As it stands today, there are 11 NFL franchises that sit at a winless 0-2 through the first two weeks of the 2020-21 regular season.
However, not much is currently expected from the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions as these teams will more than likely remain toward the bottom of the league standings for the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, though, there are four teams in the Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles that can still turn things around with the postseason remaining at least somewhat feasible for this quartet as Week 3 rapidly approaches.
There is absolutely no doubt that these four teams have the best chances of reversing course before the end of the regular season en route to reaching the playoffs — especially because of the fact that the NFL has added a seventh postseason team in each conference this time around. Of these four teams, though, the Texans and Eagles have the best chances of making the playoffs in 2020-21.
The Texans have begun the NFL regular season with quite the difficult schedule as Houston has kicked things off against the top two teams in the AFC from a season ago in the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, respectively.
Unfortunately for Houston, the road won't get any easier in Week 3 as the Texans will take on the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. However, despite the fact that the Texans have already played a pretty difficult schedule, the AFC South franchise can still take full advantage of the extra playoff spot newly implemented this season.
Outside of the Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and rival Tennessee Titans, there aren't any other sure-fire playoff teams in the AFC. Typically those six would more than likely advance as a 0-2 hole would simply be too much to come back from, but that seventh and final playoff spot could go a very long way for the Texans.
Even with the NFC presently being much deeper than the AFC in terms of potential playoff-caliber teams, the Eagles luckily play in the weakest division in all of football. With only the arch rival Dallas Cowboys slated to compete against the Eagles for the NFC East divisional crown, the Eagles are only one game out of first place as it stands today. Because Dallas is only 1-1 on the year and has some serious injury concerns heading into NFL Week 3, it isn't too late for the Eagles to bounce back in a hurry.
There is a legitimate chance that the Cowboys' injury woes ultimately become too much to overcome as the Eagles could very easily sneak into the postseason picture by way of a NFC East title. If the Eagles are unable to win the division, though, it will be quite difficult for Philadelphia to erase its winless 0-2 record from the ledger. As it stands today, the Cowboys remain the favorite to take home this honor as the Eagles have looked absolutely awful through Week 1 and Week 2, this race will surely come down to the wire.
Because the Vikings play in an incredibly tough division led the by the heralded Green Bay Packers, Minnesota will likely have trouble securing enough wins down the stretch as the competition will remain tough. Although talented on both sides of the line of scrimmage, the Vikings have looked absolutely atrocious across the first two weeks of the 2020-21 regular season as it remains to be seen as to whether Minnesota can even bounce back from their dismal performances.
It is possible that this team just isn't very good despite winning a playoff game only one season ago. After losing to both the Packers and Indianapolis Colts, it won't get any easier for the Vikings in Week 3 as Minnesota will take on the surging Titans.
As for the Falcons, this past week's demoralizing loss to the Dallas Cowboys may have sunk this ship before it even left the port. It will be hard for the Falcons to rebound from such a defeat in addition to the fact that the NFC sports a pretty deep field near the top of the standings.
Not only that, but the Falcons currently play in the NFC South division, which will probably have two playoff teams in the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers by season's end. With back-to-back losses already setting the Falcons back against some stiff competition, the fashion in which these losses came could simply be too crippling.
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