Five 3-0 Teams Pulled Away as Five Clubs Hit 0-3

Jacksonville beat New England 35-6 on Sunday and handed the Patriots an F.

Five teams are 3-0 and five are 0-3 through 15 games, with Philadelphia at Chicago still ahead on Monday night, Sept. 28. Washington’s 33-31 win as an 8.5-point underdog over the Super Bowl champion Seahawks was the shocker of the afternoon.

Five Teams Are Already 3-0, Five Are 0-3

The grades from Sunday sorted the same way the standings did. Buffalo, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minnesota and San Francisco are unbeaten. The Chargers, Texans, Dolphins, Titans and Buccaneers have not won. Philadelphia is 2-0 and Chicago is 1-1 heading into Monday night at Soldier Field.

THE EARLY SPLIT AFTER SUNDAY

Las Vegas is the surprise in the top row. The Raiders opened 2-0 without Brock Bowers, then got him back in New Orleans, where he caught 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in a 35-27 win that earned an A-. Kansas City was sloppy in Miami and still left 3-0. Buffalo turned the ball over five times and still left 3-0. The winless group includes a Texans club that made the playoffs from 0-3 a year ago and is back in the same hole.

Jacksonville Gave New England an F in a 35-6 Rout

The Jaguars’ A+ and the Patriots’ F were the same game. Trevor Lawrence completed 19 of 29 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, all three scores in the red zone, in a 35-6 over the defending AFC champions at EverBank Stadium. Bhayshul Tuten averaged nearly five yards a carry on a day Jacksonville topped 130 rushing yards. The defense sacked Drake Maye three times and forced three turnovers. Jacksonville never trailed, won its sixth straight regular-season home game, and pulled Lawrence late for the second time in three weeks.

Maye finished 14 of 25 for 199 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble. One pick came on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, where Travis Hunter, the two-way rookie, took his first NFL interception in the end zone and sent Jacksonville into halftime up 14-3. Mike Vrabel sat Maye at 7:57 of the fourth quarter for Tommy DeVito. Through three games Maye has one touchdown pass, six interceptions and seven turnovers.

Huge play, critical moment, critical situation.

Liam Coen, Jaguars head coach, on Hunter’s interception

Coen called the whole afternoon the response he wanted after a Week 2 loss in Denver. Maye did not hide from the other sideline’s math. “The mistakes that I’m making, personally, are really them beating us,” he said. Even the loudest New England quarterback defenders had no counter left after 35-6. The Jaguars are 2-1. The Patriots are 1-2 and visit Buffalo next.

How Washington Beat Seattle Without Jayden Daniels

Washington’s A was a survival grade, and it kept the Commanders out of that 0-3 column. Marcus Mariota, starting in place of Jayden Daniels (dislocated left elbow), went 19 of 31 for 183 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a 33-31 home win. Seattle had won 12 straight, including last season’s Super Bowl run, and had not lost since November. The Seahawks were 8.5-point favorites. They got a C.

Kain Medrano returned a Sam Darnold interception 50 yards for a touchdown with 3:57 left and made it 33-24. A celebration penalty pushed the extra point back 15 yards, and Drew Stevens missed it. Darnold then hit Cooper Kupp from 7 yards to make it 33-31 with 2:51 to go. Washington had been 1 of 11 on third down. Rachaad White then ran 19 yards on third-and-9, and Mariota ran 9 yards on third-and-7 to end it.

WHO WASHINGTON WAS MISSING

• Jayden Daniels: The starting quarterback sat with a dislocated left elbow and did not take a snap.
• The offensive line: Left tackle Laremy Tunsil (triceps) and right guard Sam Cosmi were out, and Lucas Patrick later hurt an ankle.
• The skill and front seven: Tight end Chig Okonkwo (hamstring), linebacker Frankie Luvu (groin), cornerback Trey Amos (ankle) and safety Nick Cross (internal) did not play, and Leo Chenal was carted off with a neck injury.

Darnold, back from a Week 1 glute injury, still threw for 379 yards and four scores on 31 of 45 with two interceptions. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle rushed for 44 yards and lost a Jadarian Price fumble that set up Mariota’s first score. “The more that adversity hits, the more that the circumstances kind of pin us against the wall, these guys find a way,” Mariota said. Washington is 1-2. That is the 26.4 percent playoff path, not the 4.7 percent one.

Lambeau Heard From Michael Penix at Last

Atlanta’s other A+ was a Thursday night flattening. Michael Penix Jr. returned after two weeks of Cooper Rush, who turned the ball over five times, and the Falcons beat Green Bay 35-14 at Lambeau Field as 4.5-point underdogs. The offense that had been stuck in the first two weeks looked whole. The Packers are 1-2. So are the Falcons, but they are 1-2 with a 35-14 road win on the ledger instead of a third loss.

That is the other half of the winner column. Jacksonville and Atlanta took the two A+ marks because they scored 35 and allowed 6 and 14. Washington’s A came in a one-score game against a short-handed roster. The difference is the margin, and the margin is what the 3-0 clubs keep banking.

Seven Seconds in Rio and a Touchback

Baltimore’s B+ in Rio de Janeiro was a win the Cowboys handed them in the last tick. Dallas tied it at 31 on Brandon Aubrey’s 23-yard field goal with seven seconds left at Maracanã Stadium, then kicked a touchback. The Ravens started at their 35. First-year coach Jesse Minter let Lamar Jackson throw.

THE FINAL SEVEN SECONDS IN RIO

1. 0:07: Aubrey’s 23-yard field goal ties the game at 31, and Dallas kicks a touchback to the 35.
2. 0:06 to 0:01: Jackson hits Zay Flowers for 27 yards to the Dallas 38, then gets a timeout with one second left.
3. 0:00: Tyler Loop drills a 56-yard field goal, and Baltimore wins 34-31.

Minter said anything less than seven seconds and the Ravens might have run out the clock. “They decided to kick a touchback and gave us the ball on the 35,” he said. Jackson finished 15 of 20 for 186 yards and two touchdowns plus 50 rushing yards. Derrick Henry ran for 89 yards and two scores. Loop’s kick was redemption after a miss in last season’s finale that ended Baltimore’s year. The Cowboys are 1-2. The entire AFC North is 2-1, a four-way tie among the Ravens, Steelers, Bengals and Browns.

An 0-3 Start Has Ended Almost Every Season

A RotoWire study of every team from 2016 through 2025, built from nflverse game files and excluding clubs that tied in the first three weeks, is blunt about what Sunday did. Teams that start 3-0 have made the playoffs 73.3 percent of the time (33 of 45). 4.7 percent of 0-3 teams have made it (2 of 43), and both were the Houston Texans, in 2018 and 2025. No 0-3 team in that window reached a conference title game. None reached a Super Bowl. No NFL team that started 0-3 has ever won the Super Bowl.

WHAT THE LAST 10 SEASONS DID WITH THOSE STARTS

The third game is the fork. A 2-1 club makes the playoffs 61.8 percent of the time. A 1-2 club makes them 26.4 percent of the time. Washington’s win did not make the Commanders contenders. It kept them off the 4.7 percent track. Houston is the warning and the exception at once: the only franchise to climb out twice, now 0-3 again after a 19-17 loss in Indianapolis on Spencer Shrader’s 53-yard kick with under 20 seconds left. The Texans’ grade was a C. The locker room can point at last year. History still points at 2 of 43.

Who Paid for Upset Sunday

Seven of the 15 games went to the underdog. The Commanders at +8.5 were the loudest. The Falcons at +4.5 and the Raiders at +4.5 scored 35 each. The Steelers at +3.5 recovered a Joe Burrow fumble to win 30-27. The Browns at +2.5 won 21-18. The Broncos at +2.5 erased a 16-0 hole and beat the Rams 30-26 after Los Angeles outgained them 482-257. The Colts at +1.5 won 19-17.

THE SEVEN UNDERDOG WINS

• Commanders +8.5: 33-31 over Seattle, backup quarterback, three takeaways.
• Falcons +4.5: 35-14 at Green Bay, Penix’s first start of the year.
• Raiders +4.5: 35-27 at New Orleans, Bowers’ 10-catch return.
• Steelers +3.5: 30-27 over Cincinnati, Jaylen Warren 127 yards at 7.5 a carry.
• Browns +2.5: 21-18 over Carolina, now tied for first in the AFC North.
• Broncos +2.5: 30-26 over the Rams after a 16-0 halftime deficit.
• Colts +1.5: 19-17 over Houston, four Shrader field goals including a 53-yarder.

Some favorites survived ugliness. Buffalo’s C+ came with five turnovers, 10 penalties for 88 yards, and James Cook’s 154 rushing yards, 77 of them on 11 carries in the fourth quarter. NFL Research logged it as the Bills’ first win with five turnovers since 1997, after 18 straight losses in those games. The Chargers forced three takeaways, scored 10 points off them, missed a field goal, and fell to 0-3. Indianapolis won with a minus-three turnover margin for the first time since Week 15, 1999, after 28 straight losses in those spots. Those are 3-0 and 1-2 clubs stealing from 0-3 and 2-1 clubs. The steal is the week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which NFL teams started 0-3 in 2026?

The Chargers, Texans, Dolphins, Titans and Buccaneers are 0-3 after Sunday. Miami has scored 36 points and allowed 86. Los Angeles visits the Seahawks next, then plays Denver and Kansas City. Houston is 0-3 for a second straight year after climbing out in 2025.

How often do NFL teams make the playoffs after starting 0-3?

Seven clubs have done it: the 1981 Jets, 1982 Buccaneers in a strike year, 1992 Chargers, 1995 Lions, 1998 Bills, 2018 Texans and 2025 Texans. Since 2016 the rate is 2 of 43. The 1992 Chargers remain the only team to start 0-4 and still make the tournament.

Who kicked the game-winning field goal for the Ravens in Rio?

Tyler Loop, Baltimore’s second-year kicker, made a 56-yarder as time expired after Zay Flowers’ 27-yard catch. Loop had missed a kick in last season’s finale that ended the Ravens’ year. Jesse Minter is in his first season as head coach after that collapse.

When do the Commanders play after beating Seattle?

Washington faces the Colts on Sunday in London. Seattle hosts the Chargers. New England, coming off the 35-6 loss, goes to Buffalo, which is 3-0.

The five unbeaten clubs just spent Sunday joining a group that reaches the playoffs about three times in four tries. The five winless ones joined a group that almost never does, and the one franchise that beat that math twice is on it again. Jacksonville’s 35-6 was the clearest transfer of the weekend. Washington’s 33-31 was the escape.