Getting off to a fast start never hurts. Getting off to a slow start usually hurts a lot. And that's why there are 9 teams in the National Football League feeling good about themselves, and 8 clubs (possibly 10) knowing they could be in for a long season. Take a look at the teams that have opened the 2000 campaign either 2-0 or 0-2.

2-0: Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit, Minnesota, N.Y. Giants, N.Y. Jets, Oakalnd, St. Louis, Tampa Bay.

0-2: Chicago, Dallas, Green Bay, Kansas City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, New England (Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are 0-1).

We point this out because of the eight teams that opened the '99 season with a pair of wins, only Pittsburgh and New England failed to make the playoffs. More importantly, of the eight teams that opened 0-2 last season, none made it to the postseason party. You would not think that this early indicator would be so important, but it has held up well throughout the years.

Over the previous 12 seasons (1988-99), 70-of-94 teams (.745) that have opened 2-0 have made the playoffs. Conversely, only 14-of-94 teams (.149) that have opened 0-2 have gone onto the playoffs, only four of those clubs (in bold) won division titles (the other 10 were Wild Card Teams) and only two have gone onto the Big Game -- the Cowboys winning Super Bowl XXVIII and the Patriots making it to Super Bowl XXXI.

0-2 and in the playoffs (1988-99)
Year	Team	Start	Record
1998	Arizona	0-2	9-7
1998	Buffalo	0-3	10-6
1998	N.Y. Jets	0-2	12-4
1996	New England	0-2	11-5
1995	Detroit	0-3	10-6
1994	New England	0-2	10-6
1993	Pittsburgh	0-2	9-7
1993	Dallas	0-2	12-4
1992	San Diego	0-4	11-5
1991	Atlanta	0-2	10-6
1990	Philadelphia	0-2	10-6
1990	New Orleans	0-2	8-8
1990	Houston	0-2	9-7
1989	Pittsburgh	0-2	9-7

Of the 24 teams to go to the last 12 Super Bowls, 19 have started 2-0, two have started 0-2 and three have started 1-1. The last time there was a Super Bowl without at least one team that got off to a 2-0 start was Super Bowl XXII, when neither Denver (1-0-1) nor Washington (1-1) opened the strike-interrupted season of 1987 with a pair of victories.

Russell S. Baxter in an NFL researcher at ESPN