No fan base is happy after a loss, but there are different levels of disappointment. Determining who are the worst feeling fanbases is a combination of what their expectations were for the team and how they had performed recently. It is not just about a team’s record, as a fanbase that expected their team to lose would not feel as down as a fanbase that thought their team had an easy win and lost. Injuries can also be a factor, if your team had a crushing injury that could propel that team on the list. Also how you lose is very important, getting blown out or losing by a hail mary are both crushing losses, much more than losing by 10. Ultimately, the worst thing is the feeling that your team’s season just ended, losses or injuries that lean a fanbase into thinking that way, are the teams at the top of the list.
Honorable Mention:
Houston Texans: 32-31 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans are so bad that even when they win, it feels like a loss. The Texans, at one point had lost 9 games in a row and 12 of the last 13 games, they were well on their way to the first overall pick. Then they won two of their last three and now have the second overall pick. To make things worse, they definitely shouldn’t have won this game, Davis Mills had to complete a 28 yard hail mary on 4th and 20, with 50 seconds left, to pull within one. Then the Texans went for two, instead of just tying the game and got it to win by one point. Usually changing one draft spot doesn’t make a big difference but it also usually isn’t the number one spot with a potential franchise quarterback in the line. Now seems like a good time for a reminder that the last time a team won two of their last three games to lose the number one draft pick, was the 2020 Jets, who had to settle for Zach Wilson instead of Trevor Lawrence. Looking back now, you best believe the Jets wished they lost at least one of those games, and the Texans might potentially have found themselves in that same position. Just the chance that this may cost them a franchise quarterback is why this is the first time all year that a team is making this list while winning a game.
#3 Tennessee Titans
16-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The first of three teams that had a chance to make the playoffs just by winning their final game, only to fall short. With backup backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs filling in for the second time in a row for benched backup quarterback Malik Willis against a Jaguars team that had won four games in a row, by an average of 16 points. It might not have been too surprising to find that they couldn’t pull out a win. But the Titans get this lofty spot in the worst feeling fan bases due to more than just this single game. The Titans finished the season on a seven game dumper of a streak that saw the team fall from one game out of first place in the AFC to missing the playoffs. Their rookie youngsters had tough seasons too which doesn’t make any of their fans feel better. First round pick, Treylon Burks had only 444 yards and one touchdown this year which is about 10 times worse than what AJ Brown did this year (1,496 yds 11 tds). Considering that they were traded for each other makes it seem like less of a trade and more of an Oceans 11 type heist, that left the Titans dazed and confused. What about Malik Willis, the supposed steal of the draft? He started three games, had no passing touchdowns, averaged less than 100 yards throwing, with three interceptions and three fumbles but he did have a single rushing touchdown. Unless that was the only play you saw of his rookie season, chances are you are not super high on his future. The Titans finished their season playing some of their worst football of the year, and they still blew one last chance at the playoffs. Titans fans have to hope Derrick Henry is up to carrying the team again next year because right now that feels like one of the only things the Titans have going for them.
#2 New England Patriots
23-35 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots needed to win this one game and they are in the playoffs. When you look at the statistics it would seem like the Patriots might have just done that, they had a five minute edge in time of possession, they had more total yards and first downs than the Buffalo offense and each team had the same amount of penalties, penalty yards and turnovers. Yet, the Patriots lost by double digits and never had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. The difference in the game was evident on the first play of the game, when Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for the score. Later in the third quarter, Hines decided to one up himself, returning a kickoff 101 yards for another touchdown. It was the first time anyone had returned multiple kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game since Leon Washington for the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. The extra scores were enough to swing the game in Buffalo’s favor and simultaneously knock the Patriots out of the playoffs. The Patriots were so close to making the playoffs and played up to a very good Bills team’s level, just to get crushed by a play that had only happened four times in the 512 NFL games earlier this year and the Bills did it twice. Kick returns aside, the Patriots flopped to the finish line as the team went just 2-5 over the final seven weeks of the season. With the season now officially over, the fans now get the fun question of wondering if Mac Jones is actually their quarterback of the future after struggling with just 14 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in the 14 games that he played. With the one-two combo of a disappointing ending to the year, followed up quarterback uncertainty and a future that looks somewhere between bleak and hazy, the Patriots fan base is the second worst feeling fan base this week.
#1 Green Bay Packers
16-20 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Packers were so close to pulling off the absolute insane midseason comeback, that last week they landed at number one on the best feeling fanbases. They needed to run the table as well as about a dozen things to go their way and everything did with a week to spare, all they needed to do now was beat the Lions. Turns out that one last thing was just too much as the Packers’ offense sputtered in the second half. They did have a chance to deal a huge blow to the Lions that might have sent the Packers into the playoffs. Having kicked field goals in three of their first four drives the Packers were up 9-3 and having arguably their best drive of the game. Deep in Lions’ territory Packers running back Aaron Jones fumbled the ball, ending the possessions without any points and crucially giving the Lions one more possession before halftime. The Lions went on to kick a field goal, making the fumble at least a six point swing, instead of potentially being up 16-3 at halftime the Packers were only holding onto a slim 9-6 lead. The Packers also struggled with drops nearly the entire game, with drops from Allen Lazard, AJ Dillon, and Romeo Doubs at various moments throughout the game. Ultimately, the Packers seemed to be a weapon on offense short, with only Christian Watson consistently making plays. At the trade deadline many people were surprised Packers GM Brian Guntekust didn’t trade for a wide receiver as it looked like the Packers desperately needed receiving help. Then over the last five weeks they went on a run, even if it was propelled by the defense, and the decision looked defendable, maybe they didn’t need another receiver. Now, after missing the playoffs, where the Packers struggled with drops, fans have to be wondering how the team would have looked if they did in fact add Brandon Cooks, or DJ Moore, or maybe Elijah Moore from the Jets. It just adds another year with a disappointing finish where the GM refused to add a piece to get the team over the top. Now the Packers enter the offseason where everything is uncertain and a teardown is possible. Aaron Rodgers might retire, David Bakhtiari might be cut, Allen Lazard is talking that it might be his last game in Green Bay. No veteran is safe in Packer town right now, Preston Smith and or Aaron Jones could easily become cap casualties, if the team wants to tear it down could they look to trade Jaire Alexander? The Packers had a chance to make one last glorious run with Aaron Rodgers, now the team missed the playoffs for the first time under Matt Lefluer and no one knows what is next for the team. A massive fall from grace from what was previously one of the most hopeful fan bases a week ago.