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Welcome to the Athletic NFL Panic Index, a periodic recording to determine whether a team’s struggles are just a temporary setback (panic level 1) or the reason for a full-blown panic (panic level 1). panic 5).
Today we’re focusing on the seven 0-2 NFL teams. No team that lost their first two games made the playoffs in 2019 or 2020. And since 1990, less than 12% of the 258 teams with a 0-2 start have made the playoffs.
The math could look different in 2021, thanks to a 17-game regular season that could give teams more time to catch up after a slow start, and an expanded playoff field that includes an additional wild card in each conference. .
It might help ease the 0-2 sting, but that doesn’t mean these teams don’t each have reason to be concerned.
Detroit Lions
Panic Level: 1
Can you panic if there was no hope at the start? The Lions beat the Packers at halftime of the Week 2 Monday Night Football game at Lambeau Field, a week after nearly pulling off a crazy comeback against San Francisco, and that was more than most fans. from Detroit were waiting. (In the end, Green Bay won 35-17.)
Lions are not inherently bad. But they’re not good either, and they won’t win many games this year. Still, they looked competent, appropriately trained (although we’re on the side of the Manning brothers, who criticized Anthony Lynn’s 4-1 pass call at the end of the first half) and are interesting. And for now, that’s all we can really ask for.
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