In The Athletic’s inaugural NFL Hope-O-Meter survey, quarterback stability was synonymous with hope. The five fan bases wearing the rosiest-colored glasses ahead of the 2024 season boast either proven, in-their-prime veterans (Jared Goff in Detroit; Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City) or rising stars (Caleb Williams in Chicago; Jordan Love in Green Bay; C.J. Stroud in Houston) at quarterback.
On the other hand, almost anywhere there’s an unsettled or underwhelming quarterback situation, a grumpy fan base is following close behind. Nothing creates louder groans among a team’s supporters than a stop-gap situation at quarterback. |
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We left the question simple and open-ended: Are you optimistic about your team? Yes or no. The nearly 12,000 fans who responded were free to decide what that question meant to them.
Below, we’ve listed each team’s optimism score and precisely four reader responses, some of which were edited for clarity and length. |
Detroit fans are the most optimistic with 98.8% optimistic about 2024, barely edging out the Chiefs fans at 98.7%
Most of BBI must have responded for the Giants. Giants fans are the second lowest in optimism for 2024, with only 17.2%.
One quote each from each camp. Try to guess which BBI handle goes with each quote:
| Optimist Jay: I just have a feeling Daniel Jones is going into the season with a huge chip on his shoulder, knowing the Giants tried to trade up for Drake Maye. He needs to have a career year or he’s toast. They have improved the O-line and added wide receiver Malik Nabers. And believe it or not, I think losing Saquon Barkley will be addition by subtraction in that it will force the offense to move the ball around to others. If the young secondary steps up, the defense has a chance to be top 10. |
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| Pessimist Charles: Daniel Jones would struggle to quarterback an FCS school, let alone an NFL offense. Add this to the lack of depth in the secondary and the fact that we only have one good receiver, and a race to the bottom is likely. |
Jack Stroud must be "Jay"; not sure if Go Terps or bw in dc for "Charles". :-)
All kidding aside, hard to be optimistic after the last 12 years. However, I'll still be hoping and rooting until my hopes are dashed, hopefully not before Halloween again.
NFL Hope-O-Meter results: Ranking how optimistic fans are for all 32 teams - (
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We live in a time where I'd rather have Dolan as an owner than John. I didn't think much of Mara before 'Hard Knocks'...I came away thinking he's even more of a boob than I thought. & 'The Nephew'...Good Lord.
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that this is the worst run franchise in NY sports.
We live in a time where I'd rather have Dolan as an owner than John. I didn't think much of Mara before 'Hard Knocks'...I came away thinking he's even more of a boob than I thought. & 'The Nephew'...Good Lord.
God this Mara hate is so misplaced. I don't understand it.
Seems like a decent enough guy. Not at all a dirt bag like Dan Snyder, egomaniac like Jerry Jones or a complete loon like Jim Irsay.
Mara just doesn't instill a lot of confidence in his leadership abilities. The terrible stadium will be a bane for decades. Mara's football instincts seems poor at best.
The only real hope is that he hires the right guys (along with help from the Tisches) and then worries about the next medium Pepsi give away.
Pal, the Giants have been pretty much a joke for over a decade. Players go. Coaches go. GMs go. Scouts go. Other than Ronnie Barnes, the one constant is John Mara. So despite us losing, we should-per fans like you & shills like Papa & Banks-just STFU & enjoy our Medium Pepsi.
Casting call:
Malik Nabers as Luke
Kata Mara as Leia
Brian Burns as Han Solo
Dex as Chewie
Eli as Obi Wan
Micah Parsons as Darth Vader
Jerry Jones as Palpatine
Daniel Jones as C3PO
Brian Daboll as R2D2
Special guest John Mara as Jar Jar Binks
:-)
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In comment 16595207 Mike from SI said:
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that this is the worst run franchise in NY sports.
We live in a time where I'd rather have Dolan as an owner than John. I didn't think much of Mara before 'Hard Knocks'...I came away thinking he's even more of a boob than I thought. & 'The Nephew'...Good Lord.
God this Mara hate is so misplaced. I don't understand it.
What don't you understand about it?
It certainly seems that way. That's why I'm asking him to defend what he wrote. If he truly can't understand why we have antipathy for John Mara, I want to know why.
I think you can make the argument it was the worst run NFL team during the Gettleman years.
And bc of that, you just don't flip a switch.
Yes, the roster has been turned over and the cap has been fixed to sensibility. But this won't truly be a Daboll/Schoen team until they get the QB of their choosing.
Yes, I understand that they signed DJ to the deal. I understand the deal wasn't a good one. I believe that deal was a reflection of no other alternatives except to tank the following year by letting him walk and signing a Brissett. There is no way they could've done that after a playoff year. Even if they thought they could sell that to the fans, go back in time coming off that playoff run, you think Mara would sign off?
So ironically the playoff year screwed them.
So now, DJ either makes the most miraculous career turnaround of all-time or they will get their chance to replace him after this season, betting the latter and looking forward to it.
I'm critical of Mara, but I find it annoying when people gloss over 2007 and 2011 like it was some fluke. Fuck that. NYG is still the most recent NY sports franchise to have won a title.
Not defending Mara, but it's unfair just to ignore that too.