So, you are a hopeful Eagles fan or Texans fan still holding out hope for your Super Bowl 55 futures bet to come around and pay off in February, despite their 0-2 start.
History says you can forget about it. No Super Bowl, not even any playoffs. Such is the nature of teams that lose their first two games of the season – an 11 per cent chance of making it.
Since 2007, 107 teams have gone 0-2. Only 12 have rallied to make the playoffs. That’s 95-12 for all you math fans at home. Nine teams were 0-2 last year, none made the playoffs. This year, 11 teams have started 0-2. Those hopeless 11 are:
Philadelphia, Minnesota, New York Giants, Carolina, Detroit, Minnesota, Atlanta in the NFC; Miami, New York Jets, Cincinnati, Houston, Denver in the AFC.
With the league expanding the playoffs to 14 teams in 2020, your chances have improved with two additional Wild Card positions up for grabs.
Does a 2-0 start get your team to the playoffs?
The trend of 2-0 being a lock to make the playoffs has waned in recent years. Overall, that same 2007 to 2019 timeframe produced 61 teams that made it and 46 that didn’t. in 2019, seven of nine 2-0 teams made it, while the Dallas Cowboys and LA Rams each choked.
Is it the usual suspects who start 0-2 or 2-0?
The Giants started 0-2 for the fourth straight season in 2020, so they are the biggest repeat offenders. Miami, the Jets, Bengals, Broncos and Panthers have all done it two years in a row. On the 2-0 side, Kansas City, Baltimore, Buffalo, Seattle and the Rams all duplicated their fast starts from 2019.
