Determining who are the best feeling fanbases in the NFL every week, is determined on a few things. How well they are set up for a playoff run, how well the team has been playing lately, and if they had an especially fun game like a blowout win or a comeback win. A surprising win can make a worse team feel better than the good team sneaking by an easy opponent.
Honorable Mention:
Jacksonville Jaguars: 31-3 win over the Houston Texans. Every fanbase enjoys a good old fashion blowout, as long as their team is on the side holding the hammer. In the first half the Texans had eight drives and averaged 13.6 yards per drive, that is not good! The Jaguars were up 21-0 at halftime with the defense getting in on the scoring too with a 12 yard scoop and score touchdown. Trevor Lawrence didn’t have to do much as the defense did most of the heavy lifting, he only played one possession in the second half as the game was quickly getting out of hand. Jaguars fans have to be thrilled about not only where their team is but also how they are playing entering week 18 matchup with the Titans. The two teams could not be on different paths, the Jaguars have won four games in a row and are playing the best football of the season while the Titans have lost six games in a row and are looking more and more shaky. Of course, knowing the NFL that probably means the Titans are going to win but the Jaguars still have to be considered a heavy favorite in the game. Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars are playing well, they only need one more win next week against their struggling rivals to win the division for only the second time since 2000. The Jaguars fan base has to feel great about their chances.
#3 New York Giants
38-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Granted the Giants were not beating the best team in the NFL, and no they didn’t beat an average team either, okay it might be one of the worst teams in the NFL. But they also did exactly what they were supposed to do when playing a bad team, the Giants put them down nice and quick which is much easier said than done in the NFL. After the Colts were up 3-0 at the end of the first, the Giants essentially took their gloves off, cracked their knuckles, and said “that was a cute first quarter you just had, now let’s play for real”. Then proceeded to wallop the Colts up and down the field. The second quarter was 24-0 beatdown for the Giants and the second half 14-7 for the Giants, as they eased off the throttle when up by 28 points. With that win the Giants did what no one thought they were going to do before the year, make the playoffs. After going 4-13 last year, the Giants are 9-6-1 this year with the most notable roster change being the hiring of new head coach Brian Daboll, uncoincidentally he is one of the top leaders for coach of the year. While there have been many surprisingly good teams this year, with the Jets, Jaguars, and Seahawks all much better than expected and the Jaguars and Seahawks both still have a chance at the postseason. But the Giants have arguably been the most surprising and the most successful, already clinching the playoffs with a week to go. Giants fans have to be elated about how this team is performing, even if they don’t do much in the postseason that’s okay because they are playing with house money as no one expected them to make it this far anyway. On top of that, they get to enjoy a blowout win, where Danny Dimes is looking like a franchise quarterback, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for two touchdowns while having a 125.2 passer rating and no turnovers. Definitely one of the best feeling fan bases this week.
#2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30-24 win over the Carolina Panthers. Entering the game, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense was completely lost in Struggleville averaging 17.7 points per game, good for the fifth worst in the entire league. Hell, even in their last four wins they were only averaging a measly 18.25 points per game. But now the playoffs are on the line and what’s Tom Brady going to do, not go to the playoffs? Preposterous! So of course he sauntered in the stadium and had by far his best game of the season throwing for 432 yards and three touchdowns. The Buccaneers were also able to erase a double digit four quarter deficit for the third time this year because he always does. I don’t get it, it really doesn’t make sense how he keeps pulling out all these wins. Anyway, one of the main reasons why was they were actually able to get the deep ball working Tom Brady three long touchdowns to Mike Evans, after having only one long touchdown pass all year (qualified as over 20+ air yards by next gen stats)! Buccaneers fans (would they go by The Bucc-ies? Probably not) have many reasons to feel ecstatic about this week. First, they just clinched the division, punching their ticket to the playoffs with a week to spare. Second, they have a defense that is top ten in yards and points allowed, and now an offense coming off their best game of the season with Mike Evans looking as explosive as ever. Of course the fan base also gets to enjoy another fourth quarter comeback and because they have already locked up the division, next week they just get to think of creative ways to call Brady the GOAT stress free. Also when you have a four legged, four lettered, curved horned animal as your quarterback you start getting the sense that anything is possible, which makes you start thinking about a certain Bowl. Buccaneers fans have every right to dream, and Tom Brady has given them the opportunity to dream, and for this week the only thing wrong for “The Bucc-ies” is their sore back with their constant bowing to Tom Brady.
#1 Green Bay Packers
41-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Holy moly, how did we end up here? Weren’t the Packers a floundering mess that just lost to a 1-6 Lions team, didn’t the Packers defense get shredded by the Eagles letting up over 350 rushing yards, wasn’t the Packers offense so bad that they could only average 17.1 points over the first nine weeks? Yes, yes, and yes. And yet after the win over the Vikings, the Packers are 8-8 and control their own destiny needing only a win over the Lions to make the playoffs. Let’s rewind to make sure everyone understands just how unlikely it is that we are at this spot. The day is November 28th, the Packers were just literally run over by the Eagles losing 33-40 and letting up 363 rushing yards, the third most in the Packers 101 year history and most in the last 45 years. The game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate and the Packers fell to 4-8. They had the 12th best record in the NFC and the current number seven seed was three full games ahead of them, with the 7-5 Commanders, who also owned the tiebreaker over the Packers. The odds of making the playoffs were, according to FiveThirtyEight, the sixth worst odds in the league at only three percent chance. But then everything started going right for the Packers, they have now won four games in a row and the Seahawks (who were 2.5 games ahead of the Pack) and Commanders are a combined 1-6-1 in their last four games each. Now they had another must win game against the 12-3 Vikings, and it was their best performance of the season. All three phases of the game showed up for the Packers, the special teams jump started the game when Keisean Nixon return a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown and longtime kicker Mason Crosby hit a season long, 56 yard field goal as the first half expired. The offense had a balanced attack with over 150 passing and rushing yards and scored on six of their ten drives. But the game was won on the defensive side, the Packers defense shut down the Vikings, only letting up one first down on the Vikings first five drives and forcing four turnovers. Including holding the Vikings to a field goal, after a blocked punt gave them the ball on Green Bay’s one yard line, and a 75 yard pick six by Darnell Savage. The defense even held super star Justin Jefferson, who was averaging 117.1 yards per game and on pace for a new NFL record 1,991 receiving yards, to just a single catch for 15 yards. It was the second lowest receiving yards in a game in his career. Packer fans have to be stunned with how everything is turning out. Their team was playing so poorly that many people were calling for the Packers to start Jordan Love, instead of their reigning back to back, four time MVP. Now the Packers, thanks to the Browns beating the Commanders, need to just beat the Lions to make the playoffs. Back in 2016, the Packers were 4-6 and Aaron Rodgers said “we can run the table” and sure enough they went 6-0 and made the playoffs. This year, after a win over Dallas to make their record 4-6, Rodgers said “the biggest thing to remember is, we’re not dead”. The Packers may have been dying, on life support, needing all kinds of help to even have a chance, people questioning whether or not to pull the plug, but they were not dead! Now, as of week 17, they are indeed very much alive and playing like a dangerous team. Packer fans are now just hoping Lord Cheesus can get one more win.