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If you are an NFL player, it is always disappointing to lose games or miss the playoffs. However, there is no greater shame than going the whole season without a single win.
Luckily, this feat is quite rare. It takes a certain combination of bad luck, poor management and crisis of confidence to cause a team of professional players to have such a season. Only three teams since the start of the Super-Bowl era have managed to lose all of their games in a season.
The only three NFL teams in history to lose all their games were the 2017 Cleveland Browns (0-16), the 2008 Detroit Lions (0-16) and the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14). So far, no team has gone 0-17, since the league has only expanded to 17 regular season games last year.
No matter how unlikely it is to go winless, there is always the possibility that it could happen. Who will be the first to achieve this unwanted accomplishment? Will it happen this NFL season? Here are three NFL teams that could go winless in the upcoming season.
#1- Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a candidate to go 0-17 this season. Why? Well, it's not just because they've done it before.
The Lions had real issues scoring points last season. They only scored 35 touchdowns in the 2021 NFL season. They also conceded 52 touchdowns. They were blown out on more than one occasion and were 0-8 before they tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Detroit were 0-10-1 before they beat their rivals the Minnesota Vikings.
The Lions were in the bottom half of the league for just about every stat line. If they had lost to the Vikings, there's a chance they may have gone 0-16-1 in the 2021 campaign. But they stopped the bleeding and rallied from there, scrapping to a 3-13-1 record.
Worryingly, the Lions have the seventh-hardest schedule in the NFL next season. If they start badly, the situation could spiral out of control. Though they have undoubtedly improved, their roster is not the strongest and this could spell trouble for the Lions this season.
#2- Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are in almost the same shape as the Lions. Except that they have been doing worse. The Jaguars have had the number one pick in the last two drafts because they've had the worst record in the entire NFL for two straight seasons.
They selected Trevor Lawrence in the 2021 NFL Draft and came with high expectations. But in the perfect storm that was Urban Meyer's Jacksonville, he had a terrible campaign. He threw for 12 touchdowns and ended the regular season tied for first for most interceptions thrown (17). The Jaguars ended with a miserable 3-14 record. In 2021, they had the worst points per game in the league (14.9) and gave up the 5th most points (26.9).
There were not many positives to take from the campaign. One is that it was an improvement on the 2020 season where the Jaguars went 1-15. Another is that they fired Urban Meyer and have a full season ahead of them with head coach Doug Pederson. Pederson won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2017 NFL season and will try to turn them around. But that could take time.
The Jaguars will have tough divisional competition: the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts, both of whom they will have to face twice. Though it must be said for the record that they habitually beat the Colts in Florida. Two of their four wins spanning two NFL campaigns have been at home against the Colts.
The Jaguars spent a lot of money in free agency, however, a lot of analysts think they spent it badly. If their signings don't pay off, Jacksonville could be in for a very rough 2022 NFL season.
#3- New York Giants
This list wouldn't be complete without including an NFC East team. In recent history, this has been one of the poorest performing divisions in terms of record.
Last year, the New York Giants had the worst record in the division, going 4-13. The Giants are struggling with front office issues and mismanagement. They have the worrying ability to make the wrong choice when faced with a decision.
On the field, things aren't any better. Last season, there was an incredible situation in a division matchup against the Washington Commanders. Following an incomplete pass on first down, the Giants genuinely attempted two straight quarterback sneak plays. That 3rd and 9 QB sneak was a moment that apalled not just fans of the franchise, but the wider NFL world.
Quarterback Daniel Jones and his offense are slated to have a bad season in 2022. Jones was ranked 22nd in pass completion percentage and 21st in passing yards per game in last year's campaign. He also had seven fumbles lost. The truth is that it's not fair to pin New York's failings on their quarterback. But when things get a chance to go wrong for Daniel Jones and the Giants, they invariably seem to.
New York have one of the easiest strength of schedules in 2022 (ranked 29th at 0.465), so they are unlikely to have a horror-show 0-17 campaign. But stranger things have happened in the NFL world.
