Which 0-2 Team Will Rebound To Make Playoffs?

It gets late early in the NFL. While the season may be 17 games, history says teams that start 0-2 have just a 10 percent chance of rebounding and making the playoffs. Week 2 may not be a knockout round — but it’s close. 

Last year there were nine teams that lost both games to start the season. Only one — the Houston Texans — rebounded to make the postseason, and that team broke the mold in a lot of ways. Since the NFL moved to a 17-game schedule in 2021, the 2023 Texans and the 2022 Bengals are the only two teams to shake off an 0-2 start. 

Another nine teams have started 0-2 in 2024 and that doesn’t include the Falcons who are 0-1 heading into tonight’s matchup with the 1-0 Eagles. Here’s a look at the bunch, ordered from least likely to most likely to pull out of their early tailspin.

Carolina Panthers

We wrote about the Panthers last week after a 47-10 demolishing in the opener against the Saints. Not much changed in Week 2 and there is precious little to be optimistic about with this team two weeks into the season. It’s hard to be worse than last year’s two-win team that would have earned the No. 1 pick had it not been traded to the Bears in the move up for QB Bryce Young a year earlier, and yet somehow the Panthers are managing it. 

Young isn’t the only problem with the Panthers — but he’s probably the biggest issue right now. He still looks shell-shocked from a dismal rookie season and it’s hard to imagine the current player was a decorated Heisman Trophy winner and national champion at Alabama. Young’s strengths in college have not been strengths in the NFL, and his weaknesses have been exposed in a way they weren’t before. So far this year, his accuracy, footwork and decision-making have all taken steps back, and they weren’t exactly good during his rookie season. 

Beyond that, the Panthers have a defense that can’t stop the run or rush the passer. The rebuilt offensive line hasn’t compensated for the other weaknesses, either by dominating on the ground or holding up in pass protection when the Panthers try and call shot plays. The receivers aren’t playing that well either. 

It’s hard to imagine the Panthers being this bad for the whole year but you’d have liked to see some improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and there just wasn’t a lot to hold onto. If there’s a silver lining for the Panthers, it’s that they own their own first-round pick this year. If they get the No. 1 pick, it won’t belong to another team. 

New York Giants

The Giants were sabotaged in Week 2 before the game even began when they elected to roll the dice on K Graham Gano who was battling a groin injury. Gano made it through the opening kickoff before having to shut it down for the day, leaving New York unable to attempt a field goal or an extra point. The Giants scored three touchdowns against seven field goals for the Commanders and lost 21-18 to drop to 0-2. 

Beleaguered QB Daniel Jones played better than he did in Week 1, throwing two touchdowns against no turnovers. But that will only go so far to lower the pressure on his job security as long as the losses keep piling up. Leading into Sunday’s game, Giants beat reporters were speculating that another bad performance could make Week 3 make-or-break for Jones as the starter, and the mini-bye after a Thursday night game against the Cowboys in Week 4 is worth watching still. 

The Giants’ defense has also struggled, offering little resistance to QB Sam Darnold and the Vikings in Week 1 while getting gashed for more than 400 yards of total offense by the Commanders in Week 2. The defensive line featuring DT Dexter Lawrence, OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux and OLB Brian Burns was supposed to be dominant and set things up for everyone else. Instead, the team has surrendered 336 yards rushing in two games and neither Burns nor Thibodeaux has recorded a sack yet. 

To even have a shot at being in the playoff discussion, the Giants have to get more out of their defense. Even if Jones was playing at the upper range of what we’ve seen from him as a pro, there’s a good chance the Giants would be 0-2 still because of the defense.

There are also a lot of jobs on the line in New York right now, not just Jones. Giants DC Shane Bowen is in his first year with the team, and his last at this current trajectory. Giants HC Brian Daboll was already feeling the heat coming into this season. This is the third year for Giants GM Joe Schoen, and as the offseason Hard Knocks made clear, Schoen’s fingerprints are all over this roster. Nearly every player on the team has been drafted, signed or extended by Schoen. The results, whatever they end up being, are going to fall at his feet. 

Denver Broncos

The good news for the Broncos is their defense looks way feistier than people expected coming into the season. 

The bad news is first-round QB Bo Nix is having some significant rookie growing pains. 

Let’s dive more into both. In Week 1, Denver’s defense forced two turnovers and notched two safeties against the Seahawks. In Week 2, the Broncos limited the Steelers to just 13 points. Through two games the team has four sacks. It’s a stark change from last year when Denver gave up a nearly 70-point game in the first month of the season. 

However, that’s been wasted because the offense can’t get anything going. Nix looks like the game is still moving too fast for him and has four interceptions in two games. They’ve been some of the more brutal picks you’ll see, too, including one in Week 1 that was rifled straight into triple coverage and one in the end zone in Week 2. Nix is also still looking for his first passing touchdown and has taken some bad sacks. 

That said, he’s not getting a lot of help from the rest of the offense. Denver wanted to be a run-heavy, ball-control offense. Instead, Nix has been their most dynamic rushing threat. Strip away his contributions and the Broncos have only 103 yards on the ground in two games at about 3.0 YPC. Meanwhile, Nix has 77 pass attempts through two games. 

Nix and the offense should be able to find their sea legs at some point as the season goes on, and when they do the rookie will have the benefit of a solid defense to lean on. But this is clearly a rebuilding year for the Broncos. 

Tennessee Titans

The first of three 0-2 AFC South teams, Tennessee has lost its first two games by identical scores of 24-17. There have been some other common themes in both games as well. The Titans led at halftime in both Week 1 and Week 2. Both games featured blocked punts, with the first returned for a touchdown that helped turned the tide in the opener. 

And both games heavily featured turnovers from Titans QB Will Levis, particularly of the boneheaded variety. In Week 1, Levis tried a shovel pass while in the grasp for a sack that became a game-winning pick-six by the Bears. In Week 2, Levis tried the in-the-grasp-shovel again, hurling the ball at an unprepared RB Tyjae Spears six yards behind the line of scrimmage that resulted in a lost fumble. 

In total, Levis has been responsible for five turnovers through two weeks — three interceptions and two lost fumbles. Until that’s corrected, it’s hard to critique too much else with the Titans because it won’t matter. The defense has been above average and there have been some good moments from the running game. The turnovers, whether from Levis or on special teams, are in all likelihood the difference for the Titans between being 0-2 or 2-0 in HC Brian Callahan’s first season. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

The loss to the Browns in Week 2 not only dropped the Jaguars to 0-2, but makes it seven losses in eight tries for Jacksonville dating back to last season. It’s quite the funk for the team, and the most concerning part of it has been how it’s extended to the play of QB Trevor Lawrence. The former No. 1 pick and $55 million man had some solid throws in Week 1 as the team took a 17-7 lead over the Dolphins. 

But Lawrence and the Jaguars couldn’t close that game out. On Sunday, the conditions weren’t great in the rain but Lawrence still completed just 14 of 30 passes. There’s just very little that’s coming easy for the Jaguars in the passing game, and that’s even with a stellar start from first-round WR Brian Thomas Jr. 

It’s hard not to think back to the end of Jaguars HC Doug Pederson’s tenure in Philadelphia when former franchise QB Carson Wentz kept regressing until he finally was benched and later traded. Lawrence hasn’t hit rock bottom yet but some of the bad tape is concerningly reminiscent of Wentz’s bad games, including taking sacks, sailing passes and questionable decisions. 

Pederson was hired to bring the best out of Lawrence and bring stability, with his NFL experience and Super Bowl ring standing in stark contrast to the head coaches the Jaguars had had before. But it all revolves around Lawrence in Jacksonville — they even renamed the stadium “TrEverBank Field” in a marketing gimmick this weekend. Getting Lawrence back to playing well is going to be paramount for Pederson, otherwise it’s not out of the question that he could be one of the surprise firings of the coaching cycle. 

Los Angeles Rams

Injuries are an unfortunate part of the sport that every team has to deal with, but there’s usually a team or two that gets unlucky in this department. The early leader for worst injury luck is the Rams. They were missing both starting tackles in Week 1 against the Lions and lost their top backup during the game along with starting G Steve Avila. They entered the season with CBs Darious Williams and Derion Kendrick on injured reserve, two potential starters, and then lost WR Puka Nacua to a re-injury during the game in Week 1. On top of that, star WR Cooper Kupp exited the Week 2 loss to the Cardinals with an ankle injury, an injury that’s caused him to miss significant time in the past. 

While the Rams gave the Lions all they could handle before Detroit pulled away, the Cardinals raced out to a huge lead and never let up, torching the undermanned Rams secondary. Rams QB Matthew Stafford was sacked five times in Week 2 and the Rams were down 21-0 before they could blink. Now a team many people liked as a potential contender is 0-2 and staring at 0-3 with a big divisional matchup against the 49ers looming. 

It would take an injury to Stafford for the Rams to truly bottom out, which is what happened in 2022 when the Rams had another crummy run with injuries. The Rams should get back nearly all of the players they’ve lost to injuries at some point this season, but they’ll have to manage for several weeks. Considering how competitive the NFC West looks, the Rams can ill afford to be in a big hole. 

Still, the Rams check the two most important boxes — quarterback and coaching. Stafford and HC Sean McVay give this team a solid base to work with and once they get past the 49ers, the schedule softens considerably. The Rams will have games against the Bears, Packers, Raiders and Vikings to try and get back to .500 before November. They just have to stay afloat and give themselves a chance to hit their stride while it still matters. 

Indianapolis Colts

Week 2 served as a perfect reminder of what the Anthony Richardson experience is going to be like for the Colts in 2024 in what is essentially the former first-rounder’s rookie year. Richardson is a terrific talent but at this stage of his career, he’s inconsistent and volatile. The Colts are going to take on the identity of their quarterback, which is why you can go from pushing the Texans in a two-point game to losing to a Packers team starting Malik Willis at quarterback. 

The Colts also have some major issues on defense. For the second week, Indianapolis allowed a running back to top 150 yards. This was even more concerning because it was clear the Packers were going to go run-heavy with Willis having just three weeks in the system after being traded to Green Bay. The Packers rushed 53 times as a team for 261 yards with just 14 pass attempts for Willis. 

It resulted in only 16 points which Indianapolis should have been able to beat with its own offense. The Colts had a lot of success on the ground, with Richardson getting 37 yards on four totes and RB Jonathan Taylor cracking 100 yards on just 12 carries. But Richardson completed only 50 percent of his pass attempts and threw three interceptions, killing the Colts’ ability to generate offense. After hitting three passes of longer than 50 yards in Week 1, Richardson rolled snake eyes and missed on his deep shots. 

There will be some great days ahead for the Colts still in 2024. Out of all the 0-2 teams so far, Indianapolis is probably toward the top of the pack in terms of playoff chances. But there will be some low moments too as a young team and young quarterback keep finding their footing. 

Baltimore Ravens

Maybe it’s something about playing QB Gardner Minshew but the Ravens once again lost a game to a Minshew-quarterbacked team they had no business dropping. Last year, the Colts beat the Ravens despite Minshew taking a safety just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. On Sunday, Baltimore had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before a Minshew touchdown tied the game and led to a game-winning field goal with 27 seconds left. 

So despite looking like one of the better teams in the league after going toe-to-toe with the Chiefs in the kickoff game, the Ravens now find themselves at 0-2. Their schedule is not easy either, with the Cowboys, Bills and Bengals next on the docket. 

However, there are a lot of AFC teams that got off to rough starts, which is a silver lining for the Ravens. The AFC playoff field is going to be a minefield but there’s not as much distance between the Ravens and their competitors as there could be. Just five teams are undefeated through two weeks. 

The Ravens’ weaknesses should also improve as the season goes on, assuming they stay relatively healthy. The offensive line should improve with time on task, and the defense should eventually settle into more of a groove and iron out some of the holes in the pass defense that have been exposed the first two weeks. Baltimore won’t be the No. 1 seed in the AFC again but this team still has a real chance of making the playoffs. 

Cincinnati Bengals

I have done a version of this article every year since 2020. This will be the third year the Bengals have been included and second straight. Cincinnati started 0-2 in 2022 and rebounded to win 12 of their next 14 games. Last year, they started 0-2 and fell all the way to 1-3 before pulling out of the dive to finish 9-8, albeit on the outside looking in on the postseason. One way or another, this is familiar ground for the Bengals. 

Cincinnati looked far more capable in Week 2 against the Chiefs than Week 1’s upset loss to the Patriots. Ultimately it looked like a replay of nearly every other Chiefs/Bengals game, with the two sides trading body blows until Patrick Mahomes got the ball at the end and drove into game-winning field goal range (with the help of an inopportune penalty by the Bengals defense). 

The history this team has in overcoming slow starts, while less than ideal, is what gives me the most confidence that they’ll be able to right the ship yet again. Burrow looked dramatically improved in Week 2 compared to Week 1 and once the Bengals get back WR Tee Higgins, it will be a big lift to the offense. The defense will be soft against the run for most of the year but has too much talent, experience and cohesiveness under DC Lou Anarumo to not be an overall plus for the team. 

To top things off, the Bengals get the Commanders and then the hapless Panthers in the next two weeks which is a golden opportunity to even up their record at 2-2 heading into a showdown with the Ravens in Week 5.