In the NFL, 'You Dont' Want to Be 0-3.'

In the N.F.L., ‘You Dont’ Want to Be 0-3.’

Image

The Seahawks tasted victory for the first time this season.CreditCreditJoe Nicholson/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

Sept. 24, 2018

SEATTLE — Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner surprised no one on Thursday when he was asked about his team’s 0-2 start, and whether their upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday was a must-win showdown.

“I’m not going to give them no cliché,” he said. “You don’t want to be 0-3.”

Indeed. Wagner may not be a Vegas prognosticator, but he knows it is nearly impossible to make the playoffs after starting the season with three straight losses.

Between 2007 and 2017, 52 teams began the season 0-3, and none of them made the playoffs.

It is hard enough recovering from two losses. During the same period, 92 N.F.L. teams started the year 0-2, but just 10 of them made the playoffs. Two of those exceptions included the Seahawks in 2015, and the Giants in 2007, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks found themselves in this predicament this year after losses on the road to the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears. The team tried to put a positive spin on the losses by noting that they were within striking distance in both games despite injuries to key players like wide receiver Doug Baldwin and linebacker K.J. Wright.

The Seahawks had company. Six other teams were winless going into week three: The Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Giants and Oakland Raiders.

On Sunday, four of the seven teams won, avoiding, at least for now, the hole too steep to climb out of. Two of those four wins were among the biggest shockers of the week. The Bills, 16.5-point underdogs, beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-6, behind rookie quarterback Josh Allen.

In the evening, the Lions kept quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots off balance, winning, 26-10. It was the first victory for Lions coach Matt Patricia, who beat his former boss, Bill Belichick.

In a battle of 0-2 teams, the Giants won, 27-22, over the Texans, who fell to 0-3. To cop a line from Yogi Berra, it is also getting late early for Coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders, who lost to the Dolphins, 28-20. The Cardinals also might want a do-over. They blew a 14-point lead at home to the Chicago Bears, who came back to win, 16-14.

By contrast, the Seahawks looked reborn as they avoided their first 0-3 start since 2002. At their home opener at CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks dominated the Cowboys, winning 24-13.

The Seahawks won as they have during much of the Pete Carroll era, which began in 2010: With a solid run game and a stout defense. Running back Chris Carson carried the ball 32 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Russell Wilson had 16 competitions in 26 attempts for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

Seattle’s defense, though, set the tone. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 127 yards, but lost a fumble as his team was trying to rally. Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas intercepted two passes by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who was sacked five times and rushed at other times.

“We felt like we were at home and wanted to make a statement and get the season on track,” Wagner said after the game.

The game was a slog to start. The Seahawks were penalized twice for having too many men on the field, and another time for roughing the kicker, which gave the ball back to Dallas. Cowboys defensive lineman Randy Gregory punched a Seahawk right in front of the referee. The 15-yard penalty that followed helped the Seahawks kick a field goal before halftime.

The game loosened in the second quarter, when Wilson threw touchdown passes to Jaron Brown and Tyler Lockett.

On defense, Thomas was one of the stars. In the first half, he made a shoestring catch of a Prescott pass. His second interception came late in the fourth quarter, when the Cowboys were struggling to close the gap.

“I’m frustrated like everybody else is that we didn’t play well enough to win the game,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones told ESPN.

With the win, the Seahawks can exhale a bit. But they still face a tough road to make it to the postseason after missing the playoffs last year. The team’s defense, which propelled them to five straight playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title, is being remade on the fly. Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett are on other teams, and Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor are gone because of injuries.

Thomas, one of the last players in the so-called Legion of Boom, has been in an extended standoff with the Seahawks. In the last year of his four-year contract, Thomas wants a contract extension. After sitting out through training camp, he returned to the team as the season began.

To complicate matters, Thomas reportedly invited the Cowboys to trade for him. Before the game on Sunday, Thomas said two Cowboys told him about trade rumors.

Thomas said, though, that he wants to remain with the Seahawks.

“I love Seattle,” Thomas said after the game. “I’m hopeful that these guys and my agent will work something out.”

But, he added, “if not, then I want to be taken care of.”

The formerly winless Seahawks will need Thomas’s contributions if they hope to return to the playoffs.