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NFL Futures: Will A Team Go Perfect or Winless? (2020)

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Every football season, one of the most interesting conversations early in the season is when will the best team lose for the first time and when will the worst team finally win a game. Sportsbooks in the Garden State have a prop up on whether any team will go a perfect 16-0 or 0-16. Let’s take a closer look and see if anyone can keep their zero intact.

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Will A Team Go 16-0?

The best candidate for a 16-0 team this year is the Baltimore Ravens and there are a number of reasons for this view. Start with the reality that Lamar Jackson, already a great player, still has plenty of room for improvement. We saw in the playoffs against the Tennessee Titans that Jackson has still not reached his ceiling as a downfield passer. When the Ravens trail and they have to throw on nearly every down, Jackson is not the kind of quarterback who is likely to lead a comeback. He has not mastered that particular part of playing quarterback in the NFL.

Keep in mind that the Ravens led their opponents in almost every game in the 2019 season, and they went 14-2. Jackson wasn’t trailing on the scoreboard very often. Yet, if the Ravens are to go 16-0, Jackson will need to lead a few comebacks on the days when everything doesn’t flow smoothly for Baltimore.

The other big reason 16-0 is a possibility for the Ravens is that the New England Patriots aren’t expected to be as strong this year as in previous years. The Ravens visit the Patriots in mid-November. In any of the past 15 years (except for the one year Tom Brady got hurt), that would be an expected loss. This year, it’s probably a game the Ravens will still be favored to win.

The winner of the Chiefs-Ravens game midway through the season has a shot to go all the way. It is going to be much tougher in the balanced NFC, where the San Francisco 49ers will play the New Orleans Saints, and in which the NFC West and NFC South are deep, tough, competitive divisions. The weaker AFC is where a team could win all 16.

Prediction

Overall, I think both the Ravens and Chiefs both have tricky enough divisional schedules that they’ll get tripped up at least once. I’m not expecting either of them – or any other team – to go 16-0.

Will A Team Go 0-16?

The odds of an 0-16 team are very low this season. The Cincinnati Bengals were the worst team in football last season but they actually led in many games. Now they have Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner, and a legitimately good NFL prospect. The Bengals have a schedule that should be conducive to a few wins even if the team remains very bad this year as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants. It is going to be hard for Cincinnati to lose all four of those home games. Cincinnati could also pick up road wins at Cleveland and at the Washington Redskins.

Is there any other especially terrible NFL team? The Washington Redskins might be bad, but Dwayne Haskins should be improved after his 2019 season, and Chase Young should make the defense a lot tougher. Having Ron Rivera on the sidelines should make this team respectable. The Miami Dolphins will have Tua Tagovailoa, and they showed promise late last season when they won multiple games in December.

The Detroit Lions and New York Giants were two of the five worst NFL teams last year. The Lions fell because Matthew Stafford was hurt. The Giants suffered due to transitions at quarterback and elsewhere. They should both be better this season. 

Prediction

This is a tough one to handicap but I’d sooner take a flier on someone going 0-16 than any team going 16-0. When injuries start to factor, you never know. If the New York Jets lose Sam Darnold to injury or the Arizona Cardinals lose Kyler Murray, or if the Carolina Panthers are a mess in Matt Rhule’s first season, these teams could all push for a winless season. I wouldn’t bet it but of these two bets, I’m more inclined to think someone goes 0-16 than 16-0.

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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.