Five NFL Teams Fall to 0-3: Chargers, Dolphins, Texans, Titans, Buccaneers

The Chargers, Dolphins, Texans, Titans and Buccaneers are 0-3 after Sunday's Week 3 losses, a start only seven teams in NFL history have overcome to reach the playoffs.

Five NFL teams are winless after Sunday's Week 3 games. The Chargers, Dolphins, Texans, Titans and Buccaneers each lost again to drop to 0-3. Several of them are already sliding toward the bottom of their divisions.

The list of winless teams nearly ran longer. Seven teams entered Sunday at 0-2, a number that stood after the Falcons won on Thursday Night Football, and five of those seven lost again. The remaining two slipped out of the hole.

History shows how steep the climb is from here. Only seven teams in NFL history have started a season 0-3 and still made the playoffs. The 2025 Texans were pointed to as recent proof that a winless start can be overcome, and the clubs now sitting at 0-3 face the same sort of escape.

Los Angeles has lost three games by the identical score of 26-14. The Cardinals and Raiders beat the Chargers by that margin over the first two weeks, and the Bills made it three on Sunday. Jim Harbaugh's team forced five turnovers on an off day for Buffalo yet still lost 26-14 on the road. Injuries, penalties and an offense that has yet to click have been cited as the causes.

The upcoming stretch offers the Chargers little obvious relief as they chase their first win. Seattle, Denver and Kansas City arrive over the next three weeks, a run against some of the league's stronger opponents.

Miami has not been competitive in any of its three games. After losses to the Raiders and 49ers, the Dolphins faced a surging Chiefs team Sunday, and Kansas City pulled away to win 24-10. None of Miami's defeats has come within one score. Expectations were modest entering the season, and the report suggested the Dolphins are trending toward the top of the 2027 draft order.

Houston opened against a pair of AFC contenders in the Bills and Bengals, and a needed bounce-back never arrived in Week 3. The Texans fell 19-17 to the Colts on Sunday in a back-and-forth game. A defense with a reputation as one of the NFL's best has not played to that level, and the offense has underperformed alongside it. The 0-3 start is Houston's second in as many seasons.

Tennessee was competitive in a Week 2 loss to Philadelphia, and Sunday's game looked like another strong shot at getting into the win column. Facing a Giants team without quarterback Jaxson Dart, the Titans instead lost 12-7 as New York scored its points on field goals and held on. Three games into the Robert Saleh era, the Titans have yet to show this season will be different.

Tampa Bay completed the list with three one-score defeats against the Bengals, Browns and Vikings, the latest coming Sunday against Minnesota. The Buccaneers agreed to an extension with Baker Mayfield just before the season began. The winless start has turned up the pressure on head coach Todd Bowles, who may be under as much early-season scrutiny as any coach in the league.