The NFL season has gotten through two games for 2023, and we’ve got nine teams who haven’t yet won a game this season.
Some of these teams are Super Bowl contenders who are drastically underperforming for whatever reason, and some of these teams weren’t really expected to do all that much this fall in the midst of rebuilds.
We’ve taken a look at the nine teams that have reached 2-0, so let’s now look at the nine teams that are struggling to find wins on the field.
Some of these fan bases can take a deep breath for possibly bright futures, while others might need to take a seat and prepare themselves for a rocky roads. Let’s see which teams should relax, and which teams should panic.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals entered the season as the most likely to pick first in the 2024 NFL Draft. At present, they’ve been a feisty out in two games and blew a huge lead to the New York Giants in what would’ve been an upset.
Jonathan Gannon is fielding a football team that’s playing above its talent level, and he’s doing himself plenty of favors to be the coach who guides this team past 2023. We’ll see if quarterback Kyler Murray actually plays this year, but this team’s surprising competence could come back to haunt it if it starts actually winning games.
For now, they’re a fun bad team, which is better than a boring bad team. We’ll see if that fun bad turns into actually not half bad by season’s end. If so, this team might actually not have the first-overall pick next April. Cardinals fans should actually be encouraged, even if panic over losing the top pick is fair.
PANIC METER: 35%
Carolina Panthers
First-overall pick Bryce Young has already shown that he’s got the accuracy and the smarts to lead the Panthers, but the offense around him has not been great. Outside of a respectable run game led by Miles Sanders and Chubba Howard, the team’s offensive arsenal has been lackluster and banged-up.
The team’s defense is talented enough to stick with even the best offenses, but that’s primarily owed to Ejiro Evero calling plays and a nice defensive line led by Brian Burns and Derrick Brown. However, losing Shaq Thompson at linebacker for the year and Jaycee Horn at cornerback for a good bit will hurt this defense’s potential.
The Panthers were always going to be a work in progress this season, but the offensive woes are nothing that Young can really fix on his own. This team might just need a good offseason to replenish the wide receiver room and more weeks for the offensive line to gel.
There’s no real reason for panic in Carolina because the quarterback and coaching staff could be like long-term solutions, but expectations should be tempered for the immediate future. We’re betting a new wideout will be in the team’s 2024 offseason plans. If you’re hoping for the playoffs, well, maybe think 2025 instead of next year.
PANIC METER: 25%
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are the NFL’s biggest disappointment through two weeks, and quarterback Joe Burrow aggravating his calf injury does not help that.
Burrow not being able to play dramatically changes the fortunes of a Bengals team trying to get out of a 0-2 funk. The team still has a good defensive front, but the secondary might be a bit too young to really coalesce right now.
If you’re a Bengals fan, you have every right to be a little anxious right now about your team making the playoffs. The AFC never slows down, and it’d take a healthy Burrow to get this team back on track. It’s not time to scrap the season by any means, but things are not trending in Cincinnati’s direction right now after two outstanding seasons.
The Bengals go as Burrow goes, and they’re going to need him to get healthy and play at his typical standard for this year to amount to a postseason.
PANIC METER: 50%
Chicago Bears
The Bears are down bad. After two bad losses to the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s getting dour for everyone at Halas Hall. Quarterback Justin Fields had to walk back some criticism of the team’s offensive coaching, and the team saw its defensive coordinator Alan Williams resign on Wednesday.
Chicago has started a dramatic spiral very early into the season, and we’re not sure what they can do to get out of it right now. The schedule isn’t dire, but very difficult away games in Kansas City, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles (Chargers) await through Halloween.
If this team can’t get things back on track, the Bears could be nearing an organizational overhaul this offseason and the struggling Fields could be traded to a new franchise as Chicago picks out a new quarterback to lead its offense if the team really does get a high pick for next year’s NFL Draft.
It’s not over yet for the Bears, but it’s not looking great at the moment.
PANIC METER: 85%
Denver Broncos
The Broncos have played in two close games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders, but they haven’t been able to close out either.
Russell Wilson is showing some improvements from his ghastly 2022 season, but he might not ever get back to being the elite talent he was in Seattle. Sean Payton is going to have to do a lot of work to elevate an NFL team that just looks mediocre at best right now and doesn’t have any quick fixes available.
The AFC West might be underperforming this season, but Denver has the worst record of any team. Unless Wilson turns back the clock or Payton pulls off a coaching miracle, the Broncos look stuck in neutral. They’re not the worst team in the NFL, but they’re not doing much to inspire confidence.
PANIC METER: 65%
Houston Texans
Like the Panthers, the Texans might’ve found their guy in C.J. Stroud. He’s performing above expectations in his two starts and has done so with a litany of offensive line injuries to deal with.
The Texans have lost to the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts, which probably indicates that they’re just not quite ready for primetime. Head coach DeMeco Ryans was always going to need time to get this franchise back on track, and nailing the quarterback pick was always the first big step.
Stroud and first-round outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. both look like possible franchise cornerstones through two weeks of play, but the team might have to settle for being competitive as a 2023 ceiling.
We’ll see how the rest of the season goes, but the future does look decently bright for Texans fans. Patience will just be a virtue this fall.
PANIC METER: 25%
Los Angeles Chargers
Okay, now here’s a franchise that has a legitimate reason to be more than a little concerned right now. The Chargers lost a shootout with the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 1 before losing in overtime to the Tennessee Titans on the road this past Sunday.
Quarterback Justin Herbert is doing his job, but the coaching is already making people doubt Los Angeles’ 2023 fortunes. This Chargers team is just too talented to be 0-2 right now, and it really doesn’t bode well for the future if they keep underperforming expectations. Changes could be next.
We’ll see how Los Angeles does to rebound in the weeks ahead, but they’ve got to start winning games. That’s more than possible with this roster, but not a given. The Chargers entered the year as a Super Bowl contender but now sit in the 0-2 basement. Herbert is locked in for the future, but this coaching staff could be working for their jobs this fall.
PANIC METER: 60%
Minnesota Vikings
It’s bewildering that quarterback Kirk Cousins is perhaps playing the best football of his career in Minnesota right now, and that the most of the team is faltering around him (excluding the wide receiver room).
The Vikings being at 0-2 is not what anyone expected after a 13-win 2022 season, and it’s primarily because of a faulty defense and the lack of a running game to compliment what Cousins does with his arm. Any team with a guy like Justin Jefferson in the building shouldn’t be 0-2.
The upcoming weeks have winnable games against the Chargers, Panthers, Bears and Packers, so the Vikings have time to right the ship.
If they underperform in those games, Minnesota fans will have much more reason to panic on the state of the franchise. Right now, it’s a coin flip.
PANIC METER: 50%
New England Patriots
The Patriots drew a brutal two-game stretch to start the year with the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, so we’re going to give Bill Belichick and company a bit of a break here.
Quarterback Mac Jones has been surprisingly okay after his down 2022, and the team does have a very solid defense at its disposal. The offensive supporting cast looks a little shaky, but the Patriots have won games with lesser talents before. However, that was with Tom Brady behind center.
Being in the AFC East is not a fun place to be right now, as the Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets are all difficult to face twice a year. The Patriots being third-best in the division looks like a ceiling right now.
Belichick’s future in New England looks very tenuous, but he’s a legend for a reason. We’ll feel more need to recommend full-blown panic for the Patriots if the wins don’t start coming.
The next few weeks have tough games against Cowboys, Saints, Bills and Dolphins, so maybe things aren’t looking so hot for New England. We’ll just have to wait and see how the Patriots respond to the pressure.
PANIC METER: 55%
