Week 3 is now in the rear view mirror and things are not looking good for the Dolphins, Jets, Texans, Titans Giants, and Saints, all of whom fell to 0-3 to start the 2025 regular season. History has told us that it’s near impossible to bounce back from three losses to open the season and still make the playoffs, but near is the operative word there. Since the NFL expansion in 1990 only four teams have managed this comeback, but there is a chance — albeit a small one.
If we look back at those four teams we can isolate what caused them to start 0-3, what they did to turn it around, and how the blueprint has been set for teams trying to replicate their success. These are the NFL’s ultimate comeback stories, and ones fans of the Texans, a team pegged to make the playoffs, are hoping to reign again in 2025.
1992 San Diego Chargers — Ride the defense
The ‘92 Chargers are one of the weirdest teams you’ll see on paper. Some of that is definitely attributable to the changing nature of football over the last 30 years, but even among their peers this was a bad, bad, bad offensive football team. A total of 10 quarterbacks finished the season with over 3,000 passing yards, which was a good mark at the time — and Stan Humphries of the Chargers was one of them. However, he was also the only quarterback in the NFL with a negative TD/INT ratio who went to the playoffs, throwing for 16 TDs in the season to 18 INTs.
“They must have run the ball well,” you might think, but no. Feature back Marion Butts finished with 809 rushing yards, but even worse was his paltry 3.7 yards-per-attempt — good for 23rd among starting running backs in the league.
It’s for this reason the Chargers got off to an 0-4 start on the season. Across their first four losses the team only scored a combined 29 points, while the defense allowed 95 points. There was literally no reason to believe this team had any shot of doing anything in 1992. Their Week 6 early bye was a blessing for fans, because at least it meant they didn’t need to watch the Chargers.
Then the team returned from the break and they were MONSTERS on defense. The team moved from a 3-4 to a 4-3 during the offseason, and this created one of the most stunning pass rush units of all time. Defensive end Leslie O’Neill racked up 17.0 sacks on the year, rookie Chris Mims worked across from him and registered 10.0 sacks in his first NFL season — but that wasn’t all. Burt Grossman has 8.0 sacks, Blaise Winter had 6.0 sacks, linebacker Junior Seau in his third NFL season contributed 4.5 sacks of his own.
This overwhelming pressure up front was matched in ferocity by a secondary that demolished teams in the turnover battle with 25 interceptions on the season. This defense was so damn good that it didn’t matter if the offense was worthless, they only needed the smallest contribution to become winners.
Following that four game losing streak the defense only allowed 12.1 points-per-game for the remainder of the season. If the Chargers could score a single touchdown and kick two field goals they’d win the game. This was the blueprint the team used, and with all those short field opportunities because of turnovers the team averaged 20.9 points scored.
It became simple math. Playing those Chargers was hell on earth if you’re an offensive team.
1995 Detroit Lions — A key player has the season of a lifetime
Barry Sanders is the greatest running back in NFL history, depending on who you ask. In 1995 he tore through the NFL by rushing for 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns. This isn’t a story about Barry Sanders though, it’s about a quarterback who for one magical season went nuclear.
Scott Mitchell was not a great QB by any stretch of the imagination when the Lions entered the 1995 season. Originally selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 4th round of the 1990 draft, his life in the NFL seemed destined to ride the pine and hold a clipboard for Dan Marino.
Mitchell was thrust into a starting role when Marino was injured in 1992, and played well enough to pique the interest of the Lions who were in dire need of a new quarterback after cutting loose Rodney Peete. He split time with Dave Krieg his first season in Detroit to moderate success, and when Krieg left for Phoenix in 1995 it was Mitchell’s team, for better or worse.
The new QB was nothing to write home about to open the season. His accuracy was questionable, he threw interceptions in back-to-back games to start the season. Detroit fell to 0-3, and it seemed destined this was going to be another typical Lions year.
Then Mitchell caught fire.
In one of the most wild, improbable seasons in NFL history, Mitchell didn’t just lift his game — he became the second best quarterback in the entire league, barely behind Brett Favre. A combination of factors attributed to this. The Lions had great receivers in Herman Moore and Brett Perriman, but up to this point nobody had been able to leverage them. Sanders was brilliant, and had a big influence too. Even with these elements there was no explaining how Scott Mitchell finished with 4,338 passing yards, 38 TDs and only 12 INTs on the season.
It lifted Detroit to the playoffs. They lost in the Wild Card round to the Eagles. The next season Mitchell turned back into a pumpkin, managing only 2,917 passing yards, 17 TD and 17INT with the identical offense as his breakout year. For one magical year he was on another level.
1998 Buffalo Bills: Return of the tiny gunslinger
The Bills were in a rough, weird place to start 1998. Legendary head coach Marv Levy decided to retire after going 6-10 the previous season, much to the protest of owner Ralph Wilson. The possibility of the Super Bowl behind them, the Bills were still reeling from Jim Kelly’s retirement in 1996, and facing the reality that aging legends Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed were in their twilight as well.
Wade Phillips was given the nod to take over as head coach, and his first point of order was getting rid of Tom Collins as quarterback — realizing he was far better as a cocktail than a passer. In his place the team made a big trade for Rob Johnson, sending a 1st and 4th round pick to Jacksonville for the QB.
It was a bad start to the season. Johnson was decent, but the team struggled. Then it was disaster as Johnson suffered dislocated rib cartilage and was lost for the year. Little did we know that a tiny hero was waiting in the wings.
Doug Flutie, hadn’t played in the NFL since 1989 with the New England Patriots. Flutie was quietly living his life in Toronto, and lighting things up in the CFL — which allowed him both to be the best player in Canadian football and live a quiet life at the same time. The Bills called and wanted him to come in and be a veteran mentor to Johnson, helping him to become the franchise QB they thought they were getting.
Flutie was 36-years-old when he returned to the NFL, and he made an impact. In 10 starts for the Bills he threw for 2,711 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 picks. He also orchestrated a ridiculous two fourth quarter comebacks, and two game-winning drives in his limited time as a starter.
The team tried to go young, and instead ended up with a 36-year-old Bryce Young who took them all the way to the playoffs, went to the Pro Bowl, and won Comeback Player of the Year. It was a magical season for Flutie, who managed to stay on NFL rosters until 2005. Even if the Bills lost in the Wild Card, it was a magical return to the playoffs for a fanbase that needed it so badly.
2018 Houston Texans: The quarterback whisperer
Our most recent example of a team coming back from 0-3 to make the playoffs happened less than a decade ago, but it feels like an eternity by everything that has happened since then.
This was Bill O’Brien’s fifth year as head coach of the Texans, and but only his second since he got his draft wish to select Deshaun Watson as his quarterback. Year one was a little messy, and the hangover lasted two weeks — then everything started to click for Watson as a QB.
The Texans would lose a third straight game, then win back-to-back in overtime, and from that point forward they never looked back. Watson was one of the best, most-efficient quarterbacks in the NFL in 2018, finishing with 28 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. This was supported by a monster pass rush duo of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, but the big difference maker was the quarterback play the Texans had been missing.
Houston went on to win nine straight games and finish the season 11-5. They would also lose in the Wild Card, like other teams on this list — but the future looked bright for the Texans. Then … other things happened.
