With three weeks down in the N.F.L.’s regular season, many teams are sitting pretty: The New England Patriots (even without Tom Brady), the Denver Broncos, the Baltimore Ravens, the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles all have perfect 3-0 starts.
But four teams are on the wrong side of the ledger. It is a deep hole to climb out of: No 0-3 team has rallied to make the playoffs since the Buffalo Bills in 1998.
Can any of this year’s 0-3 teams turn things around? Or will one of them achieve the holy grail of incompetence: the 0-16 season, accomplished only by the 2008 Detroit Lions?