Cowboys fans severely overreacted after the loss to the Indianapolis Colts

All season long we’ve been tracking each fan base’s confidence in their respective team with SB Nation’s FanPulse tool. As of late the confidence with Cowboys fans was on the rise.

Since the confidence level was last gauged, the Dallas Cowboys lost 23-0 in Indianapolis. It was a rough loss that definitely warrants some concern and criticism, but it also meant that confidence would likely diminish.

As fate would have it the confidence of Cowboys fans not only dipped down, it almost did an about face in the other direction. We’ve seen sharp turns upwards and downwards all season here and despite winning five games in a row leading up to Indy, there was a radical drop.

What’s particularly interesting, and a symptom of prisoner-of-the-moment behavior, is that both the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles fan bases are more confident than the Cowboys. Why is this interesting? The Dallas Cowboys lead the NFC East and can win it by beating a 5-9 team (the Buccaneers or Giants). Losing in Indianapolis really did a number on Cowboys fans.

In fact Cowboys fans lost more confidence in their team than another NFC East team who was shut out in Week 15, the New York Giants. Dallas dipped 30% in confidence while the G-Men only fell 25%. Cowboys fans freaked out more than anyone.

For what it’s worth, FanPulse also calculated a point spread of sorts for each fan base and Cowboys fans believe that the team will defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by five points on Sunday. So while things might be a little loose right now, the apparent impending win on Sunday should re-calibrate things on the more optimistic side of the spectrum.