5 Teams Most Likely to Start 0-4 Based on 2024 Schedule

They will then come home for Rodgers and the Jets, followed by one of the best young teams in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers. Their Week 4 contest puts them in Miami on Monday Night Football.

There may be no team in football that plays four offenses like those of the Titans’ opponents from Weeks 1-4. The bye week after the game with the Miami Dolphins may be the perfect time for coach Callahan to hit the reset button on his team’s season—especially if they can’t find a way to get a W across those first four games.

3 New York Giants

Daniel Jones is back to lead his team against one of the toughest schedules in the NFL

2023 record: 6-11 | 2024 strength of schedule: T-6th

The New York Giants overachieved in 2022 only to come back down to Earth last season. In 2023, they scored the third-fewest points while giving up the seventh-most. They were not a good football team and lost 8 of their 11 games by more than seven points.

Daniel Jones is back after playing in only six games in 2023, missing most of the season due to neck and knee injuries. When he did play, he threw only two touchdowns and six interceptions with 909 yards. He is seemingly playing for his future—and that of his HC—in New York this year. If he doesn’t have a fantastic campaign, the Giants are sure to move on after giving him what will be six years as their starter.

The Giants drafted a freak-of-nature at wide receiver in Malik Nabers. He should instantly step in as a dominant force on their anemic offense. Devin Singletary was also signed to take over for the oft-injured Saquon Barkley at RB after the latter made the trip down I-95 and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Defensively, the only notable addition is Brian Burns, an elite pass rusher who was acquired in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. He gives them immediate help with the pass rush, which should in turn help the secondary. The bad news for the G-Men is that the Eagles and Washington Commanders got a whole lot better while the Dallas Cowboys remain formidable, even after an uneventful offseason.

The first four games for head coach Brian Daboll’s squad are all challenging. The most winnable of those games comes in the opening week at home versus the Minnesota Vikings. They then travel to Washington and Cleveland before coming back to New Jersey to play the Cowboys.

For a team that didn’t do much to get better, it seems like if they don’t win one of those first four games, they could very well go into their Week 11 bye winless.

4 Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars need “potential” to turn into “kinetic” at a key position

2023 record: 9-8 | 2024 strength of schedule: t-21st

The potential of Trevor Lawrence saved the Jacksonville Jaguars from being higher on this list. As much as one player can be, he will be the reason this team either goes 0-4 or wins one of those games.

Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis, and Brian Thomas Jr. give him a solid receiving corps with Evan Engram at tight end and Travis Etienne in the backfield. The weapons are there, now Lawrence has to make the jump from good, young quarterback to star signal caller.

In 2022, Lawrence was great; in 2023, he took a step back with 14 interceptions and seven fumbles lost. While his interceptions went up, his touchdowns, yards, and completion percentage went down. He was also sacked 35 times, most in his career, and just didn’t make a lot of plays when they needed him to.

Defensively, Travon Walker broke out with 10 sacks and looks to be one of the premiere edge rushers in the game, and Devin Lloyd and Josh Allen are both well-known problems for opposing offenses.

The schedule makers didn’t do the Jags any favors, though. All four of their first four games are against AFC playoff teams, and three of them are on the road. After starting the season in Miami, they go home to take on the Browns in the most winnable game of the four, which is saying something about their opening gauntlet.

Head coach Doug Pederson’s team will then hit the road for a Monday night game in Buffalo against Josh Allen before finishing the four-game stretch against C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. Currently, the Bills are the third-highest favorites to win the AFC, while the Texans are fifth.

While all four games could be closely contested, one thing that you can bet on, is that if the Jaguars don’t get great quarterback play, they will start the season on a four-game losing streak.

5 Denver Broncos

With a rookie QB and a lack of talent around him, expectations at Mile High are low

2023 record: 8-9 | 2024 strength of schedule: 20th

The rebuild that Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton wanted is underway, as he drove Russell Wilson out and drafted his own quarterback. Rookie Bo Nix is the odds-on favorite to win the starting job over Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson, though Payton is keeping his cards close to his vest at the moment.

Hopefully, for the sake of the Broncos and their fans, Nix is the answer, because they passed on drafting a lot of talented players who many had rated more highly than the Oregon standout.

When it comes to offseason moves, the Broncos didn’t make many of real consequence. They traded Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland, who was second on the team in targets, receptions, and receiving yards last year. They replaced him with Josh Reynolds, signed from the Detroit Lions, though his acquisition isn’t seen as something that moves the needle for Denver.

The only other pieces on the offense are wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who had a so-so year in 2023, running back Javonte Williams, who had over 1,000 scrimmage yards last year, and burgeoning big-play threat Marvin Mims, who could have a real breakout in 2024. There just aren’t many players that can help them win games in 2024.

Compared to other teams on this list, the Broncos don’t have the toughest opponents for the first four weeks of the season; they are, however, probably one of the worst teams in the NFL. Three of their first four games are on the road, starting in one of the toughest venues in the league versus Seattle and their 12th man.

They then take on three straight 2023 playoff squads.

After going back to Mile High to face a returning and highly-motivated Wilson, now the QB1 of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they hit the road again to face the 2023 NFC South-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

They finish their opening four-game slate on the road against one of the top defenses in the league in the New York Jets, who also employ a pretty good quarterback. While they could be competitive in some of these contests, there just isn’t much to make you think they’ll win any of their opening quartet of matchups.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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