The 2021 NFL season has entered Week 3 – meaning it’s officially time for the league’s 0-2 teams to delve into a frenzied panic.
These numbers are not pretty. Since 1990, when the NFL expanded its playoff field from 10 teams to 12, only 11.6% of those who lost their first two contests reached the postseason – and only half that sample won division titles.
Just three in that span – the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, 2001 New England Patriots, and 2007 New York Giants, which represent 1.2% – recovered to win a Super Bowl.
The 14 qualified teams for the postseason increase the margin for error, but last year’s entries went 0-2. Maybe adding a 17th game to the regular season will improve the odds going forward, though there’s not much to like about the outlooks of this year’s seven winless squads through two weeks.
But let’s rank them – from most likely to least – in terms of their ability to ultimately rebound into playoff form:
1. Minnesota Vikings
They’re a wayward 37-yard field goal attempt and an overtime fumble away from being 2-0 – and that’s despite a 28th-ranked defense. History is positive for the Vikes. They have been in the playoffs in every odd year since Mike Zimmer was appointed head coach.
And after opening with a pair of road games, the Vikings will only play away from U.S. Bank Stadium once more before November. There are many encouraging signs for a team that boasts an outstanding quartet of offensive skill players, including QB Kirk Cousins and RB Dalvin Cook. Also, WRs Justin Jefferson & Adam Thielen.
This is the 14th time Minnesota has been 0-2, including last season. The Vikes have only bounced back from it to reach the playoffs once – 2008, RB Adrian Peterson’s second season.
2. New York Giants
If not for some devastating penalties last Thursday in Washington – one cost them a TD run from QB Daniel Jones, and an offside call gave WFT K Dustin Hopkins a second chance to hit the game-winning field goal – and/or WR Darius Slayton’s drop of a would-be TD bomb from Jones, Big Blue would be 1-1 instead of 0-2 for the fifth consecutive year.
New York nearly came back to win the NFC East last year – and the presence of Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is the main factor making the division incrementally more respectable in 2021 – before being undermined by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17. Jones’s inspired play on Thursday gave reason to be optimistic.
An improved defense and RB Saquon Barkley’s return to form could help restore optimism. Starting with the 2013 campaign, Big Blue has started 0-2 in every season with the exception of 2016, the only year the Giants have been in the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 46.
New York managed to navigate 0-2 roadblocks and win two NFL titles, one in 1934 and another in 73 years later. In Super Bowl 42, New York defeated the undefeated Patriots. This proud franchise has been there 23 times. It’s not a proud conclusion, suffice it to say.
3. Indianapolis Colts
They only rank this high because they have membership in the AFC’s worst division, and the Titans’ Derrick Henry and Julio Jones could always be abducted by aliens … or maybe just get injured. Coach Frank Reich has done a masterful job in Indy despite the constant turnover under center, but can the Colts really tread water if second-year QB Jacob Eason walks through that revolving door for an extended period?
Even if starter Carson Wentz wasn’t dealing with a surgically repaired foot, pair of sprained ankles, and the specter of COVID-19 protocols while he remains unvaccinated, there was a very good chance for an 0-5 start for a team about to embark on a three-week road trip to Tennessee, Miami, and Baltimore.
The Colts projected above average at best, but that’s not going to be sufficient against this lineup of opponents. This is the Colts’ first 0-2 start under Reich, who’s now in Year 4. Since losing Super Bowl 3 in 1968, the franchise has suffered 21 losses. It reached the playoffs twice and opened the season with two losses.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars
They only rank this high because they have membership in the AFC’s worst division, and the Titans’ Derrick Henry and Julio Jones could always be abducted by aliens … or maybe just get injured. But here on Earth, the Jags are riding a 17-game losing streak that extends to last season’s regime – though previous coach Doug Marrone and QB Gardner Minshew II weren’t nearly as overmatched as current franchise saviors Urban Meyer and No.
Their two-week NFL baptism by fire has seen Trevor Lawrence, the 1st draft pick. This is the Jaguars’ 10th 0-2 launch in 27 seasons. They have yet to survive the first.
5. Detroit Lions
Do they play hard despite a thin roster? Yes. They could challenge for second in the NFC North. They could, under the right circumstances. After the Baltimore Ravens’ departure, will they be 0-3? Yes. This is the 25th 0-2 start in franchise history – and third in the past four seasons – and Detroit has come back to reach the playoffs … once (1995).
6. Atlanta Falcons
They’ve been outscored by 49 points through two weeks, 15 more than any other team. Like Detroit, Atlanta could claw its way up to second in its division if things break their way – and that would mean QB Matt Ryan approaching MVP-caliber form, at minimum. Do not expect anything.
They’d never started 0-2 under Ryan before last season … when they finished 4-12. Two of their 16 all-time 0-2 starts have been turned by the Falcons into playoff trips.
7. New York Jets
They have more talent than last season’s 2-14 Jets, a bar that doesn’t get much lower. They also continue to lag behind the rest of the AFC East by a wide margin, and it’s hard to imagine any scenario where New York contends in what’s shaping up as a loaded conference.
Play to win the games, guys… even though the 2002 Jets that were on fire under Herm Eds won their first game and lost five of six. The NYJ have been 0-2 19 times in their 62 seasons, 12 of those occurrences since 1989, and – now – four in the past five seasons. They have made it back to the playoffs twice (1981 and 1998).