Not everybody in the NFL can win in Week 1. By definition, half the league will start the season 1-0 and half the league will start it 0-1.
We’re here today to talk about the latter group of teams, because only around 11% of teams that begin the season 0-2 go on to make the playoffs. With 16 teams in danger of falling into that group, we wanted to take a look at how much pressure is on each of them to capture a win in Week 2.
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Pete Prisco
We broke those 16 teams down into five tiers, based on the level of pressure they face. For some, there’s nothing really to worry about just yet. For others, their playoff hopes could be dashed or their bigger dreams could be dangling by a thread. And for still others, jobs could be on the line.
Without further ado, here are those tiers.
The Browns don’t even actually want to be good. They’re going to be picking at or near the top of the draft in 2026, and that’s the result they want out of this season. If they’re competitive and still losing like they did last week against the Bengals, that’s probably the best-case scenario.
The same is true of the Saints, who were surprisingly in the game deep into things against the Cardinals last week. If Spencer Rattler continues airing it out and they can play a fun brand of football while still hanging around the bottom of the standings, they’ll benefit in the long run.
The Jets looked like the most competitive team that lost in Week 1. Justin Fields looked great, perhaps better than he’s ever been in his career. Nobody really expects them to make the playoffs, so if they keep playing as well as they did in the season opener, it’s probably fine if they hover at or below .500 for most of the year. Aaron Glenn just needs to show that he has the team moving in the right direction, not that he’s going to make the postseason in his first year at the helm.
Carolina looked far worse in the opener than did the Jets, and the Panthers need to start playing better quickly or some seats could get hot — especially Bryce Young’s, even after he played better down the stretch of last season. But again, the Panthers are not expected to be a contender. They’re also in the NFC South, which is among the weaker divisions in the NFL, and their schedule over the next month or so isn’t that imposing. If they drop another game, they’ll have to fight from behind the win the division, but it was going to be an uphill climb anyway. What really matters is looking like they belong on the field with the other team, which they didn’t for most of last week’s loss to the Jaguars.
The Titans are already thinking about the long run as well… but their coach might not be. Brian Callahan needs a win this weekend way more than the Titans themselves do. He did not shower himself in glory in that opening-weekend game against the Broncos, what with his not knowing the catch rule and his management of the clock just before halftime. Cam Ward’s performance on tape was way better than it looked in the box score, though, and his showing that he’s the real deal is more important than whatever Tennessee’s record ends up being.
Tier 3: If we want to make the playoffs…
This is the group of teams that I’d categorize as playoff hopefuls who are in danger of falling too far behind if they want to make a real run at either the division or a wild card spot, and at least some of it has to do with either whom they’ve already lost to or who they’ll be playing this weekend.
Dallas already lost a division game to Philadelphia and plays another this weekend against the Giants (more on them later.) If the Cowboys drop to 0-2 in the NFC East, things could get ugly in and around Jerry World — especially after he said the team would be better despite trading Micah Parsons.
The Bears have also already lost a division game to Minnesota and play another against Detroit on Sunday in Ben Johnson’s first game against his former team. Again, falling to 0-2 could be a potential death blow to the Bears’ playoff hopes, and if the team falters in a similar way that it did in Week 1, the temperature in Chicago is going to be turned up significantly.
The Patriots lost their Week 1 matchup to another AFC playoff hopeful in the Raiders, and now they have a division game against the Dolphins on tap. Considering how difficult it’s going to be for them to win the AFC East, where the Bills reign supreme, they have to collect as many conference wins as they can — especially against teams that look as inept as Miami did in Week 1. (More on that team later, too.)
Continuing with the theme here, the Falcons lost a division game to the Buccaneers in Week 1, in devastating fashion with Younghoe Koo’s missed game-tying kick. Now they face a Vikings team with whom they could be competing for a wild card spot if they can’t come from behind and catch Tampa for the division lead.
The Seahawks also lost to a division rival (the 49ers) in Week 1, and they didn’t look so hot on offense for most of the game. There’s some pressure for that unit to look better, especially after the Steelers allowed the Jets to freely move the ball for a lot of the game last week. A non-conference loss wouldn’t be as potentially damaging as another defeat to an NFC opponent, but falling further behind in the NFC West or the wild card race wouldn’t be ideal.
Houston also plays a non-conference opponent in Week 2, and lost to a different one in Week 1. The AFC South is probably the worst division in the NFL and the Texans may be able to come back and win it even after starting 0-2, but you never want to drop too far behind your competition. With the Colts and Jaguars starting 1-0 and the Titans looking competitive against the Broncos last week, Houston may be in for a tougher fight here than we thought.
Tier 2: We’ve got bigger plans
All three of these teams have designs not just on winning their respective divisions, but also on capturing the top seed in their conference and advancing to the conference title game or beyond. Dropping to 0-2 would obviously put a significant crimp in those plans.
That seems especially true for the Chiefs, who will have to play the next several weeks without their top two receiving options and who have to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles this week, the Ravens in Week 4 and the Lions in Week 6. Those games are all before Rashee Rice returns from his suspension, and we don’t know how many of them Xavier Worthy will be back for. It seems unthinkable, but the Chiefs could fall too far behind to win the AFC West if they don’t improve to 1-1 this week.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens already fell behind the Bills in the race for the No. 1 seed and now need to finish with a better record than Buffalo if they want to nab that spot. Fortunately for them, they get to play the Browns this week. But after that, they have consecutive games against the Lions, Chiefs, Texans and Rams. So, uh, they definitely need to capture this win because the upcoming schedule is quite difficult.
Detroit Lions
The Lions lost a division game to the Packers wherein they didn’t look like they belonged on the same field as their opponents. They have another division foe on tap this week in the Bears, and as alluded to, the upcoming schedule is not forgiving. They do have the Browns in Week 4, but they’ll face the Ravens in Week 3, Bengals in Week 5, Chiefs in Week 6 and Bucs in Week 7 before taking their bye in Week 8. Getting back to 1-1 is imperative before entering that tough stretch — especially if they want to remain competitive in the division and not just the wild card race.
Miami Dolphins
Whoa, boy, did the Dolphins look horrendous last week against the Colts. That wasn’t necessarily surprising given the vibes around the team this offseason, but it was still shocking to see just how bad they looked. Given those vibes, things could start spiraling out of control, and Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier could be on an increasingly hotter seat if they lose to the Patriots this weekend.
New York Giants
The Giants, meanwhile, have a quarterback whose job could be on the line — and that of their coach and general manager could soon be as well. The calls have already started for Jaxson Dart to start over Russell Wilson, even with New York’s absurdly tough upcoming schedule. If Wilson looks lost again this week against the Cowboys, those calls will only get louder. And if Brian Daboll doesn’t make a change, people will start calling for his job next.