If your team is 2-0, can you pencil them in the NFL playoffs? Does an 0-2 start doom your team with 14 games remaining to rebound? Do two games really make that much of a difference? The odds say yes and so does our OddsShark NFL Database.
Since 2007, 98 teams have started 0-2. Only 12 (12.2 percent) of them turned it around to make the playoffs and one of those (the 2008 Chargers) made it with an 8-8 record. The Texans and Seahawks last season, the Saints in 2017, the Dolphins in 2016, the Texans and Seahawks in 2015, the Colts from 2014, the 2013 Panthers, the Dolphins, Chargers and Vikings in 2008, and the 2007 Giants are the only others — and, of course, that Giants team won the Super Bowl that season.
Starting 2-0 doesn’t guarantee your team a spot in the playoffs, and this trend has been cooling off in recent seasons. Still, in those 98 cases where teams started 2-0, 54 (55.1 percent) made it to the postseason while 44 missed. And among those hard-luck teams to miss the playoffs, the 2008 Patriots failed with an 11-5 record, so they hardly collapsed after a 2-0 start.
Here’s a look at the teams that started either 2-0 or 0-2 since 2007:
| Year | 2-0 | Playoffs? | 0-2 | Playoffs? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | LA Rams | Y | Houston | Y |
| Kansas City | Y | Buffalo | N | |
| Jacksonville | N | Arizona | N | |
| Tampa Bay | N | Detroit | N | |
| Denver | N | Oakland | N | |
| Miami | N | Seattle | Y | |
| Cincinnati | N | NY Giants | N | |
| 2017 | Denver | N | Cleveland | N |
| Oakland | N | NY Jets | N | |
| Kansas City | Y | Chicago | N | |
| Baltimore | N | NY Giants | N | |
| Pittsburgh | Y | LA Chargers | N | |
| Detroit | N | Cincinnati | N | |
| Atlanta | Y | New Orleans | Y | |
| Carolina | Y | Indianapolis | N | |
| 2016 | New England | Y | Cleveland | N |
| Houston | Y | Jacksonville | N | |
| Denver | N | Miami | Y | |
| Pittsburgh | Y | Buffalo | N | |
| Baltimore | N | Indianapolis | N | |
| NY Giants | Y | Washington | N | |
| Minnesota | N | New Orleans | N | |
| Philadelphia | N | Chicago | N | |
| 2015 | New England | Y | Baltimore | N |
| Cincinnati | Y | Houston | Y | |
| Denver | Y | NY Giants | N | |
| Dallas | N | Philadelphia | N | |
| Green Bay | Y | Detroit | N | |
| Atlanta | N | Chicago | N | |
| Carolina | Y | New Orleans | N | |
| Arizona | Y | Seattle | Y | |
| NY Jets | N | Indianapolis | N | |
| 2014 | Buffalo | N | Jacksonville | N |
| Cincinnati | Y | Kansas City | N | |
| Houston | N | Oakland | N | |
| Denver | Y | NY Giants | N | |
| Carolina | Y | Tampa Bay | N | |
| Arizona | Y | New Orleans | N | |
| Philadelphia | N | Indianapolis | Y | |
| 2013 | Seattle | Y | Cleveland | N |
| Chicago | N | Pittsburgh | N | |
| New Orleans | Y | Jacksonville | N | |
| Houston | N | Washington | N | |
| Miami | N | NY Giants | N | |
| Denver | Y | Minnesota | N | |
| New England | Y | Carolina | Y | |
| Kansas City | Y | Tampa Bay | N | |
| 2012 | Arizona | N | Cleveland | N |
| Atlanta | Y | Jacksonville | N | |
| Houston | Y | Kansas City | N | |
| Philadelphia | N | New Orleans | N | |
| San Diego | N | Oakland | N | |
| San Francisco | Y | Tennessee | N | |
| 2011 | Buffalo | N | Carolina | N |
| Detroit | Y | Indianapolis | N | |
| Green Bay | Y | Kansas City | N | |
| Houston | Y | Miami | N | |
| New England | Y | Minnesota | N | |
| NY Jets | N | Seattle | N | |
| Washington | N | St. Louis | N | |
| 2010 | Chicago | Y | Cleveland | N |
| Green Bay | Y | Dallas | N | |
| Houston | N | Detroit | N | |
| Kansas City | Y | Buffalo | N | |
| Miami | N | Minnesota | N | |
| New Orleans | Y | Carolina | N | |
| Pittsburgh | Y | St. Louis | N | |
| Tampa Bay | N | San Francisco | N | |
| 2009 | Atlanta | N | Carolina | N |
| Baltimore | Y | Detroit | N | |
| Denver | N | Tennessee | N | |
| Indianapolis | Y | Kansas City | N | |
| Minnesota | Y | St. Louis | N | |
| NY Giants | N | Jacksonville | N | |
| NY Jets | Y | Tampa Bay | N | |
| New Orleans | Y | Cleveland | N | |
| San Francisco | N | Miami | N | |
| 2008 | Arizona | Y | Cincinnati | N |
| Baltimore | Y | Cleveland | N | |
| Buffalo | N | Detroit | N | |
| Carolina | Y | Houston | N | |
| Dallas | N | Jacksonville | N | |
| Denver | N | Kansas City | N | |
| Green Bay | N | Miami | Y | |
| NY Giants | Y | Minnesota | Y | |
| New England | N (11-5) | San Diego | Y (8-8) | |
| Pittsburgh | Y | Seattle | N | |
| Tennessee | Y | St. Louis | N | |
| 2007 | Dallas | Y | Atlanta | N |
| Denver | N | Buffalo | N | |
| Detroit | N | Kansas City | N | |
| Green Bay | Y | Miami | N | |
| Houston | N | New Orleans | N | |
| Indianapolis | Y | NY Giants | Y (Super Bowl) | |
| New England | Y | NY Jets | N | |
| Pittsburgh | Y | Oakland | N | |
| San Francisco | N | Philadelphia | N | |
| Washington | Y | St. Louis | N |
