Google Trends: Who Is America's Most Popular NFL Team?

Over the years, debate has spread as to who America's team truly is. Is it the Dallas Cowboys? What about the New England Patriots. Or could a surprise team be in the mix like the Oakland Raiders. With the help of Google Trends, I intend to clear up the air and solve once and for all "Who is America's Team?"

Over the next couple of slides I will start by putting each division against each other. Then the winner of each division will be put into the "playoff round" with all the other division's in their conference. And finally we will have the Superbowl of Google trends as we put the best of the NFC and the best of the AFC together.

All trends will be measured from 2004-Now, and it will purely be the team with the highest numbers moves on.

AFC North

1) Pittsburgh Steelers - Red
2)Cleveland Browns - Green
3)Baltimore Ravens - Orange
4)Cincinnati Bengals - Light Blue

This was actually a very close match between the Browns and the Steelers. What put the Steelers over the edge was their two Super Bowls. One surprising thing to note is in Cleveland, OH there are more Steeler fans than there are Bengals fans. 

So the Steelers move on to the next round, congradulations. 

AFC East

1) New England Patriots - Light Blue
2) Miami Dolphins - Orange
3) Buffalo Bills - Red
4) New York Jets - Green 

This was a very close matchup between New England and Miami. Once again the Super Bowls seemed to be the deciding factor of what put the #1 team on top. One extra bit of information is if this was Canada's team, the Buffalo Bills would have blown everyone out. 

The New England Patriots move on, congrats.

AFC South

1) Indianapolis Colts - Light Blue
2) Houston Texans - Green
3) Tennessee Titans - Red
4) Jacksonville Jaguars - Orange

 Finally there is a blowout. The Colts ran away with this one, however the bottom three teams were pretty close. It is interesting that the three winners so far have all won a Superbowl. Another interesting fact, Nashville, TN is the 6th most popular place for the Indianapolis Colts. I guess Peyton has something to do with that.

The Indianapolis Colts move on, congratulations.

AFC West

1) Denver Broncos - Green
2) Oakland Raiders - Light Blue
3) San Diego Chargers - Red
4) Kansas City Chiefs - Orange

Finally a team who hasn't won the Superbowl in the past 6 years wins their division. Surprisingly it wasn't even close. Beforehand, I thought for sure the Raiders and Chargers would challenge each other for first place. 

The Denver Broncos move on, congratulations. 

NFC North

1) Chicago Bears
2) Green Bay Packers
3) Minnesota Vikings
4) Detroit Lions

Another surprising win. I thought for sure the Packers would be the favorites in the NFC North, but then I remembered how there are Bears fans everywhere. The Bears even win over Canada even though the other three teams are closer to the border. 

The Chicago Bears move on, congratulations. 

NFC East

1) Dallas Cowboys - Light Blue
2) Philadelphia Eagles - Green
3) New York Giants - Red
4) Washington Redskins - Orange 

The Dallas Cowboys took this fight hands down having over double what the Eagles had and four times as many as the Giants and Redskins had. When it comes to the NFC East, there is no contest who the favorite is.

The Dallas Cowboys move on, congratulations.

NFC South

1) New Orleans Saints - Light Blue
2) Carolina Panthers - Green
3) Atlanta Falcons - Red
4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Orange

This was a pretty close fight all the way around. The New Orleans Saints just edged out the Panthers, and this was probably due to the recent Super Bowl win.  I was actually very surprised the Panthers did so well in this matchup. The biggest suprise to me is how there were very few spikes in this matchup. This is a relatively quiet division.

The New Orleans Saints move on, congratulations.

NFC West

1) Seattle Seahawks - Red
2) Arizona Cardinals - Blue
3) San Francisco 49ers - Orange
4) St. Louis Rams - Green

I was very surprised the 49ers didn't take this one, but I guess the Super Bowl appearances had something to do with it once again. The Seahawks just  barely edged out the Cardinals and took the crown of the NFC West.

The Seattle Seahawks move on, congratulations. 

Recap

So here is a recap of the standings:

AFC:
Indianapolis Colts
New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos

NFC:
Dallas Cowboys
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears 

Now its time to see who your Google Trends champion will be.

AFC Championship

1) Pittsburgh Steelers
2) New England Patriots
3) Denver Broncos
4) Indianapolis Colts

Wow this was an incredibly close match. I was actually surprised by the outcome. At first glance it had seemed that the New England Patriots had won it, but that was worldwide trends. When I sectioned it off into United States only, the Steelers edged out the Patriots to become America's AFC team.

Congrats Steelers.  

NFC Championship

1) Dallas Cowboys - Orange
2) Chicago Bears - Green
3) New Orleans Saints - Red
4) Seattle Seahawks - Blue

This was pretty much a battle of two powerhouses as the Bears went up against the Cowboys. But the Cowboys were just to much for the Bears to handle as they were almost twice as popular. So the Cowboys are off to challenge the Steelers for America's team, but for now the Cowboys can take pride in being America's NFC team.

Congratulations Cowboys.  

And America's Team Is...

Rick Stewart/Getty Images

28 Jan 1996: Defensive back Deion Sanders of the Dallas Cowboys (left) breaks up a pass intended for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Yancey Thigpen during Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Cowboys won the game, 27-17. Mandator

A rematch of Super Bowl XXX took place in the battle for America's team. And like in Super Bowl XXX, the Cowboys ran away with it. It was not even a close match as the Cowboys were almost three times as popular as the Steelers. It was a good run Steelers, but the truth is the Cowboys are still America's team.