One-on-One: NFL teams that could fade after 2-0 starts

Tunison:  It would be great for Miami to start 2-0 with Ryan Fitzpatrick, just for the possibility that he hoodwinks another franchise into giving him a multi-year deal just for him to eventually disintegrate. If I had to take a wild guess — and some of determining who starts hot comes down to chance because there are always one or two teams we never see coming —  I'll go with the Bills. 

Buffalo opens with two road games, granted, but they're against the Jets and the Giants. The Le'Veon Bell signing has expectations relatively elevated for the Jets, and it would be just so Jetsy of them to obliterate all goodwill right out the gate. And the Giants are, well, the Giants. An Eli Manning interception-laden loss to Buffalo is just the thing to get the watch going for his doppelganger, Daniel Jones. Moreover, as easy it is to have fun with Buffalo QB Josh Allen, the defense is formidable and capable of winning a few games more or less on its own. 

So the Bills are just good enough to steal a few from some fair-to-middling teams like the Giants and Jets, then proceed to fall apart when the rest of the schedule offers two games against the Patriots, as well as matchups against the Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Cowboys and Broncos. That's only seven losses, but then you can always count on the Bills to drop a few that they shouldn't as well.

Mueller:  It feels like the Bills are always ripe for something like this. At least, that’s what my brain is telling me. The numbers don’t back it up, though, as Buffalo has only started 2-0 five times this century. None of those five seasons ended in a playoff berth, and only one, in 2014, yielded a winning record. 

Like you said, the defense ought to be very good, and if Darnold and company struggle to get their sea legs, or Adam Gase goes rogue and tries to prove how much he disliked the Le’Veon Bell signing by ignoring him in the game plan, then the Bills could be 1-0 and feeling very confident heading into the Giants game. The Ravens aren’t an “out-of- nowhere” team if they start 2-0; kind of impossible to be that when you’re the defending division champs. So to fit that criterion, how about the Denver Broncos?

I don’t think anyone’s kidding themselves about new Broncos QB Joe Flacco. He’s not a good quarterback anymore, yet his name still carries some weight, for whatever reason. Of the 30 quarterbacks to attempt at least 1,000 passes over the past four seasons, Flacco’s 6.32 yards per attempt is last, and he is 29^th in passer rating and Pro Football Reference’s adjusted net yards per attempt. Who was he better than in those two categories? Brock Osweiler, whom Broncos fans are very familiar with, unfortunately for them.

 Still, the defense wasn’t terrible last year, and the run attack had its moments. Oakland on the road in prime time is a winnable opener, and while the Bears should beat the Broncos, the game is in Denver, and strange things can happen at altitude. Perhaps there’s a short, 2-0 honeymoon before everyone realizes that the Flacco-Denver marriage isn’t built to last.

Tunison: I actually kind of like the Broncos this season, for a reason we both understand: Denver poached former Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who was a washout as a head coach in Tennessee, but has proven himself to be one of those guys who works perfectly at a certain level on a staff beneath the HC. Suffice it to say, he's a tremendous position coach, and I'd expect better things out of Denver's line in 2019.

If Flacco is an upgrade over Case Keenum, it's not a significant one. But if the line is giving him tons of time, Flacco might bounce back better than he deserves to in his second NFL stop.

My last one is more of a hunch than anything, but again, you have to account for a certain amount of surprise in September because there's no telling how teams, even good ones, will fare before they gel into what they'll become for the stretch run. So that's why I like the Panthers to start 2-0 even though they face the Rams Week 1. 

I subscribe to the belief of the Super Bowl loser hangover. (Yes, the Patriots went from losing the Super Bowl two seasons ago to winning it last year, but they are a bit different than most teams.) There are always one or two inexplicable upsets in Week 1.  Carolina has a winnable game with Tampa at home in Week 2, so that could get the Panthers off to an impressive start. Given that they started 6-2 last season and sunk to 7-9, wasting a 2-0 record is nothing to them. Of course, Carolina has the fun distinction of starting 2-0 in 2014, finishing 7-8-1 and still making the playoffs. 

What wonders the Riverboat Ron era has given us.