Raiders fan confidence is somehow not nearly the lowest in the NFL

There was a point this season where the Raiders fan confidence in our FanPulse survey was in the single digits. That was week 7 after the loss to the Seahawks in London. And yet despite the fact that the team has not won since then, and the losses have gotten more embarrassing (34-3 vs 49ers anyone?), the fans seem to have gotten more confident in the direction of the team since then.

The week after the lay down in London, the team was coming out of their bye and traded Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a first round pick... and the fan confidence jumped up to 14%. Then when they actually scored a few touchdowns on the Colts before getting blown out again late, the confidence of the fans rose again to 24%. Them moral victories are very real and very powerful.

They followed up that flash of competency with the worst loss of the season, getting torched in the final Battle of the Bay 34-3 to the then 1-win 49ers. Yet somehow, some way, the confidence poll level only dropped three points to 21%.

Another bad loss to the Chargers — their second of the season — put the team at historically bad point differentials, including being outscored 75-9 in the past nine quarters, and losing by at least 14 points in five straight games.

How did that affect the fan poll? Two points. Two. Points. Raiders fans in the poll are holding steady at 19%.

So, let’s review — No games played — confidence up five points. Actual loss in which they score touchdowns — confidence up ten points. Embarrassing loss with historically bad numbers — down two points.

Other fan bases whose teams are pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as the Raiders have much lower confidence poll numbers. Jaguars fans are at 3% as are Jets fans. Buccaneers fans are at 6% as are Lions fans. Even the notoriously homeristic Broncos fans are at 8%. Giants and Bengals fans sit at 15%. And the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles fans are at 17%.

That’s eight fanbases who have less confidence in the state of their favorite team than the 1-8 Raiders fans. And two other fan bases — the Ravens and Cardinals — are tied with the Raiders at 19%.

If 1/5 of the fan base isn’t shaken by now, they will never be.