What Percent of NFL Teams Make the Playoffs After Starting 0-3?

Ryan Phillips | Sep 24, 2024

NFL logo on the field in Sao Paulo, Brazil. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The 2024 NFL season is off to a wild start, and several teams have already been buried by poor performances. Several teams have opened the season 0-3, which has really hurt their chances of making the playoffs.

The Cincinnati Bengals were supposed to compete for a Super Bowl berth, but instead sit winless after three weeks. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans were expected to challenge for postseason berths but have been similarly buried at the bottom of the league.

Opening the season 0-3 makes it nearly impossible to reach the postseason. What follows is a look at the percentage of NFL teams that make the playoffs after starting 0-3.

What percentage of 0-3 teams make the NFL playoffs?

As you would expect, dropping to 0-3 is far worse for a team's playoff chances than starting 0-2, but the difference is dramatic. Since 1990, 162 teams have opened the season 0-3 and only four of them have made the postseason. That's 2.5%.

Of those four teams, two wound up winning their divisions. That's 1.2%. None of those teams that started 0-3 have won a Super Bowl.

So the Bengals, Jaguars and Titans can all but stop dreaming about winning Super Bowl rings.

What percentage of 0-2 teams make the NFL playoffs?

After Week 2, nine NFL teams were 0-2. Luckily for six of them, they were able to score wins in Week 3. The Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants all improved to 1-2.

Those teams that opened 0-2 have a slightly better chance to make the postseason than those starting 0-3. Since 1990, 279 teams have started 0-2. Of those, only 32 have made the postseason. That's 11.5%. Of those teams, only 17 won their division (6.1%) and three won Super Bowls (1.1%).

In the history of the NFL, only the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, the 2001 New England Patriots and the 2007 New York Giants have won the Super Bowl after starting 0-2.

Which NFL teams started 0-3?

The Bengals, Jaguars and Titans all began the 2024 NFL season 0-3.

Cincinnati suffered its three losses by a total of 12 points.

Jacksonville lost tight contests with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns before getting blown out by the Buffalo Bills 47-10.

Tennessee opened the season with back-to-back seven-point losses to the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, then were handed a 16-point loss by the Green Bay Packers.

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