What are the Jaguars playoff chances after the dreadful Week 3 loss to the Bills?

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ dismal 2024 season hit another low. On Monday Night, they were clobbered 47-10 by the Buffalo Bills to move 0-3.

It is their worst start to a regular season since losing their opening five games of the 2021 campaign in the only season for Urban Meyer as the Jags’ head coach.

If history tells us anything about an 0-3 start, it suggests that seeing the Jags return to the post-season is highly unlikely in 2024.

Which NFL teams have started 0-3 and made the playoffs?

Since 1979 only six teams in NFL history have dug themselves out of an 0-3 hole and made the playoffs, with only one in the 21st century.

The most recent was the Jags AFC South rivals, the Houston Texans, who came back from an 0-3 start in 2018 and actually wound up winning the division. They finished that season at 11-5 and were eliminated in the Wild Card Round.

There was a 10-year gap between the Texans’ turnaround and the previous team to make the playoffs at 0-3 when the 1998 Buffalo Bills ended that season 10-6 before losing in the Wild Card stage.

The 1995 Detroit Lions recovered from a dreadful 0-3 start, also losing their opening playoff game after finishing that season at 10-6.

The only team to start a season 0-3 and win a playoff round was the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who were beaten in the Divisional Round after beginning that campaign 0-4 but winning the AFC West with a record of 11-5. In the 1982 strike-shortened season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 5-4 and made the playoffs. A year before that, the New York Jets accomplished the feat, finishing with a record of 10-5-1.

How have the Jaguars fared when starting 0-3?

This is the seventh time that the Jaguars have started an NFL regular season with an 0-3 record. They have never made the post-season in any of those instances, six of which occurred this century.

Their best finish to a season when starting 0-3 was in 2003 under Jack Del Rio when they ended the year at 5-11. Statistically speaking, their worst 0-3 start was in 2014, when their points differential was -75 after their opening three games.

What are the odds of making the playoffs at 0-3?

Dating back to 1990, only four of the 158 teams that began an NFL season at 0-3 made the post-season. Only two of those teams won their division, and none have ever made it to the Super Bowl. If you do the math, only 2.5 percent of teams with the Jaguars’ current record have made the post-season.

The odds are very long for this team making the playoffs. While you shouldn't just give up hope, don't be suprised if they finish with a losing record for the first time since 2021.