Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on December 12, 2021.
Life’s hard when you’re up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs every season.
At least, that’s what a recent NFL study from Pickswise suggested. The sports betting site “decided to assess four months worth of Twitter data to find out which set of fans had gone through the wringer since Week 1 in September.”
The fanbases with the most “negative tweets” tied to their Twitter handle were deemed the “most stressed fans in the NFL,” and the data shows that Chiefs Kingdom was pretty relaxed in 2021.
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Twitter Study Aligns With AFC West Landscape
The AFC West has become one of the most challenging divisions in the NFL in recent years. Not only do you have the juggernaut that is KC, you have talented quarterbacks like Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr, as well as a stout defense in Denver.
Of course, the Chiefs have managed to navigate and control this rocky terrain, while the other three franchises have floundered.
The study reflected this realization pretty accurately. According to Pickswise, the top-10 most negative fanbases in the NFL were as follows.
- 1. Philadelphia Eagles: 96,635.
- 2. Tennessee Titans: 86,130.
- 3. Las Vegas Raiders: 76,755.
- 4. Pittsburgh Steelers: 69,650.
- 5. Washington Football Team: 58,962.
- 6. Denver Broncos: 56,812.
- 7. Buffalo Bills: 56,535.
- 8. Cleveland Browns: 50,648.
- 9. Indianapolis Colts: 50,517.
- 10. Jacksonville Jaguars: 46,832.
You may notice the Raiders and Broncos at numbers three and six on that list. Both just fired their head coaches in 2021 and Denver is still trying to find their long-term answer at quarterback.
Despite some recent success and a bright young superstar in the making with Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills also made the top 10 at No. 7 — so Bills Mafia might be feeling the Mahomes effect in the AFC as well.
Outlasting the Chiefs year after year has become a daunting task. So much so that Joe Burrow was asked about it ahead of the AFC championship game. Las Vegas and Denver feel that pressure every offseason with every decision they make.
Even the Los Angeles Chargers weren’t far behind, although they managed to avoid the top 10 coming in at No. 12 on the list of the most negative fanbases in 2021. You might wonder where Kansas City ended up? Well, below are the 10 most positive fanbases.
- 23. Detroit Lions: 23,898.
- 24. Houston Texans: 20,713.
- 25. Los Angeles Rams: 19,323.
- 26. Cincinnati Bengals: 15,288.
- 27. San Francisco 49ers: 14,978.
- 28. New York Giants: 14,370.
- 29. Green Bay Packers: 10,499.
- 30. Kansas City Chiefs: 10,407.
- 31. Carolina Panthers: 8,505.
- 32. Arizona Cardinals: 6,111.
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The Wheel Keeps Spinning
If the Chiefs are able to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, they’ll represent the AFC in the Super Bowl for the third straight season. Win or lose, this is already their fourth straight AFC championship game appearance.
This run is beginning to feel reminiscent of Tom Brady’s New England Patriots, only KC still has a lot more years to go to dominate on a scale that large.
Still, it’s easy to feel optimistic from a fan perspective. Forget Mahomes for a minute. The Chiefs also have a future Hall of Fame HC in Andy Reid, who isn’t retiring anytime soon. General manager Brett Veach has positioned them in a great place financially as well, despite the fact that the roster is overloaded with talent.
Over the Cap projects that Kansas City has the 18th-most cap space in 2022 with a little over $14.5 million at the moment. The Chiefs also have eight draft picks in April after the Chicago Bears hired Ryan Poles to be their GM — one first, one second, two thirds, one fourth, and three sevenths. Keep in mind, Veach and Reid hit on non-first-round draft picks like Creed Humphrey, Nick Bolton and Trey Smith in 2021.
Can you say dynasty, anyone?