With five weeks in the books, there are three teams with an unblemished record and three yet to record a tally in the win column.
Do the Chiefs, Vikings, and 49ers have the special sauce to keep avoiding losses? Can the Dolphins, Titans, and Chargers reverse their fortunes after brutal starts and find wins?
Here's what could keep the trio of undefeated teams from staying that way, and here's why the winless can be optimistic that better times are ahead:
Kansas City Chiefs (4-0)
Potentially fatal flaw: Lack of receivers
The Chiefs have turned back the clock after a rough 2025, and they've gotten excellent play out of Patrick Mahomes, seemingly a shoo-in for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and 37-year-old tight end Travis Kelce. Their lack of receiving depth could become an issue, though.
Tyquan Thornton, who suffered a potentially season-ending ankle dislocation, is the team's second-leading receiver after Kelce, and Rashee Rice is dealing with a hamstring injury that has his availability for Sunday in doubt. There's a chance fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen, who hasn't yet recorded his first NFL reception, will be forced to step into the starting lineup in Week 6.
Potential first loss: Week 7 at Seahawks
Kansas City's Week 6 matchup against the winless Chargers is no freebie, but the Chiefs should be able to handle business against such a struggling squad. It's the road game a week later against the Seahawks that stands out as significantly more dangerous. Seattle's secondary is No. 1 in the NFL in passing yards allowed, and it has a league-leading seven interceptions, too. Even a healthy group of Chiefs receivers would have difficulty getting open against the Seahawks.
Minnesota Vikings (5-0)
Potentially fatal flaw: Red-zone struggles
The Vikings are undefeated in spite of an offense that failed to score a single touchdown in two games this season. If the offensive struggles continue, losses are inevitable for Minnesota no matter how great the team's defense continues to play.
Specifically, the Vikings need to turn their red-zone trips into points. While they looked much better offensively in a 23-13 win against New Orleans last week, two of the Vikings' drives inside the 20-yard line ended with fumbles. Another drive finished with a field goal when a Justin Jefferson reception that would've set up Minnesota at the Saints' 13-yard line was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty.
Potential first loss: Week 8 at Lions
Minnesota doesn't face a formidable defense any time soon. After a Week 6 bye, the Vikings have matchups against the Colts, Lions, and Bills, who have allowed the 27th-, 29th-, and 28th-most points, respectively. If the Vikings' defense can keep choking the life out of opposing offenses, they'll be in good shape. That could be difficult against Detroit, though. The Lions lead the league in scoring, and Jared Goff has yet to throw an interception.
San Francisco 49ers (5-0)
Potentially fatal flaw: Injuries
Avoiding injury is a challenge for every team and certainly not unique to the 49ers. They've been especially susceptible in recent years, though. Players who have suffered serious, season-ending injuries since 2024 include Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Dre Greenlaw.
The 49ers have been great on both sides of the ball so far this season, but they're relying on many of those same, previously injured contributors to avoid similar fates in 2026. It doesn't help that their No. 1 receiver is 33-year-old Mike Evans, who missed time with hamstring, concussion, and clavicle injuries and is now battling injured ribs and Achilles soreness. San Francisco has one of the NFL's oldest rosters, and that comes with an increased risk that it'll come apart at the seams.
Potential first loss: Week 7 at Falcons
After a tightly contested clash with the Seahawks, the 49ers should be just fine at home against the Commanders on Monday night. Traveling across the country to face the Falcons will be a tougher test. Atlanta is averaging 34.3 points and 428.3 yards of offense since turning to Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback. It wasn't enough to beat the Ravens, but the Falcons will be a tough out for any team if they can keep finding that kind of offensive success.
Miami Dolphins (0-5)
Sneaky strength: The run game
The Dolphins are in the beginning stages of a rebuild after parting with Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and several other veterans in the offseason. The offense is severely lacking in playmakers, and the Miami defense hasn't been able to get off the field. However, the positive is that the Dolphins have been one of the NFL's best at both running the ball and stopping the run so far in 2026.
With De'Von Achane on injured reserve, they've turned to Ollie Gordon to lead the way on the ground and he's averaging 5 yards per carry. Mobile quarterback Malik Willis is helping, too, with his 6.9 yards per rush. That duo has combined for five rushing touchdowns. Likewise, the Dolphins' defense is holding opposing rushers to just 3.7 yards per carry.
Potential first win: Week 7 at Jets
Miami's old-school approach may result in a few wins this season, but only if it can keep games close enough to commit to the run. Fortunately for the Dolphins, the next opponent on the docket is far from an offensive powerhouse that'll bury them in points.
The Jets have two wins thanks to a terrific pass defense that is racking up sacks (17) and keeping opponents in check. New York's offense isn't doing much, though. While Geno Smith is avoiding the interceptions that plagued him in Las Vegas and Seattle, that isn't translating into results on the scoreboard. It'll probably be a low-scoring battle with Miami, and that could play right into the Dolphins' hands.
Tennessee Titans (0-5)
Sneaky strength: A tenacious defensive front
If Cam Ward's second season with the Titans continues to be as abysmal as it was in the first five weeks, he probably won't get a third year at the helm. There's not much to like about the Tennessee offense, which ranks dead last in both yards and points. Things aren't as bad on the other side of the ball, though.
With Jeffery Simmons, Jermaine Johnson, John Franklin-Myers, and Jacob Martin all making plays in the backfield, the Titans' defense is one of only three in the NFL, along with the Vikings and Jaguars, to keep all its opponents under 27 points. The thing that's been missing for the Tennessee defense is takeaways. The Titans haven't recovered any fumbles and have only two interceptions. But if they keep creating chaos behind the line of scrimmage, turnovers are inevitable.
Potential first win: Week 6 at Colts
The Titans lost the turnover battle in four of their five games this season. The only time they won it, the Eagles needed a touchdown in the final seconds to steal a 24-20 win in Nashville. Winning the turnover margin will always be the key to victory, and the Titans' defensive line will give them that chance.
Indianapolis quarterback Daniel Jones may be just the guy that Tennessee needs to see. He already has four interceptions and four fumbles through his first five games, and the Colts haven't been impressive on either side of the ball.
Los Angeles Chargers (0-5)
Sneaky strength: A well-rounded defense
It's not hard to find positives on the Chargers' roster, actually. They've been pretty good at a lot of things, but awful at avoiding game-changing miscues. Los Angeles already has 13 turnovers in five games. The Chargers had 21 all of last season.
That never-ending stream of mistakes has spoiled some pretty strong performances by the Chargers' defense. Los Angeles ranks in the top 10 in yards allowed, takeaways, passing yards allowed, and rushing yards allowed per attempt. If the offense could avoid a weekly comedy of errors, the Chargers could start stringing together wins.
Potential first win: Week 11 vs. Jets
Another month without a win is pretty unlikely for the Chargers, but it's hard to circle any of their upcoming opponents as particularly vulnerable. They'll face the Chiefs and Rams on the road, followed by the Texans at home before a trip across the country to play the Ravens. All of those teams have defenses capable of forcing the Chargers to keep making mistakes.
The Jets do too, but they also have a lot less firepower on offense to punish Los Angeles for those errors.
Adam Stites is a contributing writer for theScore.
