The beauty of Week 1 of the NFL season is that everyone enters the campaign with some hope. Teams who had a bad year in 2024, such as the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, can begin the new season with some optimism after scoring that first win to go 1-0 on the year.
The flip side of that coin is that losing the first of 17 games can lead to a week of anxiety for teams looking to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start. Entering last season, only 32 of 279 teams to start 0-2 reached the playoffs, a success rate of just 11.5 percent, with only 17 division winners and three Super Bowl champions, with the most recent being the 2007 New York Giants.
Three teams recovered from 0-2 starts to make the postseason a year ago, with the Denver Broncos winning a Wild Card berth in the AFC while the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams won their divisions. The addition of a 17th regular season game and the expanded postseason has made it slightly easier to recover from an 0-2 start since there is more room to improve, but starting 0-2 is something any team that envisions themselves as a true contender should be trying to avoid.
5 NFL Teams that are in the most trouble if they go 0-2
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens looked like they would avoid this list entirely after stampeding through the first three and a half quarters in Buffalo only to collapse in the final minutes. The Bills' late rally for a 41-40 win in the wildest game of Week 1 delivers a potential gut punch to Baltimore, which is now staring up at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the AFC North.
There should be some resilience in the Ravens' locker room since they managed to dig out of their 0-2 hole last year to reach the postseason, but doing so in a loaded AFC again may be pushing their luck. While Lamar Jackson and the offense was hyperefficient in Week 1, Baltimore's defense was gashed for 497 total yards, including almost 400 through the air from reigning MVP Josh Allen.
The good news for John Harbaugh and company is that they have a soft landing spot off of that game against the Cleveland Browns at home. Early odds have the Ravens favored by nearly two touchdowns, but if they find a way to let old friend Joe Flacco beat them at home alarm bells will be sounding in Baltimore.
Detroit Lions
There would always be questions about how the Detroit Lions would fare coming off a disappointing end to a 15-win season and losing both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs. Landing in Green Bay to begin the season wasn't a good draw and that was before the Packers landed Micah Parsons leading up to the game, creating more headaches for new offensive coordinator John Morton to deal with.
The end result was a 27-13 loss that saw the Lions go pass heavy, with Jared Goff completing 31-of-39 passes but only recording a garbage time touchdown to go along with 255 passing yards and a pick. The running game was completely ineffective for Detroit as they had 22 carries for just 46 yards, while Green Bay made the most of their offensive chances to put the Lions in a hole early.
Week 2 sees Detroit open at home against the Chicago Bears and their former OC Ben Johnson, who is now trying to help Caleb Williams reach his potential. The foundation Detroit has laid should help them get a win here but a loss to Johnson will raise questions as to what the Lions' ceiling can be this year without their two star coordinators.
Kansas City Chiefs
While the International Game in Sao Paulo may not rate as the biggest upset in the world, the Los Angeles Chargers did make a statement by taking down the three-time reigning AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs. There is no question that Jim Harbaugh had an excellent game plan that Los Angeles executed to perfection, but there were some significant concerns raised about Kansas City.
Despite some solid offensive numbers, the Chiefs looked sloppy throughout the night, committing some key penalties and failing to capitalize on their red zone opportunities more often. Steve Spagnuolo's defense was also a sieve through the air as Justin Herbert made plenty of big plays to force Kansas City to play from behind all night.
The highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch awaits Kansas City in Week 2, making this a big measuring stick for them after Philadelphia blew out the Chiefs to deny their quest for a historic three-peat in the big game. The Chiefs haven't been 0-2 since 2014, which was Andy Reid's second year in Kansas City, and it would be uncharted territory for a proven team trying to navigate a brutally competitive AFC.
Dallas Cowboys
It looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to get a huge gift in the NFL's kickoff game when Eagles' star defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected before the first offensive snap of the game for spitting on Dak Prescott. Dallas did get off to a fast start offensively but failed to score after halftime, falling 24-20 to the reigning Super Bowl champs in a game they should have had.
A key red zone fumble from Miles Sanders prior to a nearly hour-long lightning delay killed Dallas' momentum, and four uncharacteristic drops from CeeDee Lamb hurt their chances to come back late. While the offense seemed to flow well for most of the game, the now Parsons-less defense was gashed for 158 yards on the ground despite the addition of run-stuffing defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the Parsons trade.
Week 2 is another divisional game for Dallas as they welcome the New York Giants to AT&T Stadium. New York looked completely inept offensively in a Week 1 loss to Washington and if the Cowboys lose to the Giants at home it will increase the panic meter in Big D to dramatic levels.
Miami Dolphins
There has been a lot of drama circulating around the Miami Dolphins this offseason after rumors that Tyreek Hill was unhappy with his situation in South Beach. Mike McDaniel is also on the hot seat after taking a big step back last season and his team's showing in Week 1 only raised the temperature on that seat 10-fold.
The Dolphins were uncompetitive in a 33-8 loss at Indianapolis, allowing Giants' cast-off Daniel Jones to throw for 272 yards and rack up three total touchdowns against their defense. The offense may have actually been worse, as Tua Tagovailoa was completely ineffective, ceding way to Zach Wilson with the game well out of hand.
A key AFC East matchup awaits Miami in Week 2 as they host the New England Patriots, who lost in Mike Vrabel's head coaching debut to the Las Vegas Raiders at home. This contest is one that Miami really should win if they have designs on reaching the postseason, but falling at home to the young Patriots would significantly increase the chances that McDaniel doesn't survive the season.