Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence conversing with HC Doug Pederson - Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union
Though very unlikely, teams in NFL history have made the playoffs after starting 0-2. The 1993 Dallas Cowboys team once did the unthinkable at the time.
They lost the season’s first two games with star running back Emmitt Smith. Then, they were the last team standing at the end of Super Bowl 28, defeating the Buffalo Bills.
1. Cincinnati Bengals
If anybody knows about starting 0-2 religiously, it’s Joe “Slim Shady” Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, if there’s a team that always seems to figure out how to turn a season around, it’s the same Bengals group.
While it worked two seasons ago as the Bengals made it to the AFC Championship game, they failed to qualify for the postseason last season.
This year, the Bengals are off to a 0-2 start, including a shocking upset loss to the Jerod Mayo-led New England Patriots. They battled their way to the end against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, only to lose on a last-second field goal.
This Bengals team thought they should have won those two games, but losing these two might humble them again, forcing them to work harder in practice and finish off close contests.
2. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are a team on the rise. Last year, they felt they could have made the playoffs had Anthony Richardson not suffered a season-ending sprained shoulder.
After a disappointing 9-8 season in 2023, Richardson and the gang hoped to start out fast with higher expectations.
The good news is Richardson has stayed healthy after two games so far and is playing very well in his sophomore season.
The former Florida Gator is out here to prove he can join the cool kid table with CJ Stroud.
Their chances of making the playoffs are very high, as this roster is talented enough to turn things around and maybe take the AFC South crown from the Houston Texans.
3. Baltimore Ravens
The surprise 0-2 team of the bunch is none other than the Baltimore Ravens. In week 1, they were a toe away from potentially upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs at home.
Then, the Ravens lost the lead in what turned out to be a tug-of-war game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Both of their first two opponents had quarterbacks wearing #15. They also both have a reputation for winning.
This team can be as good as it wants to be if it can combine two halves of a whole game.
Their offense is dynamic with Lamar Jackson at the controls, and their two tight ends have been making plays and moving those chains for first downs.
The traditional contenders have a shot at getting back on track with a big road game against the (1-1) Dallas Cowboys, who were humbled last week by the New Orleans Saints, 44-19.
If any team can continue to make Dallas forget how to stop the run, it’s the Ravens with Jackson and Derrick Henry.
4. Carolina Panthers
Well, Panthers Nation, year 2 of a whenever-year rebuild is underway. You know it’s time for first-year head coach Dave Canales to start holding accountability to his young quarterback.
He benched Bryce Young in favor of Veteran Andy Dalton because he wants to win more than two games and actually earn a second year to continue the rebuild.
Now, it’s a learning process, as Carolina has only scored 13 points in two games, and I think the fans’ vocal cords aren’t working, so they can’t be roaring very well.
The only bright spot is that Dalton may win at least three more games before deciding what to do with Young, and at most, going (5-12).
That’s horrendous, but consider that last year, the squad was only (2-15) and fired Frank Reich mid-season. Sadly, they won’t come back and make the playoffs this season.
Final Analysis
We can crunch all the numbers and project all we want, but these 0-2 teams still have to play the games week after week and take it one game at a time.
Some may be right, but it’s even sweeter when some teams prove everybody wrong.
We will start by seeing how they all do in Week 3 and go from there.
In the end, we will evaluate which 0-2 teams came back and made the playoffs in January.
