Football can be a very cruel game. No other league can take you from season-opening optimism to complete despair quite as quickly as the NFL.
Its 18-week span both too short for a comeback and too painfully long to endure for those teams that can’t start strong.
Of the 158 teams to start a season 0-3 since 1990, only four have gone on to make the playoffs — that’s a rate of 2.5 per cent. Week 3 saw eight winless clubs enter the week with four emerging victorious. Barring a pair of ties — and wouldn’t that be wild! — we’ll see that number of winless franchises cut in half again this Sunday.
Through three weeks of play, four teams have yet to find the win column. Two of them reside in the NFC North, and as fate would have it all four clubs square off this Sunday against a fellow winless side.
Misery does love company, after all.
This Sunday, the 0-3 Denver Broncos will square off against the winless Chicago Bears, two dismal defences still licking their wounds from painful (and in Denver’s case, historic) lopsided losses. The Minnesota Vikings, meanwhile, fresh off winning the bad-luck bowl against L.A. (which is to say, losing to the Chargers) will take on a Carolina Panthers club whose poor start to the season has included an injury to their rookie starter, Bryce Young.
As we prepare for Week 4, we’re taking a look at the four clubs still without a win and assessing what’s gone wrong so far.
DENVER BRONCOS
Season so far:
Week 1: 17-16 vs. Raiders
Week 2: 35-33 vs. Commanders
Week 3: 70-20 @ Dolphins
There was optimism to be found in the Broncos’ first two games, a one-point defeat to the Raiders followed by a thrilling Hail Mary comeback against Washington that fell one two-point conversion shy of changing their fate. But any good vibes were quickly washed away in Miami as the Dolphins dominated Denver to the tune of 70-20.
The lopsided score laid bare the Broncos’ numerous defensive flaws, and while you’ve got to believe those numbers will rebound at least a little — until they play the Chiefs in Week 6, that is — it’s a far cry from the kind of results many expected from a club with Sean Payton at the helm.
Against Denver’s defence, opponents have completed passes at a higher rate (77.4 per cent), averaged more yards through the air (nine yards per attempt), and scored more passing touchdowns than against any other team (nine). They’ve been just as bad against the run, giving up 533 rushing yards (including 350 to Miami) through three weeks and allowing seven rushing TDs — tied with the Texans for most in the league.
Broncos’ next three games:
Week 4: @ Bears
Week 5: vs. Jets
Week 6: @ Chiefs
Now, about that tiny shred of optimism for the AFC’s lone winless team: There is evidence of Russell Wilson rediscovering his game after last season’s nightmare — Wilson is currently eighth in passing yards (791) and fifth in yards per attempt (7.6) despite early injuries to the receiving corps. If Wilson can continue this trend against Chicago, there’s a W in his future.
CHICAGO BEARS
Season so far:
Week 1: 38-20 vs. Packers
Week 2: 27-17 @ Buccaneers
Week 3: 41-10 @ Chiefs
Maybe it’s our fault for raising our expectations too high ahead of the season that Justin Fields would hit his stride this year. Or, maybe it’s the coaching — three weeks in, and there’s already been turnover in the coaches room.
There’s a lot to dislike about this defence — everything said about the Broncos’ flaws on that side of the ball can be applied to the Bears, too, except instead of a 50-point loss to Miami it was a 39-point defeat against Kansas City last Sunday. But the headliner here is the offence, or lack thereof, and that’s a familiar frustration for this club.
Fields has thrown for just 526 yards (second worst behind only Zach Wilson among QBs who’ve appeared in all three games this season) and is among the slowest to release the ball (he’s averaging 2.99 seconds). That’s translating to Fields taking the second-most sacks so far (13) and failing to get the ball to his No. 1 receiver, D.J. Moore, with any kind of regularity. Moore has been targeted just 15 times through three weeks.
Bears’ next three games:
Week 4: vs. Broncos
Week 5: @ Commanders
Week 6: vs. Vikings
Fields did his best to clean up his comments last week that put his thoughts about coaching and his own ability to process the game in the spotlight, but we have yet to see this offence pull off a clean game — nor have we seen Fields’ signature explosivity like we saw last year. Against Denver’s defence, he’s got a shot to take a step in the right direction.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Season so far:
Week 1: 20-17 vs. Buccaneers
Week 2: 34-28 @ Eagles
Week 3: 28-24 vs. Chargers
The Vikings have yet to lose by more than a score, continuing last season’s trend of close games — only, instead of winning them in thrilling comeback fashion, this season’s team has been on the losing end each time so far.
If you look at the offence, a lot is going right. Quarterback Kirk Cousins leads the league in passing yards (1,075) and touchdowns (nine) and has thrown just two interceptions while Justin Jefferson is well on his way to a 2,000-yard season.
Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for the other side of the ball. While their run defence is sitting in the middle of the pack, the secondary is struggling against the pass. Minnesota is allowing offences to complete throws at a 76.2 per cent rate (second worst behind Denver), averaging 7.5 yards per attempt (fifth worst in the league) and has one of the worst redzone defences.
Vikings’ next three games:
Week 4: @ Panthers
Week 5: vs. Chiefs
Week 6: @ Bears
Questions about whether Cousins could be the league’s most popular trade target are getting louder with each loss — especially as division rivals Detroit and Green Bay make any kind of playoff success out of reach early. If the defence can begin to hold up its side of the bargain, maybe those questions fade a little.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Season so far:
Week 1: 24-10 @ Falcons
Week 2: 20-17 vs Saints
Week 3: 37-27 @ Seahawks
Of the four 0-3 clubs, the Panthers are the least surprising based on last year’s finish, this season’s expectations and the growth of other teams in the division over 2022. Add in an ankle injury to No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, and there’s not much success to be had here so far.
Obstacles and missteps are expected when you’ve got a first-year QB and an early-season injury that slows him down, but the Panthers also getting in their own way. Carolina has taken more penalties than any other team, averaging 9.3 per game.
That number has a lot to do with last week’s matchup in Seattle, with the famously loud crowd contributing to a whopping eight false start penalties for the Panthers. But even against the Saints in Week 2 (six for 35 yards) and Falcons in Week 1 (nine for 66 yards), penalties have proven costly.
Panthers’ next three games:
Week 4: vs. Vikings
Week 5: @ Lions
Week 6: @ Dolphins
A minor improvement should be expected at home in Week 4 against the Vikings, and it sounds like Young could return to the lineup and get a few more reps under his belt. But on the road against the Lions and Dolphins, there won’t be much room for errors.
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