Which bad NFL team can still turn its season around?

Seven NFL teams are winless through three weeks. Do any have any hope left for 2019?

The month of September is almost over. For some NFL teams, it looks like their season already is too.

Teams like the Chiefs, Cowboys, and, huh, the Bills built up their resumes in the waning days of summer. Their hot starts set high expectations and hopeful destinations in the playoffs. And that success came at the expense of others currently serving as the league’s flyover states.

The Steelers, Bengals, Jets, Dolphins, Broncos, Cardinals, and Washington have all opened 2019 without a single victory to their name. Their windows are closing rapidly — if they were ever open at all.

There’s still a sliver of sunlight peeking into these demoralized locker rooms, though. Teams have overcome winless starts heading into Week 4 and still managed to rally their way to the postseason. It happened last fall when Deshaun Watson revitalized the Texans and pushed them all the way to an AFC South title. Before that, the last time we saw it was back in 1998 when the Bills made it to the Wild Card Round and then booked a bunch of January vacations for the next 17 years.

So yeah, the odds of a furious finish and a spot in the playoffs aren’t good after an 0-3 start, but they aren’t impossible either. Who do we think is more capable than they’ve let on? Here are our top candidates.

The Steelers have the players to rebound quickly

The downgrade from Ben Roethlisberger — out for the season with an elbow injury — to Mason Rudolph is jarring, but these Steelers were woeful even with their future Hall of Fame quarterback. Pittsburgh got ruined by the Patriots in its season opener, then saw comeback efforts fall short against the Seahawks and 49ers with Rudolph behind center for the majority of the following two games.

Rudolph kept the Steelers feisty in his seven-ish quarters as the team’s top QB, throwing four touchdowns (good!) and two interceptions while completing less than 57 percent of his passes (bad). Pittsburgh likes him enough that it effectively told the world it wouldn’t be shopping for a young passer in 2020 by trading a first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick. That gives hope the former Oklahoma State star can follow the leads of fellow successful (and much more hyped) Big 12 alums like Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes to rise to the occasion, albeit on a smaller scale.

He’ll have help. 2018 Pro Bowlers JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner can ease his transition to starter, though Conner in particular has fallen off last year’s pace (only 2.9 yards per carry). The defense is loaded with former first-round picks, including the recently acquired Fitzpatrick, who forced two turnovers in his first game in black and yellow. T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward are proven wrecking balls, but Stephon Tuitt has been the team’s most effective pass rusher so far (3.5 sacks).

That’s a lot of star power — way too much for a winless team, as most fans agree:

Factor in the Browns’ not-yet-ready-for-primetime look and the Bengals’ continued Bengaling, and there’s room for a revival in the Steel City. — Christian D’Andrea

The Broncos might not be great, but they’re too good to be 0-3

With Vic Fangio at head coach and big names like Von Miller and Bradley Chubb on defense, it’s still kind of shocking that the Broncos are struggling so much. They have no sacks, no turnovers, and no wins. Joe Flacco is their starting quarterback and he has looked as mediocre as ever.

So why do I keep thinking Denver is going to play to its strengths and start winning games on the back of what should be an elite defense? I reviewed the film to see why in the world neither Chubb nor Miller has a sack, and my conclusion isn’t that the Broncos are being dominated so much as the schemes they’re running simply aren’t working.

This is Fangio’s first go-around as a head coach, and I think a lot of their issues could be solved with better utilization of the team’s assets, especially on defense. They’re not blitzing much, and offenses are getting all day to throw the football. If the Broncos can find a way to get Miller and Chubb going, they’re going to turn the tide of at least a couple games.

I doubt the Broncos can bounce back enough to make the playoffs, but they’re the only winless team I have any belief in, at least in the immediate future. Doing better than last year’s record of 6-10 doesn’t seem that far-fetched. — James Brady

Washington’s defense can still figure things out

Case Keenum was a turnover-prone mess in a 31-15 loss to the Chicago Bears, but he hasn’t been the problem for Washington. He currently ranks in the top 10 in the league in completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns and passer rating.

The much bigger issue has been the team’s surprisingly awful defense. It was a middle-of-the-pack unit in 2018, but now it’s near the bottom of the NFL after allowing at least 30 points in each of its three games so far. Even the Bears, who looked a bit lost on offense in the first two weeks of the season, suddenly figured things out in Week 3 against Washington.

That can change.

It starts with generating more of a pass rush. That may improve as rookie Montez Sweat continues to grow into his role in the defense, but it could also be fixed by different pressure packages that the team is trying to dial up. Either way, there are too many good players on that defense for it to continue to flounder.

And if the defense gets better — even back to a league-average group — that could be enough to salvage the season. Catching up to the Cowboys for the division crown seems unlikely, though a wild card berth isn’t impossible. — Adam Stites