What are the two best rivalries in the NFL?

[saturdaysarebetter]

What are the two best rivalries in the NFL? I would think there would be a lot of Steelers-Ravens responses if I asked for only one so that's why I asked what are the two best rivalries in the NFL.

[86WARD]

Steelers/Ravens isn’t as hype as it was even a couple seasons ago but it’s still at the top of the list.

[Born2Steel]

My personal favorite was always the Steelers/Browns. Then the Browns became the Ravens so my rival moved and changed names but still remained my favorite rivalry in all sports. Now it has become a big hug fest and I don't like it that much.

Best rivalry in the NFL is still Packers/Bears. It's been one-sided for a while now but it is always a slugfest like a rivalry should be.

2nd one is tough. Maybe Raiders/Chiefs still has some meanness to it. Cowboys/Eagles is a good one. Really take your pick of NFC East matchups and it's a good rivalry.

I'm going to go with one purely based on the fan base around me and say the 2nd best rivalry in the NFL is the Saints/Falcons. They have been playing one another in division since their franchises started. The fan base hates the other team passionately. No trading jerseys or riding around in cars for these guys. It's all about the rivalry there.

SO....Best rivalry in NFL = Bears/Packers, 2nd best rivalry in NFL = Saints/Falcons.

[Fire Goodell]

Packers / Bears and KC / Denver (currently)

[steelreserve]

They kind of fucked up most rivalries when they went to the auto-generated schedule. You can't really have them outside your own division anymore, and the constant up-and-down of the hard salary cap means there is hardly any consistency in the ability of any two teams from year to year, either one could become a doormat at any time. Steelers-Ravens is probably about as good as it gets for two teams with long-lived success, but it's not like some of the real powerhouse rivalries I remember from the '80s and '90s.

[Craic]

They kind of fucked up most rivalries when they went to the auto-generated schedule. You can't really have them outside your own division anymore, and the constant up-and-down of the hard salary cap means there is hardly any consistency in the ability of any two teams from year to year, either one could become a doormat at any time. Steelers-Ravens is probably about as good as it gets for two teams with long-lived success, but it's not like some of the real powerhouse rivalries I remember from the '80s and '90s.

I don't know, I'd say the Steelers Ravens were pretty much a similar powerhouse rivalry until 2010 or so, Maybe even a bit later than that. Other than that, however, you're probably right. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the NFL drop one of the four preseason games and then go to nine divisional games plus eight games, either against two other full divisions (i.e. Steelers play AFCN 3x, AFCW 1x NFCW 1x) or for those eight games, play the same ranked teams in every division. I'd also give them another bye week. However, I'd set the games up so they start out the first three games against division opponents, then a bye week for half the teems, and the next week the other half gets a bye. Then, go play the other games. Before the last six weeks, all teams get a bye again (either the week or two weeks before). From there, the rest of the games are all divisional games. Moreover, the winner of the previous series between divisional teams in the previous year gets the third and final game at home for that year.

Wanna escalate rivalries? That'd do it!

[Crow-Magnon]

For football fans in other areas (especially with no franchise of their own), I would bet Ravens-Steelers is circled for watching more than most. To me, that’s a rivalry. KC vs Denver may be a good rivalry, but I don’t hear that many say “Ooh! Two more weeks to the Chiefs-Broncos game!”

[steelreserve]

I don't know, I'd say the Steelers Ravens were pretty much a similar powerhouse rivalry until 2010 or so, Maybe even a bit later than that. Other than that, however, you're probably right. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the NFL drop one of the four preseason games and then go to nine divisional games plus eight games, either against two other full divisions (i.e. Steelers play AFCN 3x, AFCW 1x NFCW 1x) or for those eight games, play the same ranked teams in every division. I'd also give them another bye week. However, I'd set the games up so they start out the first three games against division opponents, then a bye week for half the teems, and the next week the other half gets a bye. Then, go play the other games. Before the last six weeks, all teams get a bye again (either the week or two weeks before). From there, the rest of the games are all divisional games. Moreover, the winner of the previous series between divisional teams in the previous year gets the third and final game at home for that year.

Wanna escalate rivalries? That'd do it!

I really wish they'd just throw out the way they do the schedule now with the divisional rotations, and have all the non-division opponents drawn at random except for two or three per team that are picked by humans, on purpose, for the specific goal of creating the most exciting games - and fuck whatever it does to the tiebreakers. Relative strength from year to year is so random anyway that the robotic schedule does nothing to help the fairness of it. So the hell with that.

Like - Steelers-Cowboys was a great rivalry that simply could not exist under the current rules. Steelers-Raiders would only be slightly less problematic. Or like in the '80s, every year 49ers-Giants, Bears-Giants, Redskins-Bears and stuff of that nature were all games you looked forward to ... or you had like the Dolphins-Broncos-Oilers-Bills all competing against each other in the AFC, and the players remembered each other and were extra fired up for the game. Same thing when the 49ers, Cowboys and Packers all played each other almost every year in the 1990s. It just doesn't quite work when you face teams once every three years and by then half of the players are different.

While the scheduling rule by itself is just a silly little thing to be bothered over, it does fit into the overall trend I see driving crappy decisions leaguewide: Namely, "fairness gone too far" and the death of common sense. It started little by little with things like this and has snowballed into this unstoppable force that has sterilized and over-engineered the game to death.

[Born2Steel]

What are the two best rivalries in the NFL? I would think there would be a lot of Steelers-Ravens responses if I asked for only one so that's why I asked what are the two best rivalries in the NFL.

Did you have favorites in this discussion when you started the thread or you want us to guess?

[cold-hard-steel]

The Allegheny Athletic Association-vs-The Pittsburgh Athletic Club stands out for me.

[st33lersguy]

Steelers-Rats is the big one, always fierce. The other one, Gaints-Eagles, always fierce, so many great moments, two teams that hate each other. Even last year, when the Eagles were Super Bowl champs and the Giants were 3-13, the two games were decided by a combined 8 points

[Fire Goodell]

For football fans in other areas (especially with no franchise of their own), I would bet Ravens-Steelers is circled for watching more than most. To me, that’s a rivalry. KC vs Denver may be a good rivalry, but I don’t hear that many say “Ooh! Two more weeks to the Chiefs-Broncos game!”

Maybe to us, but average fans don't think so. I believe that Sunday night game had a season low for viewers for a Sunday night game.

[teegre]

For a while there, it was definitely Ravens-Steelers. But, much like how the Colts-Taperiots rivalry eventually waned, so has our rivalry. Seahawks-Niners was good for about 5 seasons, but now, meh.

Currently... hmmm...

I gotta say it is Falcons-Saints.

Two very good QBs. Division rivalry. The most face-offs between two QBs (Ryan vs. Brees) in NFL history.

[Butch]

IMHO it's still Steelers vs Ravens - The games are rarely blowouts and in many cases come down to the last second.

Bears Packers is the oldest and therefor a sentimental favorite, but hasn't really been competitive until this year. I think that's a good thing for football

Saints Falcons These 2 are almost always evenly matched

Old rivalries
Steelers Raiders - not what it used to be
Steelers Cowboys - not what it used to be
Cowboys Skins - not what it used to be