NFL stress builds slowly, then hits all at once.
For some fan bases, the 2025 season was a weekly nerve test. Games stayed close longer than they had any business being, momentum changed fast, mistakes showed up right on cue, injuries took away any real sense of safety, and even the wins came with that familiar feeling, “Why is this still a one-score game?”
That’s the idea behind The Action Network’s Fan Stress Index, a way to put numbers to how draining it was to follow each team week after week. And a lot of the time, the way games actually played out looked nothing like the preseason expectations, or what the weekly NFL odds suggested.
Key Highlights
- Dallas Cowboys fans faced the most consistent in-game stress in the NFL: Dallas ranked first overall with the league’s highest Fan Stress Index at 62.75. They also finished with frequent penalties (2.59 per game) and an 8.60% fan negativity rate, which points to frustration even when the Cowboys were competitive.
- Jets fans showed the highest frustration levels, even without overtime drama: The New York Jets posted the highest fan negativity rate in the Top 10 at 16.60%. Pair that with extremely narrow wins (3.67 average margin), and it’s pretty clear the stress came from tight games, not a bunch of extra-time coin flips.
- Injuries were a major stress multiplier for multiple top-ranked teams: Arizona (315 games missed) and San Francisco (220 games missed) both landed inside the Top 10. When availability is that shaky all season, it’s hard for any game to feel stable, no matter the result.
- Discipline issues consistently raised stress levels among top-ranked teams: A lot teams in the Top 10 averaged close to or above two penalties per game, including Dallas (2.59), the Giants (2.71), and Washington (2.41). Frequent flags and stalled drives kept games messy and kept fans tense.
How Fan Stress Was Measured
Fan stress isn’t just about wins and losses; it’s about how unstable games feel while they’re happening. To quantify that, The Action Network created a Fan Stress Index scored out of 100. Higher scores mean more stressful seasons for fans.
The index combines seven signals that tend to crank up the pressure over a full season:
- Overtime games: how often games were pushed beyond regulation
- Average winning margin: average point differential in wins only, showing how close victories stayed rather than pulling away, and this can be outweighed by penalties, injuries, or late-game volatility
- Turnovers per game: how often mistakes changed the momentum
- Penalties per game: accepted, drive-impacting penalties that disrupted possessions or extended opponents’ chances, not total flags thrown
- Close games: games with lead changes in the final five minutes
- Games missed to injury: total games lost to injury, reflecting sustained lineup instability over the season
- Fan negativity rate: the share of online fan discussion expressing frustration, adjusted for fanbase size
Most game-related metrics are measured per game across the season, while injuries and fan sentiment reflect season-long impact.
Each team’s Final Index scorereflectshow often these stressors showed up across the year, giving a single, easy-to-read measure of how emotionally demanding it was to follow that team in 2025.
Top 10 Most Stressed NFL Fan Bases in 2025
1. Dallas Cowboys
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 62.75
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 2
- Average winning margin: 10 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.24
- Penalties per game: 2.59
- Close games: 2
- Games missed to injury: 203
- Fan negativity rate: 8.60%
Dallas games had a habit of hanging around. Even when it looked like they were fine, the combination of mistakes and drive-killing penalties kept pulling things back into the danger zone. With 203 games missed to injury, there wasn’t much margin when something went wrong, and that’s how you end up sweating the fourth quarter more often than you’d like.
2. Indianapolis Colts
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 61.14
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 2
- Average winning margin: 16.13 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.35
- Penalties per game: 1.82
- Close games: 5
- Games missed to injury: 236
- Fan negativity rate: 10.30%
The Colts weren’t a “put it away early” kind of watch. Five close games tells the story: a lot of weeks came down to late possessions and late decisions. Then you tack on 236 games missed to injury, and it’s easy to see why even the better moments didn’t always feel steady.
3. New York Giants
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 60.99
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 2
- Average winning margin: 15.25 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.00
- Penalties per game: 2.71
- Close games: 4
- Games missed to injury: 243
- Fan negativity rate: 6.30%
Giants fans got the full “here we go again” package. The penalty rate (2.71 per game) kept stalling drives and extending opponents, and four close games meant you weren’t clocking out early. Add 243 games missed to injury, and little errors started to feel bigger as games wore on.
4. Arizona Cardinals
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 57.68
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 1
- Average winning margin: 7.33 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.24
- Penalties per game: 1.47
- Close games: 5
- Games missed to injury: 315
- Fan negativity rate: 6.80%
Arizona was tight-game living. The average winning margin (7.33 points) stayed slim, and five close games meant the late swings were always on the table. But the real stress amplifier was availability, 315 games missed to injury is the kind of number that makes every lead feel temporary.
5. Atlanta Falcons
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 57.61
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 2
- Average winning margin: 7.5 pointsTurnovers per game: 1.06
- Penalties per game: 1.88
- Close games: 4
- Games missed to injury: 193
- Fan negativity rate: 4.80%
Falcons fans lived in the in-between. The average winning margin was 7.5 points, so even wins didn’t create much breathing room, and four close games kept the pressure on late. Injuries (193 games missed) didn’t help either, because once you’re thin, every late-game snap feels heavier.
6. Chicago Bears
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 56.41
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 1
- Average winning margin: 8 points
- Turnovers per game: 0.65
- Penalties per game: 1.53
- Close games: 6
- Games missed to injury: 160
- Fan negativity rate: 5.00%
Six close games is a lot of “we’re doing this again?” The Bears weren’t turning it over much (0.65 per game), but that didn’t matter when so many games stayed within reach late. When you’re constantly one score away from a swing, the stress becomes the whole viewing experience.
7. Cincinnati Bengals
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 53.41
Stress profile
- Average winning margin: 12 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.41
- Penalties per game: 2.18
- Close games: 6
- Games missed to injury: 122
- Fan negativity rate: 11.50%
Cincinnati’s stress came from volatility, not overtime. Turnovers (1.41 per game) and penalties (2.18 per game) are the kind of combo that changes momentum fast, and six close games meant there wasn’t much runway to recover. If you’ve ever watched a number swing on one mistake late, you get it.
8. Washington Commanders
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 53.04
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 2
- Average winning margin: 12.8 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.35
- Penalties per game: 2.41
- Close games: 1
- Games missed to injury: 167
- Fan negativity rate: 13.20%
Washington didn’t need a bunch of close games to feel unstable. The overtime count (2) plus the turnovers (1.35 per game) and penalties (2.41 per game) tells you there were plenty of sudden momentum shifts. With 167 games missed to injury, that instability didn’t exactly calm down as the season went on.
9. New York Jets
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 52.55
Stress profile
- Average winning margin: 3.67 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.35
- Penalties per game: 1.24
- Close games: 3
- Games missed to injury: 203
- Fan negativity rate: 16.60%
This is the “nothing feels safe” profile. A 3.67 average winning margin is razor thin, and the fan negativity rate (16.60%) was the highest in the Top 10. Add 203 games missed to injury, and even the better results still came with that uneasy, one-play-away feeling.
10. San Francisco 49ers
Fan Stress Index (Out of 100): 52.26
Stress profile
- Overtime games: 1
- Average winning margin: 9.92 points
- Turnovers per game: 1.29
- Penalties per game: 1.35
- Close games: 3
- Games missed to injury: 220
- Fan negativity rate: 4.20%
For the 49ers, it wasn’t constant chaos. It was the accumulation. Three close games, 220 games missed to injury, and just enough mistakes (1.29 turnovers per game) to keep things from feeling clean. Even when the game script looked manageable, it still had a way of tightening up late.
The Least Stressed Fan Bases This Season
On the other side, a handful of teams gave their fans a much calmer weekly watch, even if the final results weren’t identical across the board. Fan bases like New England, the Rams, Detroit, and Tennessee lived near the bottom of the Fan Stress Index. Why? Cleaner play, fewer “wait, what just happened?” swings late, and not much overtime. Even when injuries showed up or the margins weren’t huge, these games usually felt more controlled.
One wrinkle: some of these fan bases were still pretty loud online. Tennessee (11.10%) stands out. So yeah, frustration can be real even when the on-field product isn’t putting you through the wringer every Sunday.
What Actually Drove Fan Stress the Most
A lot of the stress inputs moved around from team to team, but penalties were the clearest repeat offender. When a team is constantly handing out free yardage or wiping out plays, the whole game gets choppy. That’s stressful whether you’re a fan, or you’ve got a number that suddenly looks a lot less comfortable.
More disciplined teams generally brought the stress down. Fewer flags, fewer broken drives, fewer “we’re doing this again?” moments.
Why This Matters Heading Into the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the loudest, most compressed pressure test of the season. The Fan Stress Index helps frame what kind of pressure a team and its fans have already been living with all year. And because those habits usually don’t vanish on the biggest stage, teams that played volatile games all season can see that volatility show up again, just with more weight attached. Fans of steadier teams tend to come in with more confidence, because they’ve watched fewer games turn on one weird swing.
And either way, fans don’t check out. Even the most stressful seasons keep people locked in from kickoff to the last snap.
As the game gets closer, attention shifts to who’s trending the right way, and how fans are staying involved. If you’re following movement, you can check current Super Bowl odds and featured promotions, including offers available through the BetMGM bonus code.
Methodology: How the Fan Stress Index Was Measured
The Fan Stress Index measures how emotionally demanding it was to follow each NFL team during the 2025 season, focusing on how games felt, not just the final record.
The index combines seven indicators that track in-game tension and season-long uncertainty:
- Overtime games (higher = more stress). Number of games that went beyond regulation. More overtime games increase stress.
- Average winning margin (lower = more stress). Average point margin in wins only. Smaller margins mean wins stayed tense longer and increase stress.
- Turnovers per game (higher = more stress). Average turnovers committed per game. More turnovers create volatility and raise stress.
- Penalties per game (higher = more stress). Accepted, drive-impacting penalties per game. Frequent penalties disrupt game flow and elevate stress.
- Close games (higher = more stress). Games with lead changes in the final five minutes. More late changes increase stress.
- Games missed due to injury (higher = more stress). Total player games missed over the season. Higher totals reflect greater lineup instability.
- Fan negativity rate (higher = more stress). Share of online fan discussion expressing frustration. Higher rates indicate greater fan stress.
Each metric was standardized to allow fair comparison across teams. Metrics where lower values indicate higher stress, such as winning margin, were adjusted so higher scores consistently reflect greater fan stress.
Allseven factors were weighted equally and averaged into a single 0-100 Fan Stress Index score, balancing game volatility, lineup stability, and fan sentiment without over-prioritizing any one signal.
Data Sources
1. Game Data – Pro-Football Reference
Collected on a per-team, per-game basis:
- Overtime games
- Point margins in wins
- Turnovers
- Penalties conceded
- Close games (lead changes in the final five minutes)
2. Injury Data – Spotrac NFL Injuries
- Total player games missed per team, capturing season-long availability strain
3. Fan Sentiment Data – Reddit
- Team-specific subreddit comments analyzed using sentiment and keyword indicators
- Negative comment volume used as a proxy for fan frustration
- Sentiment adjusted to allow comparison across fanbases of different sizes
