So Your Team Started 0-2 Is It Time to Panic?

Well yes, in the National Football League, it’s always time to panic!

You’ve all seen the numbers, the low percentage of teams who start the season 0-2 who actually make the playoffs. But, it does happen. So what are the chances your currently 0-2 team could still make the playoffs?

The “aren’t that bad” group:

Seattle, Baltimore, Detroit.

Seattle is a good team, who happens to have opened the season with two tough road games. They’ll be fine, and should manage to get into playoff contention.

Baltimore has one loss where the offense was terrible, and one where the defense was terrible. There’s hope that they’ll get it together once the shock of losing Suggs for the season wears off, but it needs to happen now. There division doesn’t allow for too much of a whole with solid Steeler and Bengal teams.

Detroit isn’t as bad as they seem, but they definitely have problems, and it’s going to be tough for them to dig out of the 0-2 hole. Not impossible, but difficult. They aren’t a hopeless team though.

The “they are that bad, but it might not matter” group:

Philly, NY Giants, Indianapolis*.

Philly and the Giants have been awful, and their fans should be worried that they might be awful all season long, but with their division competition being Washington and Dallas, who has to go with Brandon Weedon starting half the season, this division is still wide open.
The “they are that bad, maybe, but we just can’t seem to admit it” group:
New Oreleans – Forget Manning, is Drew Brees aging right before our eyes? There are still a lot of tools in the shed in New Orleans, but it is not working, and it’s confounding.
The “yeah, they aren’t good” group:
Houston, Chicago
There’s nothing there for either of these teams that would lead me to believe they will be anything but awful. They are 0-2 when even teams like the Raiders and Browns, who we assumed would be awful this season, have a win. Start scouting the NCAA games fans. A QB would go a long way toward helping things, but lacking a fix there, this season is going to be painful. Houston’s defense, frankly, deserves better.

On the other hand, there is the outside possibility that Indy and Houston could wind up switching places in these groups. Someone has to win that division, after all!