Week 2 is one of the most critical points of the NFL calendar, and the reason why is a big part of how the league generates so much interest compared to the other major sports leagues. With just 17 games in the regular season, there’s no margin for error. History says the teams that start 0-2 have less than a 10 percent chance of rebounding and making the playoffs.
That turns Week 2 into virtually an elimination week for the 50 percent of teams that lost in Week 1. Last year there were nine teams that started 0-2:
- Bengals
- Broncos
- Colts
- Giants
- Jaguars
- Panthers
- Rams
- Ravens
- Titans
A remarkable three of those teams turned things around to make the postseason — the Broncos, Rams and Ravens — but that was more than the two teams that had accomplished that feat since the beginning of the 17-game season era in 2021. At least nine teams are attempting to join them in 2025, with the Texans potentially making 10 depending on the results of tonight’s game.
- Bears
- Browns
- Chiefs
- Dolphins
- Giants
- Jets
- Panthers
- Saints
- Titans
It’s not particularly shocking to see a few of the teams expected to be rebuilding here. Others are in a surprising place already at this point in the season, especially the Chiefs. Kansas City would probably be the betting favorite of this batch to turn things around, but could a different team make an under-dog run?
Here’s a look at each of the 0-2 teams, including what’s gone wrong so far and what needs to go right to make it back to the postseason. They’re loosely ordered from most likely to least likely.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns came within a whisker of upsetting the Bengals in Week 1. Week 2 against a motivated Ravens squad was not nearly as close, with Baltimore romping to a 41-17 win. Turnovers and inefficient offense prevented the Browns from having much of a shot, and there were multiple long returns that put the defense in a tough spot after nearly dragging the team to a win in Week 1.
If the Browns are going to pull off a miracle, they have to avoid turnovers and play clean football. Their defense is the clear strength of the team. Cleveland is going to have individual players who have moments this year, and DE Myles Garrett was one of those on Sunday with 1.5 sacks, but as a whole, it’s clear this is going to be a rebuilding season for the Browns. The roster is too far behind in too many places.
Next up for the Browns is a three-game gauntlet against the top teams in the NFC North, the Packers, Lions and Vikings. It’s going to get worse from 0-2 in all likelihood.
New York Giants
The silver lining for the Giants is that the offense looked far more competent in Week 2 than in Week 1. After mustering just six points against the Commanders, the Giants and QB Russell Wilson shredded the Cowboys. Wilson moonballed for 450 yards through the air and three touchdowns as the team scored 37. After the mounting buzz about first-round QB Jaxson Dart this past week, this performance from Wilson should quiet the speculation for a little while.
Unfortunately it all came in a loss, as Dallas’ offense was just as good and their kicker Brandon Aubrey was phenomenal, smashing a game-tying 64-yard field goal with no time left on the clock in regulation. The optimistic view for the Giants is that the offense is finally clicking, with Wilson’s experience raising the floor for the group, and that the defense should improve with time on task. Giants HC Brian Daboll took a team with similar limitations to the playoffs in his first season, and history could conceivably repeat itself.
If you take a pessimistic view, the game was yet another example of the Giants finding new ways to lose under Daboll, with the defense this time taking a turn underperforming after having some moments in Week 1. Another glass half empty perspective is that the Cowboys defense is an early frontrunner for worst in the league and the Giants won’t have the same success against other opponents. Their schedule remains daunting — the 0-2 Chiefs are next in a game with pitched stakes for both squads to avoid 0-3, and New York takes on the Chargers, Broncos and the Eagles twice over the following five weeks.
This past week might have been the Giants’ best chance to avoid a miserable start, because outside of a Week 5 matchup against the Saints, it’s hard to see many victories on the schedule.
New Orleans Saints
New Orleans is another squad that was written off as a rebuilding team entering this season after hiring HC Kellen Moore and losing presumed starting QB Derek Carr during the offseason when a shoulder injury prompted retirement. An 0-2 start doesn’t necessarily contradict that, but the Saints have been competitive in both losses against the Cardinals and 49ers, two teams expected to be at least in the mix for a wildcard berth.
A key factor for the Saints has been QB Spencer Rattler. He looks dramatically improved from his rookie season in 2024, which to be fair was a low bar. Rattler has been more competent than expected and threw three touchdowns on Sunday against the 49ers. He also is still clearly a young quarterback who’s finding his way, and his mistakes have been key factors in both losses.
Still, Rattler is an X-factor that gives the Saints more upside than initially expected if he can continue to develop over the course of the season. The playoffs are probably far-fetched, even in an underwhelming NFC South, but the Saints could be feistier than expected.
Miami Dolphins
On paper, this Dolphins team should be a lot better than it’s shown through the first two weeks. Despite the exodus of talent over the past two years, there are still a lot of quality players on the roster and Miami should have had the benefit of coaching continuity over a lot of other squads this year. If there’s hope for the Dolphins, it’s that this team suddenly snaps out of whatever malaise is plaguing it.
There needs to be some sort of catalyst for that, though, and at this point in time it’s not clear what that could be. The Dolphins fell behind quickly again against the Patriots in Week 2 and while they ended up making things more competitive than in Week 1, it still wasn’t enough. There were media members in Miami who thought the team had enough talent, especially up front, to make up for some deficiencies in the secondary and be a net positive on defense. Instead, the Dolphins have given up 66 points in two weeks.
On offense, the typical early season good times haven’t shown up this year. The Dolphins took care of the ball better than against the Colts but there were still too many miscues that ultimately doomed their chances. Top to bottom in Miami, there’s too much going wrong — and the consistent criticism of the team under HC Mike McDaniel is that this team can’t counterpunch when things do go wrong.
Tennessee Titans
Fortunately for Titans HC Brian Callahan, his job security at the end of this year is not necessarily tied to making the playoffs, so starting 0-2 for the second straight year isn’t a deathknell. He’ll be graded on how competitive Tennessee is this year and how No. 1 pick Cam Ward develops at quarterback. On that count, this past week offered some positive signs. The Titans took the lead near the end of the third quarter before the Rams rattled off 21 straight, and Ward threw his first NFL touchdown pass.
Ward is the team’s best hope of success, and his future looks promising just two starts into his career. He’s demonstrated positive intangibles for success and a playmaking streak that could make him and the Titans’ offense dynamic if he can harness it. If he progresses quick, we’ve seen young quarterbacks elevate rosters around them before.
What’s more likely is that Ward’s growing pains continue and the Titans have a lot more losses while figuring things out. He took another five sacks on Sunday and is at 11 for the season, and while the Titans have some injury issues up front, we know by now that quarterbacks bear a significant responsibility for the number of sacks they take. His lost fumble also helped key the Rams’ late run that put them ahead for good.
New York Jets
The offensive explosion the Jets put up in Week 1 didn’t translate to Week 2, and the defense gave up over 30 points for the second straight week. But while the Steelers did most of their damage last week through the air, the Jets’ Week 2 opponent, the Bills, put up most of their yards on the ground. First-year Jets HC Aaron Glenn has a defensive background and will have plenty to focus on in the coming weeks for his side of the ball. If the Jets are going to do any kind of damage this year, it’s got to start with Glenn turning the defense around.
Jets QB Justin Fields left the loss early with an injury and wasn’t able to build on his momentum from Week 1. He didn’t get off to a great start, completing just three of 11 pass attempts and taking two sacks. He did rush for nearly 50 yards and his legs are going to have to be a major part of whatever success the Jets end up having this year. The early returns suggest a team that is much closer to middle of the pack than any kind of wave-making.
Carolina Panthers
A dark horse sleeper team for quite a few media analysts, the Panthers have gotten off to an inauspicious start yet again. This is the fourth straight year the team has started 0-2 and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2017. There’s a lot to clean up for Carolina to have any hope of breaking that streak this year, or to even take a meaningful step forward from the results of last season when the Panthers ended the year on a high note.
Starting QB Bryce Young will get a lot of the headlines, and the Panthers do need him to be better, especially at the start of games with his decision-making. Early turnovers from Young have put the team in a hole each of the first two weeks that they haven’t been able to climb out of. But unlike last year, it’s clear Young’s head isn’t swimming and he had a chance at pulling off the largest comeback in team history with the ball at the end of Week 2’s loss to the Cardinals before that drive fizzled out.
The main area of improvement for the Panthers remains the defense. Despite the offseason reinforcements in free agency and the draft, the Jaguars and Cardinals have shredded them this year. Jacksonville hit 200 yards rushing, while Arizona didn’t put up the same gaudy numbers but jumped out to a lead with the turnovers and was efficient from there, especially when it came to attacking the linebackers. Panthers DC Ejiro Evero regularly gets touted in coaching buzz articles, but he’s got to back up that buzz on the field this year to keep his name in the cycle.
If he does that and the NFC South remains in flux, the Panthers could still sneak their way into the playoffs later in the year, but at this point aiming for eight to nine wins the rest of the way would be a win compared to the current results.
Chicago Bears
Coaches always like to say it takes time to see results, but there was no way that expectations for new Bears HC Ben Johnson and QB Caleb Williams weren’t going to be high to start this year. It’s been a bumpy ride so far between the collapse on Monday night in Week 1 and a shellacking at the hands of a ticked off Lions team in Week 2. It’s safe to say Johnson and Williams have not found their groove yet. Williams completed 19 of 30 pass attempts for a little over 200 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — decent on paper but not nearly efficient enough for Johnson’s liking or to keep up with a Lions team that dropped over 50 points.
Those two will keep chopping wood to try and find success, and Johnson will continue to tailor the offense even more to what Williams does well, but an underrated issue with the team is a lack of a consistent running game to rely on as an easy button. The entire run game operation just isn’t at the level Johnson had in Detroit, including the backs and the blocking. Through two games, Bears RB D’Andre Swift is running the hardest he has in his career and doing a better job of getting tough yards, but there’s very little depth outside of him and he can’t carry the backfield alone. At this point in the year, that’s a personnel issue that probably won’t be fixed.
The defense started out the season so promising but has now given up 10 touchdowns in its last five quarters. That’s a concern, possibly even a bigger one than the offense. Getting some players back healthy in the secondary could help with that, and the unit is adjusting to a new voice with DC Dennis Allen, so there’s reason to think things will improve with time. It’s imperative the team gets in the win column this week against the Cowboys if it seriously wants to compete for a wildcard spot, though.
Kansas City Chiefs
The problems with the Chiefs in Week 2 were pretty much the problems from Week 1. Without WRs Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, the offense struggled to threaten down the field or create yards over the middle. The Eagles were able to shut down the run and once again QB Patrick Mahomes was Kansas City’s leading rusher. The defense improved some from getting cut up by the Chargers but had an issue with coverage busts at inopportune times. Overall, the team just made too many mistakes, probably none bigger than a drop from TE Travis Kelce that turned a likely touchdown into an interception that created a 10-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs may be the Chiefs, but this current version of the team isn’t very good. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are real reasons to think Kansas City can improve dramatically over the next few months. Worthy and Rice will get back on the field. Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is a Hall of Fame assistant coach who will clean things up and have the unit playing its best ball in the back half of the year. The Chiefs just need to keep their head above water long enough to get hot and go on a run.
With their upcoming schedule, that might be the biggest challenge. They take on a Giants squad next Sunday night that is 0-2 but also desperate. An AFC showdown against the Ravens is next, following by a Monday night game against the Jaguars and another heavyweight bout against the Lions. There’s a division game against the Raiders, another Monday nighter against the Commanders and then the seemingly-annual rivalry game with the Bills before the Chiefs get a bye in Week 10.
Rice’s suspension ends in Week 6 and he’ll be back against the Raiders. Worthy could return in the next week or two, but will likely be limited at first. A 4-5 record isn’t awesome but if the Chiefs get to four or five wins against that stretch of opponents, they will be in solid shape for the stretch run. If it’s just three wins, that’s a glaring danger zone signal, as that kind of hole will leave them almost no margin for error to overcome.
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