NFL Teams Whose Playoff Hopes Are Fading Fast

It's already over for some NFL teams. 

While it might seem premature to make such a statement just two games into the season, the reality is just 12 percent of teams to start 0-2 since 2007 have rebounded to make the playoffs. 

And there are double-digit teams with a 0-2 mark after just two weeks of action this year. 

Granted, it feels like anything can happen after an odd preseason-less journey to this point. And some of the 0-2 teams (sorry, New York fans) aren't exactly shockers. 

But for the following teams—thanks to a slow start, tough divisions, schedules and general projections—it seems like digging out of their current holes won't be possible. 

Minnesota Vikings

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It wasn't too easy to see this one coming for the Minnesota Vikings. 

Minnesota, after all, has at least eight wins in each of its past five seasons, hitting double digits three times over that span and winning 10 games last year, plus a playoff victory. 

But the Vikings have face-planted out of the gates, dropping their home opener to the Green Bay Packers, 43-34, then getting whipped on the road by an Indianapolis Colts team that is 1-1 with a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

In the process, Kirk Cousins has completed just 58.8 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions. The loss of receiver Stefon Diggs is clearly hurting the team, and injuries are already starting to pile up, with linebacker Anthony Barr going to injured reserve. As a result, the Vikings already have a minus-26 point differential, one of the worst marks in the league. 

And it doesn't seem like things will get any better. From here, the Vikings have to play Tennessee, Houston, Seattle and Atlanta before a Week 7 bye. After the bye, they'll play the entire NFC North, then Dallas. Don't forget games against Tampa Bay and New Orleans, too. 

Houston Texans

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The Houston Texans have had two seasons with fewer than nine wins since 2011. 

And 2020 looks like it is trending in the wrong direction. 

Deshaun Watson and Co. are 0-2, causing concern after looking not-so-competitive against some of the league's best in the process, courtesy of a 34-20 whipping at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs and a 33-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. 

Watson has done what he can, completing 66.2 percent of his passes with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions, but he's taken eight sacks. And that universally disliked DeAndre Hopkins trade is clearly having a major impact on the offense's ability to move the ball and open things up for the run. Most teams' defensive numbers would look bad given the schedule faced so far by the Texans, but the league-worst point differential of minus-31 remains concerning.

Of the teams listed here, Houston has the type of special player under center capable of doing the unthinkable and turning things around. But Week 3 could be a season-defining game in Pittsburgh, and the AFC South features dominant Tennessee and arguably better-than-expected Indianapolis and Jacksonville clubs. Houston's schedule also features Green Bay and New England later this season, painting a dire outlook. 

Denver Broncos

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Before the season, the Denver Broncos seemed like a trendy pick to emerge as a contender. Drew Lock had looked promising under center, and the front office went all-in adding pieces around him, such as trading for cornerback A.J. Bouye, pointing to good things. 

But the good things just haven't emerged, and the early season-ending injury to star defender Von Miller might've been a sign of things to come. 

The Broncos have started 0-2 with admittedly close losses to Tennessee (16-14) and Pittsburgh (26-21) teams. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but Lock made it through just 38 passing attempts before going down with a shoulder injury. 

That injury won't even be re-evaluated for at least two weeks, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. That means maybe getting the all-clear to start practicing around Week 5, but with a bye in Week 8, Denver might just play it safe with their potential franchise passer. 

In turn, that means the Broncos are stuck with 2016 sixth-round pick Jeff Driskel, owner of just 315 career passing attempts, under center. And when Lock does get back, he won't necessarily just reignite good timing with weapons like receiver Jerry Jeudy and tight end Noah Fant, not to mention wideout Courtland Sutton is out for the year with a torn ACL.

It doesn't help that Driskel and Co. play Tom Brady and Tampa Bay in Week 3 and will also play New England and Kansas City before that Week 8 bye. Five of six divisional games in the brutal AFC West also happen after the bye, when it might be too little, too late. 

Atlanta Falcons

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Another year, another round of discussion about a crippling, "Can they recover?" loss for the Atlanta Falcons. 

The Falcons seemed like a team headed for 1-1, fully putting a 38-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 behind them with a big win over a contender like Dallas. 

Then Atlanta, well, Atlanta-ed. 

The Falcons coughed up a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, managing to negate four touchdown passes by Matt Ryan, winning the time-of-possession battle and three Dallas turnovers. That means Atlanta is now responsible for two of the three times over the last nine seasons a team lost despite leading by 15 points with less than eight minutes left in regulation.

Call it a reputation head coach Dan Quinn, Ryan and the Falcons now fully own. Quinn even staying aboard as head coach was one of the offseason's more polarizing moves after a clear regression since 2016, going from double-digit wins in 2016 and 2017 to seven apiece in 2018 and 2019.

Now the Falcons are 0-2 under Quinn for the first time, have yet to play a divisional game in an NFC South with teams led by Drew Brees and Tom Brady and still have to play a top-heavy NFC North, never mind a date with Kansas City in Week 16. 

Carolina Panthers

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The Carolina Panthers were always seemingly taking a big gamble by ending the Cam Newton era and passing the team over to Teddy Bridgewater. 

So far, the result is a 0-2 start with losses to Las Vegas and Tampa Bay, with the defense allowing 65 total points in the process. Bridgewater hasn't been able to compensate, completing 72.4 percent of his passes but throwing just one touchdown against two interceptions while taking six sacks. 

It's hard to imagine things get any better for the reshaped offense still trying to find its way now that a borderline MVP-worthy talent like Christian McCaffrey will miss four to six weeks with an ankle injury, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. 

That places even more strain on a struggling Bridgewater, never mind a defense that has to deal with stout Arizona, Atlanta (twice), New Orleans, Kansas City and Tampa Bay offenses between now and Week 10. The Panthers don't get a bye until Week 13, a brutal stretch in what has the looks of a tough NFC South. 

Even after that bye, Carolina will face Denver, Green Bay, Washington and New Orleans to close the season, though that stretch might have the organization thinking more about draft positioning at that point.