Every year some would-be contender falls into an 0-2 hole, and find themselves struggling all season long to dig themselves out. Some do, some don’t, but the odds are certainly stacked against them. Here are four teams who find themselves on the brink, and need to reverse course.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Losing badly to your chief division rival in week 1 is a bad way to start the season. Losing to an undermanned opponent who might be the worst team in the league to follow that up would be unacceptable, and turn the whispers of “Super Bowl hangover” into a cacophonous roar. More important than just a win, the Steelers need to get their mojo back. They need to reassert their dominance on the football field. And they could hardly ask for a better opponent.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints will have had ten long days to stew over their season-opening loss to Green Bay, a match-up of two of the league’s offensive titans that came down to the game’s last play. Twice. This week, they face a dangerous Chicago team that appears determined to prove that last year’s run to the NFC Championship was no fluke.
The Saints know it could have been them instead of Chicago in that NFC title game, had they not been waylaid by a 7-9 Seattle team in the wild-card round. They underachieved for most of last season, and could use a victory here to not only keep them afloat record-wise before they enter their divisional games, but to reassert themselves as a league power.
Tampa Bay Bucs
The Buccaneers had a surprising and thrilling run last year, going 10-6 and earning the consensus title of “team to watch.” Last week against Calvin Johnson and the explosive Lions, they might have already ceded that title. They also were exposed as a jumble of parts on offense that don’t always mesh, as one of their top offensive weapons — LeGarrette Blount — was forced to ride the bench for nearly the entire second half as the Bucs went to an all-hurry-up offense. A more cohesive effort against Minnesota, powered by the run, would help them take a road win and keep pace with a struggling AFC South.
Atlanta Falcons
Sensing a theme here? This is what happens when the division with the most combined wins last year starts out a collective 0-4. The Falcons have been expected to take the next step forward, and now with GM Thomas Dimitroff making an all-in move for Julio Jones, those expectations carry added weight. Unfortunately, it is the defense, not the offense, that seems to be staggering under that weight.
They’ll have their hands full against the Eagles, as the local fan base prepares to welcome Michael Vick back to Atlanta for the first time since his scandal-scarred departure. In many ways this will be a prove-it game for the Falcons.
