After sizing up the NFL’s six unbeaten teams in the most recent Pick Six column, we turn our focus to the six 0-3 teams.
The Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and New York Jets are a combined 0-18 to start this season (and at least one of them will be 0-4, as the Texans host the Titans on Sunday). We present them below in the order of their Vegas preseason win totals, with a look at where they rank in all three phases, a dubious distinction for each and visualizations bringing to life what ails them.
See which one of these teams was bad enough to invoke the 1922 Louisville Brecks, who were outscored 134-0 in their first three games.
Houston Texans
9.5 Vegas win total | 0-3 vs. spread
EPA per play: 30th on offense, 17th on defense
Special teams EPA: 3rd
Dubious distinction: Second team since 2000 to start 0-3 without allowing more than 20 points in any game.
Lost 14-9 to Los Angeles Rams
Lost 20-19 to Tampa Bay
Lost 17-10 to Jacksonville
The Texans are the only team that won a playoff game last season to start 0-3 this season. Ownership talked in the offseason about taking the next step, but the moves Houston made were not quick fixes. Most of them were long-term speculative bets.
Was there a disconnect somewhere?
New offensive coordinator Nick Caley had never been an NFL play caller, so it was realistic to expect a break-in period. Trading left tackle Laremy Tunsil and turning over four-fifths of the starting offensive line meant the new group would need in-game reps to grow together. Changes at receiver were applauded, but it was realistic to think Iowa State rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel might need time to develop.
Houston is different on offense and might one day be better, but there are no obvious indications that will be the case soon. The moves made along the offensive line looked more like an attempt at addition by subtraction than on-paper upgrades.
The offense ranks 30th in EPA per play, down from 25th last season.
Without Joe Mixon, the Texans’ running backs are getting fewer explosive runs, with a lower success rate. Perhaps third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud is regressing. Whatever the case, it’s clear the team needs more around him to reverse the offensive slide.
It’s worth noting, also, that Houston’s offense has never been an elite unit during the Stroud era, peaking at No. 15 in EPA per play during his rookie season.
The Texans are the only winless team that has been in every game, losing in the final minutes (or seconds) of all three, so they could be due for some better luck. However, their healthy preseason playoff odds were fueled in part by poor outlooks for their AFC South foes; with the Indianapolis Colts 3-0, Houston’s path is much narrower.
Miami Dolphins
7.5 Vegas win total | 1-2 vs. spread
EPA per play: 18th on offense, 32nd on defense
Special teams EPA: 14th
Dubious distinction: First NFL team since 1922 Louisville Brecks to allow more than 30 points without collecting a turnover in each of first three games, per Pro Football Reference.
Lost 33-8 to Indianapolis
Lost 33-27 to New England
Lost 31-21 to Buffalo
Tua Tagovailoa’s yards per attempt and explosive pass rate have both fallen each season since his 2022 breakout year under coach Mike McDaniel. Those diminishing returns on offense command much of the attention with Tagovailoa earning $53.1 million per year, but the defense has been a problem as well this season.
The Dolphins, who ranked seventh in defensive EPA per play last season under first-year coordinator Anthony Weaver, rank 32nd through the first three weeks. They are 22nd since Week 13 of last season. The chart below shows the recent dropoff.
Playing Buffalo and an improved Indy offense might explain some of the regression, but against New England in Week 2, the Dolphins became the first defense since Week 7 of 2023 to allow more than 25 points to the Patriots’ offense.
What’s new? Nine of the leaders in 2024 defensive snaps for the Dolphins are either gone from the team (Jalen Ramsey, Jordan Poyer, Jevon Holland, Emmanuel Ogbah, Calais Campbell, Da’Shawn Hand, Kendall Fuller and Anthony Walker) or have not played because of injury (Kader Kohou). That’s a massive amount of turnover by any standard.
After fielding the NFL’s oldest snap-weighted defense last season, the Dolphins rank 13th-oldest through Week 3 this season. They rank fourth in defensive snaps played by rookies, led by first-round pick Kenneth Grant and three fifth-round choices: Jordan Phillips, Jason Marshall Jr. and Dante Trader Jr.
At best, the defense is working through growing pains.
New York Jets
6.5 Vegas win total | 2-1 vs. spread
EPA per play: 25th on offense, 27th on defense
Special teams EPA: 17th
Dubious distinction: One of 17 teams in NFL history to score 69-plus points across first three games without winning any, per Pro Football Reference.
Lost 34-32 to Pittsburgh
Lost 30-10 to Buffalo
Lost 29-27 to Tampa Bay
The Jets are the only team in the NFL this season to face three 2024 playoff teams in the first three weeks. They’ve scored 27-plus points twice with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor as their starting quarterbacks, a threshold the 2024 team met just twice in 17 games with Aaron Rodgers behind center. Losing to Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay by a combined four points is not cause for panic.
Still, the Jets rank among the bottom 10 on both sides of the ball from an EPA-per-play standpoint. Their long-term quarterback almost certainly is not on the roster.
Tennessee Titans
6.5 Vegas win total | 1-2 vs. spread
EPA per play: 32nd on offense, 28th on defense
Special teams EPA: 2nd
Dubious distinction: Three-game yardage total (667) is the lowest in franchise history since 1973, when the Houston Oilers changed coaches after five games.
Lost 20-12 to Denver
Lost 33-19 to Los Angeles Rams
Lost 41-20 to Indianapolis
Trailing Indy 17-6 with 42 seconds left in the second quarter Sunday, the Titans faced fourth-and-1 from the Colts’ 39-yard line.
Indy called a timeout. Tennessee left its offense on the field, but the play clock waned. Tennessee called a timeout.
The Titans then sent their kicking team onto the field with about 23 seconds left on the play clock. They apparently then realized they hadn’t sent one of their specially conditioned K-balls (used only for kicking plays) onto the field. The play clock expired amid the confusion.
The delay penalty turned a 57-yard try into a 62-yarder, which the Colts blocked. Indy then scored its own field goal before halftime, stretching its lead to 20-6.
This came one possession after Callahan called for a 64-yard attempt, which sailed wide right, and two weeks after Callahan admitted he did not know that getting one elbow down in bounds is sufficient for a completed catch.
These are the sorts of gaffes that make losing coaches even more vulnerable within their own buildings, unless the front office and coaching staff are aligned. The situation in Tennessee is interesting because the front office, coaching staff and highly drafted quarterback are all on slightly different timelines. The GM inherited the coach in this case.
The disorganization that led to the delay penalty Sunday was the latest bit of in-game mismanagement precipitating the latest change in Tennessee.
Coach Brian Callahan ceded play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree this week. As a result, rookie No. 1 pick Cam Ward will have a new offensive play caller only four games into his career as an NFL quarterback. That is less than ideal, obviously, especially when the alternative to Callahan is not a proven caller.
New York Giants
5.5 Vegas win total | 1-2 vs. spread
EPA per play: 22nd on offense, 30th on defense
Special teams EPA: 13th
Dubious distinction: Tenth team since 2000 with more red zone drives ending on downs (three) than touchdowns (two) through first three weeks.
Lost 21-6 to Washington
Lost 40-37 to Dallas
Lost 22-9 to Kansas City
With so much focus on the Giants’ inconsistent offense, the defense is actually ranked lower, having allowed touchdowns on eight of 10 red zone drives (plus an end-of-half field goal by Kansas City on one of the other two drives). Getting to 0-3 has been a team effort.
The switch from Russell Wilson to rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart at quarterback entering Week 4 resets the clock on this season. Dart will surely have ups and downs. The Giants might not start winning with any regularity. They will be different, with at least a chance for greater upside at the most important position.
New Orleans Saints
4.5 Vegas win total | 0-3 vs. spread
EPA per play: 23rd on offense, 26th on defense
Special teams EPA: 32nd
Dubious distinction: Trailed Seattle in Week 3 by an average of 25.99 points on a per-play basis, worst in 426 total Saints games since 2000, per TruMedia.
Lost 20-13 to Arizona
Lost 26-21 to San Francisco
Lost 44-13 to Seattle
The Saints went 0-6 and averaged 10.8 points per game on offense with Spencer Rattler in the lineup last season. They are 0-3 and averaging 15.7 per game on offense with him this season.
Derek Carr’s retirement helped the Saints from cash and cap standpoints, but the timing left them without appealing options in the veteran market. New Orleans stuck with Rattler as a bridge to rookie second-round choice Tyler Shough, part of a reset that saw the previously high-spending Saints rank 32nd in cash spending for 2025, per OverTheCap.com.
The roster remains in the early stages of an overhaul. The Saints have the eighth-youngest offense and third-oldest defense on a snap-weighted basis.
For the first time since at least 2000, the Saints have posted negative EPA on both defense and special teams in each of the first three games to start a season — a tough way to win with a Tier 4 quarterback.
(Photos of Jaxson Dart, left, and C.J. Stroud: Sarah Stier, Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
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