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 Mentions
Cardinals: 10-38 loss to the 49ers. It never feels good to lose, and blowouts are even worse. If it’s by your conference rival to knock you nearly out of playoff contention, even worse. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to the Cardinals, the 49ers scored touchdowns on 5 out of 7 drives in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to absolutely crush the Cardinals. Kliff Kingsbury’s seat is starting to feel very very hot.
Giants: 18-31 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Giants have been one of the most surprising stories of the year jumping out to an incredibly good 7-2 start. But with that is a change in expectations, including being able to beat the 3-6 Lions, especially when they are in the most loaded division in the NFC. Losing to the Lions is a big blow to the Giants, instead of being 1 game behind the Eagles for the division and the number 1 seed. They are now third in their division, and currently the sixth seed in the playoffs. The fact that it was a complete and thorough loss dampers the optimism even more. While fans should be happy about the season as a whole, this week they land as one of the most bummed and worst feeling fanbases.
#3 Broncos
16-22 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. How much heartbreak can one fanbase take? The Broncos lose another one score game bringing them to a record of 3-7 and tallying their sixth one score loss of the year, including their third overtime loss. This teams’ record should be so much better than it is, if they had won their overtime games, which they had a fourth quarter lead in all of them, the Broncos would be 6-4 and in the playoffs. If they had just scored 18 points in regulation in every game the Broncos would be 9-1 and have the number 1 seed. Instead they are last in their division and have the 11th best record in the conference. The offense, continually letting the team down, had a chance to ice the game by getting a first down with 1:45 left and the Raiders out of timeouts. Not only did they not convert but Russell Wilson threw the ball away instead of taking the sack, which gave the Raiders an extra 40 seconds to drive to tie the game, which they ended up doing. Before the game, Broncos fans had dreams of the offense growing to league average and potentially making a run with their amazing defense. Now after losing to an equally disappointing team, that long shot of a dream is quickly turning into no shot.
#2 Packers
17-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Just when you thought, maybe we counted the Packers out too soon? They respond with an uninspiring loss to the Titans. This game might just be the game that puts the nail in the coffin for the Packers’ season, dropping them to 4-7, 2.5 games behind the 7th seed and tied for the 11th best record in the conference. While there was no game losing, devastating play that caused the loss, it was just one team outplaying the other. The Packers could not stop the Titans, only forcing 5 incompletions as Ryan Tannehill diced them up for 22-27 for 333 yards and two touchdowns. When the Packers finally got a few stops in the fourth quarter, they were down by two scores which forced the Packers to nearly abandon the run, leading to quick, ineffective drives. To make the Packers fans even more disheartened about the loss, they get to play the NFL leading 9-1 Eagles next week. For a Packers team and fanbase that felt the exhilarating sense of possibly renewing their season, after beating the Cowboys in overtime 31-28 last week, this loss is a huge splash of cold water on that reality. Considering it might just have also knocked them out of playoff contention, Packers fans have to be one of the most disappointed fanbases.
#1 Jets
3-10 loss to the New England Patriots. An absolutely brutal loss for the New York Jets, with the game being an all out defensive war and the score being 3-3 with 26 seconds left, the Jets were punting to the Patriots who only had one timeout left. It seemed destined for overtime and maybe even a 3-3 tie the way both defenses were playing, but rookie 3rd round pick Marcus Jones took the punt return 84 yards to the house with five seconds remaining, it was the first punt return touchdown by any team this year. Obviously, losing a game by a miraculous, one in a million, play is about as rough as it gets for any fan base but there are plenty of other reasons that propelled the Jets to number one on the list. Let’s start with the offense, the Jets were horrendous on offense, especially in the second half. In seven possessions, the Jets had five three and outs, and averaged 2.77 inches per play. If they got their average amount of yards for every single play, it would have taken the Jets 130 plays to get a single first down. Safe to say the quarterback play was not stellar either. On the day the Jets had more punts (10) than completions (9) and while Zach Wilson didn’t throw any interceptions, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Devin McCourty dropped an absolute gimmie, after Wilson overthrew his tight end, and Jonathan Jones dropped what could have been a game winner with 1:41 left on the Jets 30 yard line. The Jets have been having a shockingly good season at 6-3, they were starting to seem like real contenders especially after beating the Bills two weeks ago. Expectations were that the Jets were actually the better team and would beat the Patriots now that they had all bye week to prepare and weren’t overlooking them. If the Jets won, they would be tied for first place in their division and one game out for the one seed. Instead, the Jets fell to last place in their division, put together one of the worst offensive showings of the year, now has a potential quarterback controversy, and has people seriously questioning if they will even make the playoffs. The Jets easily get the claim to the worst feeling fanbase in the NFL this week.