The NFL’s Most Stressful Teams (Losses, Penalties, Injuries)

The loyalty fans have for their NFL teams is one that cannot be described. Whether it’s going to the games, buying the merchandise, or including them on your NFL picks, there are many ways to show your support. 

However, there are times when it’s much harder to show your support. Seeing your team losing week after week can be incredibly frustrating, and if you are betting on them on betting sites, it can be quite expensive too. 

That’s why we wanted to find out which NFL teams are the most stressful to support. We’ve looked at losses, interceptions, injuries, and more.

The Denver Broncos are the most stressful NFL team to support, with a score of 7.96/10

We’ve looked at several factors, including winning margins, fumbles, penalties, and more to determine the NFL’s most stressful team to support.

Denver Broncos - 7.96 stress score

The most stressful team to support during the 2022 season was the Denver Broncos, with a stress score of 7.96/10. The Broncos finished last in the AFC West division, winning just five of their 17 games. The Broncos were one of the most penalized teams in the NFL, losing more than 900 yards from penalties. However, The Broncos haven’t always been so frustrating, winning their third Super Bowl in 2015. They also won five consecutive Division Championships between 2011 and 2015.

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Tennessee Titans - 7.02 stress score

The Tennessee Titans take second place with a stress score of 7.02/10. The Titans are one of the NFL’s veterans, founded in 1959 as the Houston Oilers. Despite their long-standing history, the Titans are yet to win a Super Bowl despite 25 playoff appearances, including three consecutive appearances between 2019 and 2021. In the 2022 regular season, The Titans were eliminated from playoff contention after winning just seven of their 17 games. 

Houston Texans - 6.31 stress score

Completing our top three is the Houston Texans with a stress score of 6.31/10. The Texans celebrated their 20th season in the NFL, however, it wasn’t a season worth remembering, ending the season with one of the lowest win percentages in the NFL. Despite last season's struggles, the Texans have been successful in recent times, winning the Division Championship six times in the last 12 seasons. A Super Bowl is yet to come their way, and based on the 2022 season, it won’t be coming any time soon. 

The Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts lost by 8 points on average, the biggest deficit of any NFL team.

There’s nothing more frustrating than seeing your team lose by a huge margin. That’s why we found out the NFL teams losing by the biggest margin.

Chicago Bears/Indianapolis Colts - -8.1 margin of victory

The top spot is shared between two teams, the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts, both with a margin of victory of -8.1 points. 

The Chicago Bears biggest loss came against the Detroit Lions, who beat them 41-10 during week 17 of the season. 

For the Indianapolis Colts, their biggest deficit was -35 in a 54-19 defeat against the Dallas Cowboys. The Colts also lost by 23 points and 28 points against the New England Patriots and the New York Giants respectively.

Houston Texans - -7.7 margin of victory

Second place goes to the Houston Texans whose margin of victory was -7.7 points. Despite having a smaller margin of victory, the Texans finished below the Colts in the AFC South division. The Texans’ biggest defeat was against the Jacksonville Jaguars which ended 31-3, a deficit of 28 points. 

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Arizona Cardinals - -6.4 margin of victory

The Arizona Cardinals complete our top three with a margin of victory of -6.4 points. The Cardinals’ biggest defeat came against the San Francisco 49ers who beat them 38-10. The 49ers also inflicted the Cardinals’ second-biggest defeat of the season. On the final day of the regular season, the 49ers won 38-13, a deficit of 25.

The Tennessee Titans were the most injured team in the NFL, with 24 injuries during the 2022 season

Unfortunately, injuries are a part of sports. When athletes push themselves at the highest level, it’s going to cause stress on the body which can lead to injuries. For the fans, injuries can be incredibly frustrating as it can mean their star players missing important games. That’s why we wanted to determine which teams suffered the most injuries during the 2022 season.

Tennessee Titans - 24 injuries during the 2022 season

The most injured team last season was the Tennessee Titans, who suffered 24 injuries during the 2022 season. Amongst the 24 people that spent time in the medical room, seven of them were there due to a knee injury. Star quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, was also sidelined for some time with an ankle injury. Despite this, he still accumulated more passing yards than any other player on the Titans’ roster. 

Denver Broncos - 22 injuries during the 2022 season

Narrowly behind in second place, is the Denver Broncos who had 22 players entering the treatment room during the 2022 season. Like the Titans, the Broncos also treated seven people for a knee injury, as well as five people with hamstring injuries. Randy Gregory, Javonte Williams, and K.J. Hamler were among the 22 injured players. 

Arizona Cardinals - 19 injuries during the 2022 season

The Arizona Cardinals complete our top three with 19 injuries during the 2022 season. The Cardinals had a season to forget, finishing bottom of the NFC West division and winning just four of their 17 games. Like the two other teams in our top three, the Cardinals recorded seven knee injuries, with Kyler Murray amongst those seven. 

The Minnesota Vikings conceded 926 yards from penalties, more than any other NFL team

You can concede penalties for several reasons, and the more severe the penalty, the more yards conceded. We wanted to find out which NFL teams gave away the most yards as a result of penalties.

Minnesota Vikings - 926 penalty yardage

The Minnesota Vikings take the top spot conceding 926 yards from penalties during the 2022 season. Despite giving away the most yards, the Vikings finished top of the NFC North division, winning 13 out of their 17 games. The Vikings conceded the second-highest number of penalties, behind the Tennessee Titans. 

Denver Broncos - 922 penalty yardage

The Denver Broncos take second place conceding 922 yards from penalties during the 2022 season. The Broncos conceded 106 penalties in total, which was the third-highest in the NFL. 

Green Bay Packers - 916 penalty yardage

The Green Bay Packers complete our top three, conceding 916 yards from penalties during the 2022 season. The Packers were eliminated from playoff contention in the NFC North division after winning eight of their 17 games. Despite conceding the third-highest number of yards, the Packers conceded 100 penalties, which was less than six teams in the NFL. 

Methodology

We looked at the 2022 regular season for the following data. 

We used Pro Football Reference to find the number of penalties, the number of penalty yards, fumbles, interceptions, and the average margin of victory.

We used ESPN to find the number of losses and win percentage. 

We used Sharp Football Analysis to find the injuries for each team.

We used BuzzSumo to find the percentage of angry reactions to posts about each team. 

We then normalized each factor with a score out of 10. We then took an average of these scores to get an overall stress score for each team.