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:
Jaguars: 36-22 win over the Tennessee Titans. The Jaguars finally beat the Titans who have been dominating them over the last few years, winning 10 of the last 11 games. After a slow first quarter where they were down 7-14, the Jags blasted the Titans for the next three quarters, scoring on six of their next seven drives to go up 36-14. Trevor Lawrence put out his most recent argument for why he is the quarterback of the future. It was a convincing one too as he played nearly perfectly throwing 30-42 for 368 yards and 4 total touchdowns. While it’s been an up and down season for the Jaguars, the fact that Lawrence looks like a franchise quarterback and they can enjoy a blowout win over their rivals (yes, even bad teams have rivals), gets them a spot on the honorable mentions.
#3 Lions
34-23 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The lions won a big game. Let’s say that again, the Lions won an important, big time, game. It still doesn’t seem right but, surprisingly, it actually happened. Let’s recap, the Lions started the year 1-6 and while they stayed feisty for most of the games, still seemed at least two years away from actually making a run at the playoffs. Instead, six weeks later, they have won 5 out of 6 with a record of 6-7 and are one and a half games back from the seven seed. They weren’t just beating up bad teams also, their most recent win came over a Vikings team that had the second best record in the NFC. The offense is looking fantastic, averaging 32.2 points per game over the last five games. Their quarterback, Jared Goff, who many people considered a throw-in, in the Matt Stafford trade, is playing legitimately good football. So good that a lot of people are calling for the Lions to just build their team around him. To add to the good feelings, 12th overall selection Jameson Williams just made his return and his first career catch was a 41 yard touchdown. The Lions have the fifth highest scoring team in the league, and an actual chance at making a run at the playoffs, that is so much better than any reasonable Lions fan actually thought they were going to be two months ago. There are very few things that feel better for a fanbase than a team playing way better than expected, the Lions are and all 50 Lions fans who stayed after Stafford was traded are along for the ride!
#2 49ers
35-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The last time the Buccaneers were on the field they had just completed an insane 13 point comeback in the final five minutes of the game. That kind of win can jumpstart a team, especially one with as much talent as the Buccaneers. Well, to put it plainly, it did not carry over to this week. The San Francisco 49ers did their best to convince the NFL world that the Bucs’ final few minutes vs the Saints were a fluke by destroying them for the entire 60 minutes. The score was 28-0 at halftime and 35-0 before the Buccaneers even put their first points up on the board. To make this performance even more impressive was the fact that the 49ers were starting a rookie and the last pick in the entire NFL draft, Brock Purdy at quarterback. It was first career start, and as soon as he completed a pass, it was the first time a Mr. Irrelevant had ever completed a pass in the NFL. He did a lot more than just complete a pass, in fact he became just the second player ever, with Don Strock (1975), to pass for two touchdowns and rush for a touchdown in their first career start. For a team that just lost their second quarterback for the year, Purdy has been a revelation. In fact, he looked so good in his first career start, many people are wondering if the 49ers are better with the young gun at quarterback. The 49er faithful have to be ecstatic about this turn of events, especially considering the rest of the roster is loaded. Throw in the fact that they can enjoy a blowout, over Tom Brady of all people (a lot of people don’t like him outside of the New England area and Tampa) and you have one of the happiest optimistic fan bases in the NFL. *Deebo Samuel did get hurt but it is reported it is just a sprain and should be back at the end of the regular season.
#1 Eagles
48-22 win over the New York Giants. Remember when the Commanders beat the Eagles and the next week the Eagles had to sneak out a win 17-16 versus the Colts? I don’t blame you if you don’t, it’s hard not to think that this team didn’t just blow out every single team with the way they’re playing. Over the last three weeks the Eagles have scored 40, 35, and 48 points and their average margin of victory has been 19.3 points. This is the third week in a row the Eagles have claimed the top spot on the list. They are now averaging the most points and third most yards per game, while letting up the 7th fewest points and 3rd fewest yards per game. That is dominating on both sides of the ball. This week against the Giants, the Eagles were in full command of the game right out of the gate, they sacked Daniel Jones twice on the opening drive and finished with 7 sacks. The offense itself didn’t face too much resistance, compiling 437 total yards on their way to 48 points, which is the third most points any team has scored this year and the third most points any Eagles team has scored in the past 10 years. Jalen Hurts continued his MVP campaign, with a combined 294 yards and 3 total touchdowns, if he has not passed Patrick Mahomes then he is right beside him. Overall, Eagles fans are sitting pretty comfy right now, and with the Bears next on the docket they should be feeling pretty good about their odds in that game.