After Week 1, we looked at four preseason contenders that lost their opoeners and tried to figure out which of those losses were worth worrying about. At the time, the Rams scared us most, the Patriots scared us least (ha!), and the Chargers and Packers landed somewhere in between. Two weeks later, that order has flipped.
The Chargers are now in "THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" territory, Green Bay's problems have spread, and New England's giveaways have gone from something you could explain away to inexplicable. The Rams, meanwhile, have mostly looked like the Rams, save one or two bad plays a game. So here's the new order after three weeks.
Who can still fix the mess? And who might already be watching the season slip away from them? 0-3; fewer than 17 points in six straight games including playoffs 1-2; run game has disappeared; 1-7 in last eight including playoffs 1-2; Maye has 1 TD, 6 INT; offense last in points/drive 1-2; Offense has rebounded dramatically, even after Week 3 line of scrimmages The Chargers weren't bad everywhere against Arizona in Week 1. They actually had the better success rate.
The warning signs were more specific: Justin Herbert was getting hit too often and Los Angeles converted just 25% of its third downs. The Chargers are 0-3 after a demoralizing 24-16 loss in Buffalo, in a game in which the Bills turned the ball over a whopping five times. It's why this is the most concerning game yet for L.A.: the defense gave the offense every opportunity to finally win a game.
Despite the plus-four turnover margin, the Chargers mustered just 16 points. And now the hole they find themselves feels deep enough that there will be no escaping. Since 1990, 171 teams started 0-3.
Five of those 171 made the playoffs -- that's 2.9%. Even with the expanded postseason, the math doesn't help much: since the NFL went to 14 playoff teams in 2020, just one 0-3 team managed to qualify. That was Houston last season, and the Texans had to go 12-2 the rest of the way to pull it off.
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