FanPulse: Getting beat by a tanking division rival is apparently bad for Chargers’ fans’ confidence

Plenty of you here at Bolts From The Blue have been taking part in the ongoing fan confidence surveys since last year. This is part of SB Nation’s FanPulse tool, which sends weekly questions to the city’s most hardcore fans via email.

If you are interested in joining the Chargers FanPulse, please sign up here.

Trends

• At the end of last season, 76 percent of Chargers fans reported confidence in the team’s direction. After free agency, that number climbed to 81 percent.
• Prior to the draft, only 71 percent of fans were confident in the direction of the team. After the draft, that number jumped all the way to 88 percent.
• By preseason Week 1, that number had fallen again to 78 percent confidence. That number fell off a cliff as we approached the regular season all the way down to 59 percent.
• Following the Chargers’ Week 1 overtime win against the Colts, 58 percent of Chargers fans remain confident in the direction of the team. That difference is small enough to be considered holding steady.
• With a loss to the Lions in Week 2, fan confidence was shattered, and it now sits at 20 percent.
• With another loss, this time to the Texans, fan confidence sits at 17 percent.
• Getting back to .500 has the fan confidence climbing all the way to 41 percent.
• Apparently, losing at home to a team that was talking about embracing the tank days before you played them is not good for confidence, and ours has fallen to a new low of 12 percent.

Prior to getting to take on Anthony Lynn’s Chargers at their really nice Double-A stadium, the Broncos were coming to terms with the likelihood of their first 0-5 start. There was real talk happening about whether they should trade away everyone they could to build through next year’s draft. Then, the Chargers showed up and ruined their unintentional tanking with one of the worst performances we have ever seen (and as Chargers fans we have seen some really bad performances).

All fan bases were asked who the leader in the NFL MVP race was as of today...

Yes, that’s a running back taking the poll down with a plurality. Granted, Christian McCaffrey is on pace for something like 2,700 scrimmage yards or something equally absurd, but it is interesting to see people ready to hand out the MVP to a non-quarterback. It’s most likely that two passers immediately behind him in the results are the ones actually dueling for that award by season’s end, but Patrick Mahomes is dinged up and Russell Wilson does play for Pete Carroll who seems intent on holding back his franchise QB from true greatness, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.