Which 0-2 NFL Team Has Best Chance To Make The Playoffs?

Andrew Luck and the Colts are 0-3 for the third straight year. (Photo credit: NFLfan18 via Foter.com / CC BY-ND)

In hockey, baseball and basketball, an 0-2 start is a slow start.

In the NFL, it’s a death knell.

Since 2002, only 12 of 112 teams (10.3%) who started the season 0-2 went on to make the playoffs. It gets even more extreme after teams start 0-3, with just 5 teams making the playoffs in the Super Bowl era after dropping their first 3 games.

A lot of the time, teams that start 0-2 are simply bad teams who are on their way to 6-10 and never had a shot at the playoffs. But sometimes, 0-2 teams are good teams who had a bit of bad luck in the first 2 weeks, faced some really tough opponents or are just underperforming. Last year, the Texans and Seahawks survived 0-2 starts to make the post-season.

In this article, we’ll look at the 8 teams who have started the 2016 NFL season with back-to-back losses and see which teams have the best shot at still making the playoffs.

Since winning the division is the only sure way to qualify for the playoffs (wild cards can be tougher, since 10-6 sometimes isn’t even enough), we’ve included each team’s updated division odds.

1. Colts (+260 Odds To Win AFC South)

0-2 is a familiar feeling for the Colts. They’ve started this way in 3 straight seasons. It didn’t hurt them that badly in 2014, when they not only made the playoffs, they advanced to the AFC Championship game.

Indy has been in both their games, losing in the last minute to the Lions and then having the ball with a chance to beat the Broncos late in the fourth quarter Sunday before Denver put the game away with a fumble return TD.

They’re banged up right now (especially on defence) and they’re still having issues protecting Andrew Luck, but the Colts still look very much alive in the AFC South – even though the Texans are 2-0.

Indianapolis has a soft schedule over the next month (Chargers, Jaguars, Bears and Titans in their next 5 games) and can gain a game on the Texans when they visit Houston in Week 6 on Sunday Night Football.

2. Jaguars (+600 to win AFC South)

Hopes were higher for the Jaguars this year, with some thinking they even had an outside shot at a division title in the mediocre AFC South. But an 0-2 start has coach Gus Bradley (who is now 12-38 in his career) on the hot seat.

The Jags gave the Packers all they could handle in a Week 1 loss in Jacksonville, losing 27-23. But then they were humiliated last week in San Diego, falling behind 35-0 on the way to a 38-14 defeat.

Turnovers (4 committed in 2 games, and only 1 forced) and penalties (second-most in the NFL) have been major culprits in Jacksonville’s slow start, but at least both seem like correctable issues. It’s also a big help that they play in the AFC South, a division that Houston won last year with a 9-7 record.

Jacksonville’s next 5 games include home dates against the Ravens and Raiders as well as visits to the lowly Bears and Titans. The Jags could also really use a victory over the Colts in Week 4 in London.

3. Redskins (+650 to win NFC East)


Even though they won the division last year, the Redskins were behind New York and Dallas on the NFC East pre-season odds.

Washington might have shown us why in the first 2 weeks, losing to the Steelers and then the Romo-less Cowboys. Making things worse for the Redskins is that both losses took place at home, and only 2 teams have ever made the playoffs after starting the year 0-2 on their home field.

The Skins are 2 games behind both the Giants and Eagles, and some players have already been critical of QB Kirk Cousins.

Washington is a 4.5-point underdog this Sunday against the Giants, where a loss at New York could put an early seal on the Redskins’ fate. The bright spot is that the rest of the division is hardly invincible.

4. Dolphins (+1000 to win AFC East)

It isn’t hard to find some silver linings to the Dolphins’ 0-2 start. They nearly won their opener as 10.5 point underdogs in Seattle, losing the game 12-10 on a Seahawks TD with 35 seconds left, and then battled back from a 24-0 first-half deficit to lose by a touchdown in New England (it didn’t hurt that Pats QB Jimmy Garoppolo got injured).

There are good signs coming from the Dolphins locker room, where players and coaches are saying “close isn’t good enough”. There’s also a chance to get on track in a hurry this week as the Browns come to town.

However, the offence under Ryan Tannehill continues to be inconsistent. They only put up 10 points in Week 1, and didn’t manage their first TD last week until 6 minutes remained in the third quarter. The final stats (459 total yards) were flattering to the Dolphins, who turned the ball over 4 times.

Two road losses aren’t enough to kill Miami’s chances, but it’ll be tough to chase down the Patriots for the division.

5. Bills (+1000 to win AFC East)

It hasn’t been pretty so far this year in Buffalo, where the Bills have come out of the gate with an ugly loss in Baltimore followed by a disappointing home loss to the Jets.

Offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman was the first casualty for Buffalo’s slow start, but the Bills’ defence has been as much to blame. Buffalo was shredded by Ryan Fitzpatrick last week on Thursday Night Football, allowing nearly 500 yards of offence.

Two big things go against the Bills recovering to make the playoffs: 1) their upcoming schedule isn’t any easier (home to Arizona, at New England), and 2) the Patriots are off to a 2-0 start without Tom Brady, and are expected to run away with the East when Brady returns.

Already having two losses against AFC opponents won’t help the Bills’ wild-card hopes, either.

6. Saints (+1400 to win NFC South)

Like the Colts, New Orleans is 0-2 for the third straight year. Unlike the Colts, however, the Saints went on to finish 7-9 each of the past two years and miss the playoffs.

This year’s 0-2 start looks different, though. The Saints could just as easily be 2-0.

They lost their opening game to Oakland on a TD and 2-point conversion in the final minute, and still had a chance to win that game on a last-second field goal attempt. Last week, a blocked field goal return was the only touchdown the Saints allowed in a 16-13 loss at the Giants, when New York kicked the game-winning field goal on the final play.

Fortunately for New Orleans, the other 3 teams in the South are 1-1. If Cam Newton were to go down to injury for the Panthers (and it’s entirely possible, given the physical pounding Newton takes every week), the division would be wide open.

7. Bears (+2000 to win NFC North)

Chicago wasn’t given much of a chance to win this division anyway, having to compete against the Packers and Vikings.

Those chances look pretty much cooked after an 0-2 start in which the Bears have looked awful on offence. Jay Cutler has only 373 passing yards through 2 games and been sacked 8 times.

The Bears appear to have a few winnable games coming up (at Dallas, home to the Lions, at the Colts and home to the Jaguars) but they’ve lost 6 straight at Soldier Field, their longest home losing streak since 1997.

Chicago will need some miracles – and maybe a new starting QB – to pass the Vikings and Packers for a shot at the playoffs.

8. Browns (+8000 to win AFC North)


We’ll write something here just to be nice to the Browns, who are 0-2 for what feels like the millionth season in a row.

Cleveland is already on its third starting QB of the year (and its fifth in its last 7 games) after Robert Griffin III went down for the season in Week 1 and Josh McCown was knocked out of last week’s loss to the Ravens – when Cleveland somehow blew a 20-0 first-quarter lead.

The Browns have to go on the road the next two weeks, then get to be the sacrificial lamb when Tom Brady returns for the Patriots in Week 5.