NFL: 0-2 Start can still mean a Super Bowl appearance

Believe it or not, there’s still Super Bowl hope for more than a handful of NFL teams that dropped their first two games in 2021.

This year’s candidates, in alphabetical order, are the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and New York Jets. All seven teams have lost their first two games. Are any of these teams capable of getting their act together in their final 15 games of the season?

A year ago, the league expanded the playoff field from six to seven games. This year, every NFL team will play 17 regular-season contests. That makes getting to the playoffs a lot easier.

There have been four occasions in which a club opened 0-2 and still played on Super Sunday. And the last team to pull this off may have been the most improbable. The New York Giants dropped their first two games in 2007 and allowed a combined 80 points in losses to the Cowboys and Giants. They ended that regular season falling at home to the New England Patriots, a 38-35 loss enabling Bill Belichick’s team to secure a 16-0 season.

The rematch would be in Super Bowl XLII and the Giants’ pass rush and some heroics from Eli Manning, David Tyree and Plaxico Burress were the key to a 17-14 upset victory.

But back in 1993, the then-defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys were the first to pull off the unlikely feat. Running back Emmitt Smith was a no-show for the club’s first two games due to a contract issue. Jimmy Johnson’s squad fell to Washington and Buffalo. But the club would rebound to win 12 of its last 14 outings. They would roll the Packers and 49ers in the NFC playoffs. Super Bowl XXVIII would be a rematch of Super Bowl XXVII and once again the Cowboys prevailed over the Bills. And Smith would earn Super Bowl MVP honors.

The New England Patriots own the distinction of the other two instances of from 0-2 to Super Bowl. In what proved to be Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells’ final season with the franchise, the team dropped their first two games, got its act together and wound up meeting the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI. The Pats were down just 27-21 in the third quarter before being done in by game MVP Desmond Howard and some timely sacks by Reggie White.

Of course, that 2001 Patriots team was led by ageless Tom Brady. He took over for Bledsoe after he took a hit from Jets’ linebacker Mo Lewis in a Week 2 game at New England. The path would eventually lead to the playoffs.

There was a three-game postseason run in which Belichick’s team got exactly three offensive touchdowns and three defensive/special teams touchdowns in combined wins over the Raiders, Steelers and Rams. And Bledsoe would play a big part in the AFC title game win at Pittsburgh, throwing a touchdown pass in relief of an injured Brady.

So it’s been more than a decade since it last happened. And are any of the aforementioned seven teams equipped to pull off that Super feat? Only time will tell. But in 2021, each has a little more time than the 1993 Cowboys, the 1996 Patriots and 2001 Patriots and the 2007 Giants.