On Wednesday, PFR readers voted the Bengals the most likely team to be the last unbeaten club standing in the NFL this season. The league’s three 3-0 squads haven’t necessarily looked dominant, and face tough schedules in the next few weeks, which could ensure that no team remains undefeated for long.
On the other hand, the league’s three 0-3 teams have struggled immensely in the early going. The Jaguars started off the season by jumping out to a 17-0 lead against the Eagles, but have since been outscored by an incredible 119-27 margin, including 34-0 in the second half of that game in Philadelphia. The Raiders have played tighter games, but also faced three opponents (Jets, Texans, Patriots) that have looked shaky in their other contests. As for the Buccaneers, they’re coming off a 56-14 defeat that was even worse than the final score suggests, after having dropped home games to Derek Anderson and Austin Davis in the season’s first two weeks.
At this point, all three winless clubs have turned to new quarterbacks, with the Jaguars (Blake Bortles) and Raiders (Derek Carr) giving their rookies a chance under center, while Mike Glennon prepares to take over for the injured Josh McCown in Tampa Bay. While there’s some optimism that these young signal-callers could help turn their respective teams’ seasons around, the jury’s still very much out on that.
Over the next few weeks, the Bucs will play in Pittsburgh and New Orleans before hosting the Ravens and then taking a Week 7 bye; the Jaguars alternate road and home games against the Chargers, Steelers, Titans, and Browns; and the Raiders play in London against the Dolphins before returning stateside for their bye and then home games against the Chargers and Cardinals.
What do you think? Which of these last-place teams will take the longest to win its first game? And are any of them in real danger of a winless season?