Annual NFL Poll

PPP's second annual poll on Americans' favorite NFL teams finds a tie at the top. 12% each pick the Cowboys and Packers as their favorite team, followed by the Broncos and Bears at 10%, Giants and Steelers at 8%, Patriots at 6%, Saints at 5%, and Redskins at 4%.

That actually represents a pretty big drop for fans picking the Packers as their favorite team from last year's version of this survey, when 22% chose them. That was while the team was still undefeated and coming off of a Super Bowl championship, and evidently a lot of folks have jumped off the bandwagon since then. The only other team that's had its support drop is the Saints, who have gone from 7% listing them as their favorite last year to now 5%.

The party breakdown on favorite team is interesting. The Bears actually come out first among Democrats at 15%- are they following the lead of their President? The Cowboys are tops among Republicans at 17%, and the Packers are in the top spot with independents at 18%.

There's still no contest when it comes to the country's most hated NFL team. 18% pick the Cowboys to 11% for the Bears, 10% for the Patriots, 8% for the Broncos, 7% for the Steelers, 5% for the Redskins, and 4% each for the Packers, Giants, and Saints. Hating the Cowboys is one of the rare things that can bring Americans together across party lines- Democrats, Republicans, and independents all say that they're their least favorite franchise.

32% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Cowboys to 37% with a negative opinion, numbers that pale in comparison to the Packers' 55/15 favorability spread. When asked who they would root for in a head to head between the Cowboys and Packers, 50% say the Packers to 27% for the Cowboys. Whether the Cowboys still really deserve the 'America's Team' label is an open question.

We also looked at who people's favorite Quarterbacks in the NFL are and it's all about the Mannings. Eli Manning comes out in first place at 17%, with his brother Peyton right behind him at 16%. Tim Tebow, who was first in this poll last year, drops to 3rd place at 14%. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are each at 10%, followed by Drew Brees at 9%, Ben Roethlisberger at 5%, Michael Vick at 4%, and Tony Romo at 3%.

The already very popular Mannings have just become even more so over the last year. Eli (from 14% to 17%) and Peyton (from 12% to 16%) were the only folks we tested to have more people pick them as their favorite QB this year than last year. They're also the two most popular as measured by net favorability with Peyton at +52 (60/8) and Eli at +49 (58/9).

Michael Vick continues to easily be the least popular NFL QB. 27% pick him to 15% for Ben Roethlisberger. No one else hits double digits on that front. Roethlisberger (24/30) and Vick (21/47) are also the only folks we looked at who have negative favorability ratings. Vick may very well be one of the most racially polarizing public figures in the country- he polls very well with African Americans (54/16) and very poorly with whites (13/55).

Full results here

Comments

[Tommy]

Another win for the Packers!

[Jay]

Go broncos

[Puker]

I really don't like the pukers

[John]

As a fan of the San Francisco 49ers, I'm not too crazy about the Dallas Cowboys or the Green Bay Packers.

[Tim]

Cowboys all day never a ban waggen fan I love my team