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I’ve taken to comparing our Falcoholic FanPulse results on a weekly basis to the opposing fanbase, and I’m starting to notice a pattern. It appears the fanbases of the teams the Falcons are playing are almost, but not quite, as down on their team’s as we are.
Make no mistake: Falcons fans have had enough. There’s rampant talk of Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff being fired, antipathy for Dirk Koetter, tight jaws over every missed tackle and stupid penalty, and a growing sense that this expensive, supposedly star-studded team is not good enough and can’t easily improve by leaps and bounds. That’s why fan confidence is at the lowest point I can remember it reaching, with just 3% of Falcons fans expressing any confidence in the direction of the team heading into Week 5.
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The Texans fanbase, which has a stud young quarterback and is 2-2, is at just 14%. That’s likely because there’s no GM, Bill O’Brien has been on the cusp of being fired for the last three seasons (seemingly, anyways), and they have plenty of roster holes. There’s not a ton for them to feel good about right now, but certainly they’re off to a better start than the Falcons. Only Washington (at a robust 0%) has a lower level of fan confidence than we do.
One thing is clear: Whichever team loses this game is going to send their fans to some very, very dark places.