When the Cleveland Browns, the Tennessee Titans and the Atlanta Falcons opened the new NFL season 0-1 last week, it wasn’t a surprise.
asserted
it → open → season
Each is considered far likelier to contend for the league’s worst record than a playoff berth.
asserted
Each → consider → berth
Yet entering the season’s second week, it might be time for some other members of the 0-1 club to be feeling panic.
uncertain
members → enter → panic
The so-far winless Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos all entered the season with justified playoff ambitions — plans that would be further jeopardized by starting 0-2.
asserted
that → enter → ambitions
Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only 11% of 0-2 teams have gone on to make the postseason.
asserted
% → go → postseason
The expansion of the playoff format to 14 teams in 2020 has made rebounding slightly easier; since then, 16% of 0-2 teams have gone on to make the postseason, including three each of the last two seasons.
asserted
% → make → seasons
But a stumble to open September whittles away a team’s margin for error.
asserted
stumble → open → error
Baltimore missed last season’s playoffs when its field goal missed in the season finale, circumstances that might have been avoided had the Ravens not started 1-5.
uncertain
Ravens → miss → finale
Kansas City stumbled to an 0-2 start last season and spent the next two months digging itself out of that hole before it missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
asserted
it → stumble → decade
“My message is just echoing ‘don’t change, don’t flinch, don’t blink,’” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said.
asserted
Prescott → echo → ?
We have to stick together.”
asserted
We → have → ?
Two seasons ago, the Rams were one of three teams that started 0-2 and still made the playoffs.
asserted
that → start → playoffs
But as the Rams, the preseason Super Bowl favorite, prepare to face the Giants (1-0) on Monday, they have already lost more than their first game.
asserted
they → prepare → game
Pass-rushing star Myles Garrett will miss at least four games after he underwent surgery last week to combat swelling in his left knee.
asserted
he → rush → knee
The un-retirement of Aaron Donald will help absorb the loss of Garrett along the defensive line, but Donald won’t be an every-down player.
asserted
Donald → help → line
The Rams’ vaunted offense managed just 190 yards in its first performance against the San Francisco 49ers, as well.
asserted
offense → manage → 49ers
“The big area of focus improvement will be in regard to the pass game and some of the different things that we can do collectively,” coach Sean McVay said.
asserted
McVay → do → that
“It always starts with me.”
asserted
It → start → me
The Rams are one of five teams this season — joining the Broncos, the Packers, the Cowboys and the Washington Commanders — that already have one division loss.
asserted
that → join → loss
Of that group, NFC East rivals Washington and Dallas find themselves in the most precarious situations.
asserted
Washington → find → situations
When they play each other Sunday, one will leave 0-2 in its division.
asserted
one → play → division
“It’s another division game,” Cowboys pass rusher Rashan Gary said.
asserted
Gary → ’ → ?
“Understanding that, we know we just went 0-1, and we can’t do that going into this week.
asserted
we → understand → week
Last season they responded to their 0-1 start by losing only two more times over the next four months en route to a Super Bowl appearance.
asserted
they → respond → appearance
The bounceback was helped, however, by playing the easiest schedule in 26 years.
asserted
bounceback → help → years
It will be more difficult to keep this latest season-opening loss from snowballing into something bigger.
asserted
It → keep → something
The Patriots’ next three opponents all made the playoffs last season, starting with Sunday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers — whose defense sacked New England quarterback Drake Maye five times and forced five turnovers when the teams met last season.
asserted
teams → make → turnovers
An injured ankle will sideline the Steelers’ top offseason acquisition, receiver A.J. Brown, for at least the next four games.
asserted
ankle → sideline → games
“We’ve said this for as long as I can remember: The teams that continue to improve are going to be the ones that have a chance at the end,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said.
asserted
Vrabel → say → end
Though there is at least one 0-1 team in all eight NFL divisions, some fared worse than others.
asserted
some → be → others
Three of the four AFC South teams lost, with the Jacksonville Jaguars the lone outlier.
asserted
Jaguars → lose → teams
The entire NFC South, meanwhile, is 0-1, including the Carolina Panthers, who have started 0-2 each of the last four seasons.
asserted
who → include → seasons
When division rivals Atlanta and Carolina play Sunday, one is guaranteed to leave 0-2.
asserted
one → play → ?
It is one of three Week 2 games featuring winless teams, ensuring that one team will stay that way, joining Cowboys-Commanders and Cleveland-Tampa Bay.
asserted
team → feature → Commanders
Sometimes, an 0-1 start feels worse than one game would indicate.
asserted
game → feel → ?
Green Bay’s 17-point loss to division rival Minnesota was the Packers’ sixth consecutive defeat dating to last season, the franchise’s longest losing streak since 1990-91.
asserted
loss → date → 1990
It was also their third consecutive divisional loss after having held a double-digit lead.
asserted
It → hold → lead
Green Bay had led Chicago by 10 in December and again by 18 in a January playoff game, only to lose.
asserted
Bay → lead → game
When Green Bay lost its 12-point lead en route to a blowout Sunday, the collapse revived alarm bells about the team’s ability to close out games.
asserted
collapse → lose → games
“It’s going to be a topic of conversation for you guys until we do it,” coach Matt LaFleur told reporters Sunday.
asserted
LaFleur → go → reporters
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
