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For the haves, the NFL can be a miraculous source of entertainment, not unlike the best of Hollywood. When their team is down, they usually somehow find a way to win small and big games. They also get the final laugh more times than not in most rivalries.
Meanwhile, for the have-nots, the league can feel like the end of a UFC fight when the losing fighter takes a blow after blow with no counter. However, unlike in a UFC fight, there is no referee to call it in the NFL. There is no limit to how much punishment a fanbase can take, as evidenced by the number of teams at the bottom of the pecking order who have remained there for decades.
The LA Times took it upon themselves to rank the most miserable fanbases in the NFL. If you've been watching the NFL for a long time, you likely can already guess the rankings. Here's a look at which teams the LA Times ranked at the bottom for rewarding their fanbases.
Will the Houston Texans reach the playoffs in 2023?
#5 Houston Texans
At the height of the Bill O'Brien era, the Houston Texans enticed a new generation of NFL fans. Long-time fans felt that it was finally time to get their lengthy moment in the sun behind the quarterback with an already stacked roster. If the team could reach the playoffs with Brock Osweiler at quarterback, they should explode with an up-and-comer like Watson, right?
Of course, after a couple of brief playoff appearances, the team became a nightmare. Bill O'Brien took over general manager duties and traded away DeAndre Hopkins in his prime, got fired, and left the quarterback to pick up the pieces.
However, soon after that, the team fell even further when the team's last big hope was revealed to want out and that he was not the boy scout off-the-field that everyone was led to believe. Since then, the team has been stuck at the bottom of the AFC.
#4 Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals have been stuck out of the playoffs since the Carson Palmer era with one exception. In 2021, Kyler Murray brought the team to the postseason for the first time since 2015. However, the appearance was brief and a year later, the team decided to fire their head coach.
Times are as dark as ever for an NFL franchise that has only seen three playoff appearances since 2010. Fans hope that a new head coach could put the team on a quick rebound, but with Sean Payton claimed, every other candidate is a shot in the dark.
#3 Washington Commanders
Commanders fans have flirted with the playoffs and somehow managed to beat bottom-of-the-barrell expectations every season, but the team hasn't reached the divisional round of the NFL playoffs since 2005.
Now, at the end of a season that saw every other divisional opponent reach the playoffs besides them, fans are beside themselves.
On top of the team's troubles on the field, the off-field issues are as bad as any in the NFL. Ownership is constantly under investigation and the team became arguably one of the most-joked about teams in the league during the name change saga.
#2 Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns were an NFL franchise seemingly on the edge of relevance with quarterback Baker Mayfield. However, the team's first playoff appearance since 2002 served as an island in a sea of mediocrity.
Now, with that quarterback out the door, the team has placed all of their hopes (and more than a few suitcases full of cash) in Deshaun Watson.
Watson, one of the least-popular quarterbacks in the NFL right now, is charged with bringing Cleveland back into contention. Of course, every win for the quarterback is a loss for the likability of the franchise for thousands.
Even if Browns fans snap their losing woes, their methods of getting there may still leave fans with mixed feelings in a way that other fanbases would not come close to feeling.
#1 - New York Jets
While the other franchises on this list have at least gotten a taste of the playoffs in the last decade, the New York Jets have to go back to 2010 to relive their last meaningful game in late January. Since then, the team has lived under the shadow of Tom Brady and Josh Allen like a conquered people.
Of course, they showed some flashes under Robert Saleh in 2022, but the team owning the longest active playoff drought in the NFL has a lot of work to do. If they find a way to reach the playoffs, it will be the first time in the lives of today's youngest teenagers.
