What breaks an NFL fan? Losing, sure. Missing the playoffs year after year can grind away at your heart. But what breaks your soul is losing hope, having glory right there in front of you only to see it snatched away, watching as your bitter rivals celebrate the sweet, sweet victory that’s denied you.

Here, we run down the definitive list of the most tortured fanbases in the NFL for 2018, the broken armadas that root year after year, so often in vain. (Here’s last year’s run.) Remember: “broken” doesn’t mean “bad.” No, we’re talking broken in spirit, not body. “Broken” means you’ve been conditioned to expect less, you’ve had years (or decades, or half-centuries) of failure piled atop your poor overloaded shoulders, trauma upon trauma so vast that a wild-card playoff exit feels like a Super Bowl victory. We do this not to mock, but to sympathize. You deserve better, NFL fans, and accepting that you’re broken is the first step.

Steel your hearts. Let’s begin.

What? The ever-devoted Packer legions? The faithful on the frozen tundra? How could that fanbase be broken? They’re all owners of the franchise, as they’ll tell you within thirty seconds of meeting you? Yeah, yeah, but here’s a question for the esteemed owners of the Green Bay Packers: you’ve had two of the greatest quarterbacks in history in uniform for the last quarter-century, and how many Super Bowls have you won? … Exactly. Green Bay’s high on its own supply, and memories of Bart Starr are obscuring the fact that their time with Aaron Rodgers is slipping away.

Last year’s Broken Fanbase ranking: N/A

Last Super Bowl won: 2010

Yahoo Sports preseason ranking: 8th

Look, the fact that Marvin Lewis still has a job despite never winning a playoff game in 15 years in Cincinnati is proof enough either that this fanbase is too forgiving or that team ownership is too nice. Cincinnati won its final game of the season last year, a miraculous last-second Andy Dalton prayer-throw victory over the Baltimore Ravens, and that’s apparently enough to keep the Bengal fandom happy and moderately hopeful. It shouldn’t be.

Last year’s Broken Fanbase ranking: 9th

Last Super Bowl won: N/A

Yahoo Sports preseason ranking: 27th

We sliced the San Diego and St. Louis fanbases from our rankings last year, and sadly, Oakland’s on the way out too. The arrival of Jon Gruden is a terrible tease for these long-suffering folk; either he’ll be great and Oakland will be shipping its prize team to Vegas, or he’ll be terrible and Oakland will suffer through yet more godawful football. There is absolutely no way any of this ends well for the Oakland fanbase.

Last year’s Broken Fanbase ranking: N/A

Last Super Bowl won: 1983

Yahoo Sports preseason ranking: 19th

To some extent, the Bears themselves have an impossible task: to measure up to the legendary teams of yore that still dance in the dreams of Chicago fans far and wide. This year’s model could go 16-0, disembowel the Packers, dismember the Vikings, and scare the Patriots into forfeiting the Super Bowl and they’d still rank behind the 1985 team in the hearts of Bears loyalists. Spoiler: this year’s team isn’t going to do that. And the sad thing is, the fanbase would be happy if the Bears don’t accidentally set Mitchell Trubisky on fire during a Gatorade shower.

Last year’s Broken Fanbase ranking: 8th

Last Super Bowl won: 1985, of course

Yahoo Sports preseason ranking: 26th

You know the story here: guys in the conversation for best running back and best receiver in NFL history played here, and Detroit won nada. It’s a cautionary tale for Green Bay, sure, but it’s a long, plodding nightmare for Lions fans. Matthew Stafford, he of the everybody-go-long-and-get-open mentality, is back, and that always gives hope. But unless Hope can run for 150 yards a game and open up the offense, Detroit fans are once again going to content themselves with … well, nothing, really.

Last year’s Broken Fanbase ranking: 6

Last championship won: 1957

Yahoo Sports preseason ranking: 16th

View photos We know how it feels. (Getty) More