The five NFL teams on the verge of an 0-4 start, and why the daunting historical stat staring them in the face

Back when there were only 16 games in an NFL season, an 0-2 start was considered a death sentence . Nowadays, with three Wild Card teams making the playoffs and 17 games on the schedule, things are a bit different.

An 0-2 start isn't the end of the world. An 0-3 start is now the new 0-2 start , but it also doesn't mean a team can't turn around their season. Going 0-4 and making the postseason would be almost unprecedented , though. The 1992 San Diego Chargers are the only team to have pulled off that feat, although they ended up getting destroyed 31-0 by the Miami Dolphins in the Divisional Round.

Los Angeles Chargers are the most surprising 0-3 team, followed by the Houston Texans

Heading into Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season, the Los Angeles Chargers are one of five teams staring an 0-4 record in the face. Three other AFC squads are in the same boat: Miami Dolphins , Tennessee Titans , and Houston Texans . Over in the NFC, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the lone team in the conference still winless.

The Bucs are in dire straits at the moment. They just lost starting quarterback Baker Mayfield for multiple games, so their season might already be done and dusted. Meanwhile, no one expected the Titans or Dolphins to do much of anything this season , so an 0-4 start for either of them wouldn't be a surprise.

The Chargers and Texans are in another camp, though. Both came in with relatively high expectations, but both have shown major flaws. Chargers QB Justin Herbert has been hit with a lot of criticism this season, while the Texans defense was expected to be a historically great unit, which hasn't been the case.

In Week 4, these will be the teams standing in the way of the winless franchises: Dallas Cowboys (at Texans), Baltimore Ravens (vs. Titans), Green Bay Packers (at Buccaneers), Minnesota Vikings (vs. Dolphins), and Seattle Seahawks (vs. Chargers).