The Baltimore Ravens ran to a 28–6 lead over the Dallas Cowboys like there’s no tomorrow because if an NFL team starts the season 0-3, it rarely makes the playoffs.
Since 1981, only six teams have ever made the playoffs with an 0–3 start, and this year’s Ravens and five other squads avoided the need to join that club with Week 3 victories. The New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, and Carolina Panthers all made it to 1–2 and thus kept on the right side of history for their playoff chances.
“Well, no one wanted that. That’s not something that we wanted, so that’s what made the fourth quarter so interesting,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Monday, a day after a 28–25 win over the Cowboys.
Dallas came alive in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns in a comeback attempt that rivaled Tom Brady’s comeback from a 28–3 deficit as the New England Patriots won the 2017 Super Bowl. Brady notably broadcast the Ravens’ survival against the Cowboys, a team that slipped to 1–2 after starting the season with a commanding Week 1 win in Cleveland.
Baltimore and company are happy to make it to Week 4 with a 1–2 record, and some had to do it against hotter teams than the Cowboys. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix led his team to a stunning 26–7 victory over the once-unbeaten Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It was great,” Nix told reporters Sunday. “Before the game, we wanted to hear the music and have a party. We played motivated today. We went out there and executed at a high level. I think that’s what it’s supposed to feel like.”
Carolina made a quarterback change to get out of the 0-2 hole, and it worked against the Las Vegas Raiders in a 36–22 victory. Andy Dalton thrived with 319 yards passing and three touchdowns in place of recent No. 1 pick Bryce Young.
“He’s our quarterback, he gives us our best chance to win,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters on Monday. “That’s the approach as we get ready for the [Cincinnati] Bengals.”
Carolina faces an 0–3 Bengals team whose playoff chances appear slim. The Bengals fell short, 38-35, to the Washington Commanders on Monday.
“We’re by no means out of it, but playoffs and winning [the] division is the furthest thing from my mind,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow told reporters afterward.
A team’s quarterback shoulders the burden of the win-loss record. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones lessened that burden on Sunday when he threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns in a 21–15 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
“Yeah, I mean I think it always feels good to get a win, however it comes,” Jones told reporters on Sunday. “First one is important, so we have to look at what we did well and build on it, and clean up the things we didn’t do well.”
For second-year Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, much cleaning up remains after his second multi-interception game of the season. The Colts got a boost from running back Jonathan Taylor’s 110 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-16 win to stave off a Chicago Bears comeback.
Los Angeles made it out of the 0–2 hole with a fourth-quarter comeback in a 27–24 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford led the way despite top offensive skill players being out with injuries as he threw for 221 yards and a touchdown.
For the Bengals and the league’s two other 0-3 teams, Jacksonville and Tennessee, a playoff run will take a massive comeback going into Week 4 and beyond. In NFL history, only the 1992 San Diego Chargers overcame an 0-4 start to make the postseason.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson put it plainly to reporters after a 47–10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday: “This is who we are right now and it’s not very good.”
