all and it must be noted the Giants have the hardest schedule possibly ever for a team with the 2nd worst record coming into a season.
Texans for sure, because Steelers are done with there distractions, lions,cardinals, and raiders just suck
Not the Texans as long as Bill O’Brien is the Head Coach. His play calling is atrocious. It’s like he can’t adjust his offense to fit his actual players.
Bills suck, owners have no clue!