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What Percent of NFL Teams Make the Playoffs After Starting 0-2?
The 2024 NFL season is underway and through two weeks several key storylines have already developed. One is the number of surprising teams that have started 0-2. There are currently nine winless teams across the league and a few of them are downright shocking.
The Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens were both expected to contend in the AFC, yet both are 0-2. Meanwhile, potential playoff contenders in the Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos are all winless through two weeks.
Starting 0-2 is not a death sentence for an NFL season, but the odds are stacked heavily against making the postseason when teams open with two losses. What follows is a look at what percentage of teams make the playoffs when starting 0-2.
What percentage of 0-2 NFL teams make the playoffs?
From 1990 through the 2023 season, 279 teams have opened 0-2. Only 32 of them made the postseason. That's 11.5%, an incredibly low number. The NFL expanded the playoffs to include 14 teams beginning in 2020, so the odds should be slightly better moving forward.
Of those 279 teams, only 17 won their division (6.1%) and three won the Super Bowl (1.1%). In NFL history, only the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, the 2001 New England Patriots and the 2007 New York Giants have ever won a Super Bowl after starting 0-2.
So teams that start 0-2 can find success, but it's rare. Over the past three seasons, 21 squads have started 0-2 and only two made the postseason.
What percentage of NFL teams that start 0-3 make the playoffs?
Falling to 0-3 makes the odds far worse than open 0-2. Of the 162 teams that have started 0-3 since 1990, only four (2.5%) made the playoffs. Of those, only two (1.2%) won their divisions and none reached the Super Bowl.
Week 3 will be crucially important for the NFL's nine winless teams.
Which teams started the 2024 NFL season 0-2?
The Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants and Tennessee Titans have all begun the 2024 season 0-2.
The Panthers and Giants look in awful shape, while the Rams have potential but have been ravaged by injuries. The Bengals, Colts, Jaguars, and Ravens have each lost two close games. The latter four are the top candidates to turn things around moving forward, but nothing is guaranteed.
Based on history, a move to 0-3 for any of those teams would all but wrap up their seasons.
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Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.