NFL Panic Meter: How worried should these 9 0-2 teams be?

The NFL season is a long one but it can also get late early for teams that get off to slow starts. Going 0-2 isn't a complete death sentence in the era of the 17-game schedule, but only 11 percent of teams that have started 0-2 since 1990 have made the postseason, with just two teams accomplishing that over the past five years.

While Atlanta still has a chance to avoid an 0-2 fate by beating the Eagles on Monday Night Football, nine other teams have dug themselves that dreaded hole.

Which teams should be the most concerned after their slow starts? Read on for a good old-fashioned panic meter for each winless team in no particular order.

Baltimore Ravens

Losing at Arrowhead on opening night was supposed to be acceptable for Baltimore with a relatively soft opponent coming to M&T Bank Stadium in the form of the Raiders, who got bullied by the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1. There were points where the Ravens looked well on their way to a victory, holding a pair of 10-point leads, but Baltimore blew it as Las Vegas stormed back to stun them 26-23 with a late field goal.

The loss is unfathomable for Baltimore, which held the Raiders to just 27 yards rushing and ran for 151 themselves only to fail to cash in enough opportunities to put the game away. As a result of that performance, the Ravens are in a tie for last in the AFC North, trailing Pittsburgh by two games in the division and setting themselves up with a tough road to get back into the postseason hunt.

The fact that Baltimore has come within seconds of winning each of their first two games should offer solace that a turnaround is in order. The Ravens will need to flip the switch quickly as their next three games (At Dallas, Buffalo, At Cincinnati) have the potential to dig a deeper hole if Baltimore can't get in sync on both sides of the ball.

Panic Meter: 5

Jacksonville Jaguars

There were a ton of questions in Jacksonville entering the year about whether or not last year's collapse would carry over into this season. After blowing a big lead against Miami in Week 1, the Jaguars sleep walked through their home opener, falling 18-13 to a Browns team that entered the contest in turmoil after their own disastrous Week 1 effort and more controversy surrounding Deshaun Watson's legal troubles.

Trevor Lawrence was bad for Jacksonville in Week 2, completing just 14-of-30 passes for 220 yards and taking four sacks. The defense was a bigger concern for the Jaguars as they couldn't get off the field against Cleveland's anemic offense, allowing the Browns to control the football for over 34 minutes.

A two-game trip to Buffalo and Houston is looming for Jacksonville, which can quickly find themselves behind the eight-ball in even a week AFC South division. The hot seat could quickly find Doug Pederson, whose team has regressed over the last year of his tenure.

Panic Meter: 7

Carolina Panthers

No team in the league has been more outclassed than the Panthers, who followed up a 47-10 debacle in New Orleans by letting the Chargers fly across the country and bully them in a 26-3 beating in their home opener. While no one expected Carolina to be any good this year, the alarming factor has been a lack of development from quarterback Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft.

Young followed up a dreadful opener by going 18-of-26 for just 84 yards, averaging 3.2 yards per attempt, and tossed another interception for good measure. New head coach Dave Canales is regarded as a quarterback guru for his work revitalizing the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield, but so far Young has demonstrated no progress from his awful rookie year.

Aside from the concerns that Young could turn into a massive bust, the fact that Carolina has been outscored 73-13 in two games is a bad sign for a team trying to build a winning culture. Given how impatient owner David Tepper has been over the past few years, this slow of a start could lead him to have an itchy trigger finger and fire Canales if things don't improve.

Panic Meter: 10

Tennessee Titans

A week after blowing a 17-0 lead to the Chicago Bears, Tennessee had another infuriating loss in Week 2, falling 24-17 to the New York Jets at home. The Titans had some big plays, including an incredible deep touchdown from Will Levis to Calvin Ridley, but Levis demonstrated more inconsistent form with a pick and, well, whatever this was that had head coach Brian Callahan fuming on the sideline.

Callahan is trying to install a new culture and program in Tennessee but he will have a hard time doing that as long as Levis makes poor decisions like he has over the first two weeks of the season. It was encouraging to see the Titans move the football against a strong defense like the one the Jets possess, but failing to generate enough results isn't good for his long-term future.

The weak AFC South is keeping the Titans theoretically afloat since everyone besides Houston is 0-2. Expecting this team to make a serious postseason push, however, is out of the question if Levis can't demonstrate better decision making under center.

Panic Meter: 5

New York Giants

There was progress in New York as the Giants were at least competitive in Week 2, going down to the wire against Washington. The end result was problematic, however, as the Commanders nailed the game-winning field goal at the gun and beat New York 21-18 to send the Giants to 0-2 for the ninth time in the past 12 seasons.

It is concerning to see another personnel decision haunt the Giants as they failed to elevate a kicker off their practice squad despite knowing Graham Gano was dealing with a groin injury and paid the price for it as he hurt his hamstring covering a kickoff and couldn't kick for the rest of the game. The Giants actually scored three touchdowns but saw punter Jaime Gillan badly miss an extra point, leading to a pair of failed two-point attempts that left Washington plenty of margin for error to kick the go-ahead field goal in the final seconds.

The defense remained a problem as well for New York as Washington kicked a field goal on seven of their eight drives, with the eighth being a kneel down to end the first half, and their run defense was gashed for 215 yards on the ground. With a brutal schedule over the next six games (At Cleveland, Dallas, At Seattle, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, At Pittsburgh) the Giants could be staring at 0-8 and a major hot seat for both head coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen.

Panic Meter: 9

Indianapolis Colts

Losing by two in a thriller at Houston last week was supposed to be a building block for the Colts, who got Anthony Richardson back in the fold and were looking to build on their strong 2023 campaign undre Gardner Minshew. Indianapolis got another gift as well as their trip to Green Bay got easier with star quarterback Jordan Love sidelined for the Packers due to a knee injury, meaning former Titans' bust Malik Willis was the starter under center for the home side.

That gift got returned to sender as the Colts made plenty of mistakes to lose 16-10 to Willis, who completed 12-of-14 passes for 122 yards and a score, while the Colts' suspect run defense gave up 261 yards on the ground despite knowing Green Bay would rely heavily (53 carries) on the ground game. Richardson also had three costly interceptions and fumbled twice, showcasing poor ball security in a game where simply playing efficient football should have resulted in an easy win.

The very forgiving AFC South offers the Colts a chance to salvage their season, but having a loss against the Texans takes away some of their margin for error. The next four games for the Colts (Chicago, Pittsburgh, At Jacksonville, At Tennessee) are manageable so it isn't time to send up alarm bells just yet.

Panic Meter: 4

Los Angeles Rams

Losing in overtime in Detroit in Week 1 offered some signs that the Rams were poised to build on their playoff run from a year ago. That optimism went out the window quickly in Arizona as the Cardinals ran Los Angeles off the field quickly in a 41-10 blowout.

The loss of Puka Nacua, who landed on IR this week after injuring his knee in Week 1, clearly took the offense out of sync as Matthew Stafford struggled to find big plays that the Rams are known for. The bigger concern is the Rams' defense, which was gashed by an efficient passing attack from Kyler Murray and a punishing ground game for Arizona, highlighting concerns that the unit could take a step back after Aaron Donald's retirement in the offseason.

Nacua isn't walking through that door anytime soon and they have a tough task on hand in Week 3 with an angry 49ers team coming to SoFi Stadium after they suffered a brutal loss in Minnesota. 0-3 appears very plausible for Los Angeles, which is only saved by the fact that the division's top team is currently a 2-0 Seattle unit that doesn't look unbeatable.

Panic Meter: 5

Denver Broncos

For the second straight year, Sean Payton and the Broncos are off to an 0-2 start after falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-6 at home on Sunday. The offense was completely inept for a second straight game as Bo Nix struggled to move the offense against an admittedly good Steelers' defense, although he improved his yards per attempt over two-fold (7.0 in Week 2 compared to 3.3 in Week 1), so that is encouraging.

It will take some time to see what Nix can do but Denver's next two games come on the road against 2-0 Tampa Bay and the Jets, who will have 10 days to get ready for the Broncos after playing on Thursday night in Week 3. An 0-4 start could lead Payton to consider looking at either Jarrett Stidham ro Zach Wilson if Nix doesn't progress, which could be detrimental to Nix's long-term development.

The other cause for concern is that Denver looks like the worst team in their division by far with both the Chiefs and Chargers off to 2-0 starts while the Raiders just won in Baltimore. Things could get quite ugly in Denver.

Panic Meter: 7

Cincinnati Bengals

It appeared for a significant portion of Week 2 that the Bengals would avoid inclusion on this list with a very competitive effort against Kansas City. Cincinnati actually had the Chiefs stopped on downs in the final minute of the game but a critical pass interference penalty gave Kansas City a first down to set up a game-winning field goal off the leg of Harrison Butker.

While the vibes have been off in Cincinnati due to contract disputes for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who missed his second straight game due to injury, a slow start is nothing new for the Bengals as they have gone 0-2 for three straight years. Cincinnati rebounded to make it to the AFC Championship Game in 2022 while they were poised to make the postseason again last season before Burrow's season-ending thumb injury sunk them.

The schedule also sets up nicely for Cincinnati to right the ship as they can easily go 3-1 in their next four games (Washington, At Carolina, Baltimore, At New York Giants) to get to .500 ahead of Week 7. There is a lot of talent on Cincinnati and their strong effort against the two-time defending champs offers optimism that they're about to flip the switch and play up to their potential.

Panic Meter: 3