We are only two games into the NFL season and already multiple teams need to be in full-on panic alert.
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teams → need → alert
That's because the season offers only 17 games and losing the first two is, well, a major problem.
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losing → offer → two
Forty teams have started a season 0-2 since 2021 when the league went to a 17-game schedule.
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league → start → schedule
Of those 40 teams, only eight rallied to make the playoffs.
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eight → rally → playoffs
That means 20% of the teams starting 0-2 since 2021 made the postseason.
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% → mean → postseason
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
And 80% did not.
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% → do → ?
If the math holds, that means maybe only one of the eight teams that started the season with a 0-2 record will make it to the postseason.
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that → hold → postseason
So, yeah, fanbases are panicking.
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fanbases → panic → ?
Pundits invested in their opinions looking good are panicking.
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opinions → invest → ?
And teams are trying to resist the urge to panic.
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teams → try → urge
But which of the NFL's eight winless teams legitimately should panic?
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which → panic → teams
John Harbaugh has never been 0-2 in his life and there is nothing that suggests he knows how to handle the crisis.
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he → be → crisis
He handed the reins of the offense to new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who is busy ruining quarterback Justin Herbert.
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who → hand → Herbert
McDaniel flipped Herbert's shotgun stance, gave him an offense built to have Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle but lacks both, and isn't known for making adjustments.
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McDaniel → flip → adjustments
Houston Texans: Not time to panic yet because this team under coach DeMeco Ryans has been a notoriously slow starter.
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team → panic → Ryans
They started 0-2 in 2023 and again last season, and made the playoffs both seasons.
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They → start → playoffs
But this year they've lost two home games to open the season, and another loss will have fans and media in Houston losing their minds.
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fans → lose → minds
The offensive line is a problem, there is no dynamic playmaker at running back, and the defense which finished second in points allowed last season is currently ranked 25th.
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which → be → points
Head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard must win or they'll be fired.
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they → win → ?
Problem is, the Colts have lost nine consecutive games dating back to last season.
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Colts → lose → season
Cornerback Sauce Gardner, who joined the team last November in a blockbuster trade that sent two first-round picks and a player to the New York Jets, has not won a game with the Colts in the United States.
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that → join → States
Another loss Sunday, coincidentally against the Texans, will make this a serious panic situation because jobs are at stake.
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jobs → make → stake
The Dolphins are a borderline Triple-A team and ownership, the personnel department and the coaching staff pretty much knew this before the season because that's how they authored it.
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they → know → it
It's one reason coach Jeff Hafley actually said, "success is not gonna be measured in wins and losses."
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success → say → wins
It's not correct to say they're panicking because it's a first-year coaching staff and quarterback Cam Ward is only in his second NFL season.
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Ward → say → season
But owner Amy Adams Strunk in recent years has not blinked at getting rid of a couple of highly touted QBs while they were still on their rookie contracts, and a coach who lasted less than two seasons.
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who → blink → seasons
This is not a stable or patient franchise, so panic is not far off barring a change of direction.
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panic → bar → direction
They have not only lost games but lost starting quarterback Jayden Daniels to a dislocated elbow.
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They → lose → elbow
He may need surgery, which would end his season and effectively dash the team's postseason hopes.
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which → need → hopes
The Commanders badly need good news on the Daniels front because panic is this close to setting in.
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panic → need → front
Todd Bowles wouldn't have panicked if he'd woken up in a flooded stateroom on the Titanic.
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he → panic → Titanic
But quarterback Baker Mayfield isn't wired like that.
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Mayfield → wire → that
He's passionate, sensitive, and often led by raw emotion.
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He → lead → emotion
So the danger of panic is real for a player pressing after getting a big contract and, so far, not living up to the bigger bucks.
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danger → press → bucks
They're not panicking yet because Michael Penix Jr. will start his first game of the season on Thursday.
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Jr. → panic → Thursday
Any team getting its presumptive starting quarterback back in the lineup for the first time is actually upbeat rather than panicking.
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team → get → time
But Penix Jr. better perform, and the results must change.
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results → perform → ?
The Aporia
