It's incredibly difficult to come back from an 0-3 start in the NFL, but it's not impossible.
In NFL history, only 7 teams have been able to fully recover from an 0-3 start and make the playoffs, including the 2025 (and 2018) Houston Texans.
Entering the month of October, the NFL has 5 teams without wins, including a couple of shockers. We're going to do our best to sort out these 0-3 teams worst to best, because not every winless team is on the same level, even if their record says they are.
NFL Power Rankings, Week 4: Ranking every 0-3 team heading into October
5. Miami Dolphins
Everyone knew this year was going to be a tough one for the Miami Dolphins. It's a year full of looking for silver linings and trying to find building blocks for the future.
Unfortunately, this team is not just 0-3, but they've now lost star running back De'Von Achane for the season due to a torn ACL.
At least if this team is going to be in evaluation mode, you want to see the players they already feel like they can build around (like Achane) out there on the field with the guys who might be part of the future. That's the brutal nature of the NFL.
But the Dolphins press onward. They might be the worst team in the league right now, but you can see glimpses -- as we did on Sunday against the Chiefs -- of the culture Jeff Hafley is building really starting to take.
4. Tennessee Titans
You never know when a team might go on a little bit of a run, but the Titans were a team I had talked about during the offseason as a potential darkhorse team in the AFC.
The idea was obviously that the additions the Titans made to the defensive front would make a huge difference under head coach Robert Saleh, and that Cam Ward would take a big step forward in his second NFL season.
Although the Titans have been competitive in their first few games of the season, the execution is simply not there yet for this team. I'm not going to be shocked to see them go on a run at some point if Ward can find a way to get hot, but right now, this team looks like it's trending toward another top 10 pick in 2027.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Speaking of teams looking like they might be trending toward top-10 picks in 2027, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be on the cusp of rebuilding.
Of course, this is a team that just signed quarterback Baker Mayfield to a big-money contract, but he has simply not played up to the level of that contract.
And now, he's hurt on top of it.
The Bucs have underachieved for over a year now. They weren't able to win the NFC South last season despite the Panthers taking home the division crown with just 8 wins. Even with all of the talent on the roster in recent years, the Bucs have been much more of a pretender than an actual contender.
This team is trending toward a major coaching change this offseason.
2. Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers haven't exactly faced a gauntlet to start the 2026 season, and their lives are about to get a lot harder.
They were upset in consecutive weeks to start the season by the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, two extremely surprising losses given the fact that both of those teams had rookie head coaches.
Surely the Chargers would not lose to a third-straight rookie head coach, even though they were playing on the road against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3...
Jim Harbaugh and his team have some serious soul-searching to do, but there's no time for this team to lick its wounds. They have a brutal matchup on the road against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3.
1. Houston Texans
As we mentioned before, this is familiar territory for the Houston Texans. The 2025 team started the season 0-3, and even dropped to 3-5 at the midway point of the season before ripping off 10-straight wins, including a playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But the 2025 Houston Texans are the exception, not the rule.
An elite defense can take you far in this league, but the Texans are playing with fire. They undoubtedly have long-term question marks right now on the roster with CJ Stroud's contract status in limbo, but the Texans just have to be better offensively if they are going to get back to the postseason.
The AFC South is not going to wait around for them. The Jaguars look like one of the best teams in the league this season, and the Colts aren't going to be walking away quietly (which Houston found out the hard way on Sunday).
The Texans might be the "best" of the winless teams right now, but these next four games before the bye week are crucial for them. Games against the Cowboys, Titans, Jaguars, and Giants could allow this team to quickly get to 3-4 at worst by the end of October.
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