We’re 2 weeks through the NFL season, and not everything is sunshine and rainbows for every fanbase. Las Vegas has started the season off 2-0, which no one saw coming, and rightfully so; its fans are ready to throw a parade. But not every team’s fanbase wants a parade right now.

Fans are harsh on their teams, especially those that came into the year with expectations. It is just two weeks into the season, but if you’ve scrolled X over the past weekend, you know some fanbases are ready to storm the facility (looking at you, Falcons Twitter). These teams still have plenty of time to fix the issues and get back on track. Today, we’ll talk about the 0-2 teams, and while it’s hard to overcome a rough start, it’s not impossible.

Here are takeaways from the teams that have had a rough start to the season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave Baker Mayfield a 3-year, $165 million extension before the season started. Mayfield gave the organization a deadline to complete the extension before training camp, but the two sides couldn’t agree. Mayfield was content to play 2026 on his current contract and negotiate next offseason, again.

Through two games, the Buccaneers are probably wishing they waited until next offseason. Mayfield has turned the ball over four times, fumbling three times and throwing an interception. Not saying the three fumbles against Cincinnati in Week 1 lost them the game, but it hurt Tampa Bay’s chances.

Offensively, Tampa Bay hasn’t been able to get in a rhythm. The team is 28th in EPA/Play at -0.19. It’s just not up to the standard this Buccaneers team has been in the past. Tampa Bay is getting blitzed at a league-low rate of 18.4 percent, and still hasn’t been able to generate consistent success in the pass game, having an EPA/Pass of -0.33. Mayfield has been under pressure 39.5 percent of the time, which isn’t an outlier; it’s around league average through two weeks.

The rushing game has found its stride early, ranking top 10 in EPA/Rush and rush success rate. The passing game has just lacked consistency. The Buccaneers don’t have the tight end depth to go heavier, which is something we’ve seen recently in the NFL. That’s why they rank first in 11-personnel usage at 84.2 percent and face a light box 56.1 percent of the time, the third-highest rate in the NFL. Teams aren’t scared of their run game enough to bring more players into the box, so they can commit more resources to defend the pass. It’s a tricky situation for Tampa Bay, and one they have to figure out fast.

Defensively, tackling has been an issue. Tampa Bay ranks 31st in missed tackling percentage at 17 percent and allowed the second-most YAC yardage through two weeks with 307. On top of that, head coach Todd Bowles is an aggressive coach when it comes to blitzing, and that’s still true. Tampa Bay ranks second in blitz percentage at 47.2 percent, but ranks 30th in pressure percentage at 29.2 percent. Cleveland wasn’t fazed by the pressure at all, completing 11-for-14 for 82 yards and having an EPA of 0.26. Not what you want to see if you’re gonna be aggressive on the defensive end.

The Buccaneers, though, defended the run at a good rate, allowing an EPA/Rush of -0.27, which ranked fourth in the NFL. So there’s something to build off of as we get deeper into the season. Not the start you want to see from Tampa Bay, but the one positive is that the rest of the NFC South is off to a slow start. They still have a real shot at making a run for the division.

Los Angeles Chargers

Man, oh man, no one expected the Los Angeles Chargers to be here. 0-2 with losses to Arizona and Las Vegas. While those teams can be better than we all originally anticipated, the way this Chargers team has lost over the past two weeks is severely disappointing.

The rushing attack has been dreadful, with -0.42 EPA/rush over two weeks, and the only team worse is Green Bay. The Chargers ranked worst in the league in yards after contact because of how much Omarion Hampton has to dance in the backfield to get a yard. The interior line play isn’t what it needs to be, and the tackles haven’t been lights out as we all anticipated either. This past Sunday, Joe Alt was responsible for four penalties on his own. He’s up to five on the season.

The hiring of Mike McDaniel excited many of us during this offseason, and it still should. The issue is, his offense is built on the run game. Last season, Miami ran the ball 43.8 percent of the time, the sixth-highest mark in the NFL. In two games with the Chargers, they’ve run it 41.6 percent of the time, ranking 16th highest in the league. Around the same percentage, but not as much as McDaniel would like to run the ball, and he can’t run it more because his team simply can’t execute.

What should worry Chargers fans more is that this team isn’t facing heavy boxes. It’s not like teams are loading up to stop the run against them, so they should have good looks. Just the interior of Jake Slaughter, Trevor Penning and Cole Strange hasn’t been up to par.

Defensively, this team is missing Jesse Minter. It was my main worry coming into the season, and so far it’s proven true. The numbers aren’t bad; they rank around league average in most categories, top 10 in EPA/Rush, but just haven’t been able to get consistent pressure.

If the Chargers can’t figure out their issues soon, it’ll be a rough start to 2026. Their next five games are against Buffalo, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City and the Rams.

Houston Texans

It’s not like the Houston Texans have gone against nobody to start off 0-2. Losses to Cincinnati and Buffalo aren’t the end of the world, and this is familiar territory for Houston. They’ve started 0-2 before, so we know they can come back from this.

The defense isn’t worried at all; yes, they had a rough opening to Josh Allen, but it’s Josh Allen. Through two weeks, Houston ranks first in success rate allowed with 35.1 percent. So it’s not like teams are finding much success against them; they’ve just given up big plays for touchdowns. 43-yard touchdown to DJ Moore, 34-yard touchdown to Josh Palmer and a 32-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase – you get the picture.

Offense (surprise, surprise) is what should concern Texans fans. The numbers don’t back it up, but the passing offense hasn’t been horrible. CJ Stroud has done a good job with what he’s been given, and he’s read the field efficiently. The offensive line isn’t playing up to standard.

Stroud has been pressured on 45.2 percent of his dropbacks, which ranks 10th highest in the NFL. While only been blitzed 12.9 percent of the time, which ranks 36th among quarterbacks who have taken a dropback over the past two weeks. Yes, that means guys like Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, and Tyson Bagent have been blitzed more.

The rushing game was a lot better in Week 1, so the stats won’t show how bad the line operated in Week 2, but it wasn’t good. Center Evan Brown got absolutely worked by the Cincinnati’s front all day long; Dexter Lawrence overpowered him with ease time and time again. The tackle duo of Aireontae Ersery and Trent Brown just couldn’t give Stroud any time. It wasn’t anything complex for Cincinnati; they just lined up and rushed. The edges consistently won around the edge, giving Stroud a hard time working in the pocket. They could pin their ears back and rush because the running attack wasn’t a threat.

Cincinnati did a great job of containing this Texans offense, making them one-dimensional, which is a recipe for disaster for a unit like Houston. It’s early in the season, so they can fix it, but if Houston doesn’t get a rushing attack soon. It could be another long year for Stroud and this offense.