In the Last Decade, Starting 0-2 Has Been an NFL Death Sentence

Since 2006, only 10 teams have started 0-2 and made the playoffs. More importantly, 77 teams started 0-2 and did not make the playoffs.

A quick breakdown of the 10 teams that dug out of an 0-2 hole and made the postseason:

2013 Panthers: Went 12-4
2014 Colts: Went 11-5
2015 Texans: Went 9-7 (nobody else in the division over .500)
2015 Seahawks: Went 10-6 (Wildcard)
2006 Chiefs: Went 9-7 (won Wildcard tiebreaker over Denver)
2016 Dolphins: Went 10-6 (Wildcard)
2007 Giants: Went 10-6 (Wildcard, Won Super Bowl)
2008 Chargers: Went 8-8 (won Division tiebreaker over Denver)
2008 Dolphins: Went 11-5 (Tom Brady injury year)
2008 Vikings: Went 10-6

Quite the hodgepodge. A few star QBs (Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Eli Manning), two in via tiebreaker, one massive injury … let’s see who that could be this year!

The teams with playoff/Super Bowl aspirations who started 0-1 this season:

Cincinnati Bengals
Tennessee Titans
Houston Texans
LA Chargers
New York Giants
Seattle Seahawks
New England Patriots
Washington Redskins

The Bengals and Texans play each other Thursday in what might as well be an elimination game. The Titans head on the road to play a dangerous Jacksonville team. The Chargers, Giants and Seahawks all head home and are favorites. New England heads to New Orleans, where the assumption is they will bounce back. Washington travels to Los Angeles to face the Rams.

The team to watch has to be Tennessee. That’s because looming in Week 3 is a showdown with Seattle.