Times like these, I'm glad to be a football fan. Not because the draft is tomorrow. Not because the season is only a few months away. Not even because cheerleader tryouts are starting, and I get an inside peek at the contestants.
It's because football fans never stop trash talking each other. Plain and simple.
After much deliberation, I think I have finally found a way to make everyone happy. For the record, this doesn't include the rivalries of yesteryear. This includes the rivalries that still fume in the pits of one's stomach. It includes those rivalries that make one cringe at the very mutter of the opposition's name.
No my friends, this includes the rivalries that caused the most buzz during this competition. So with that being said, here is the Top 10 Best Rivalries of the NFL.
#10 Cleveland Browns-Baltimore Ravens
#9 Jacksonville Jaguars-Carolina Panthers
#8 Cincinnati Bengals-Cleveland Browns
#7 New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts
#6 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams-San Francisco 49ers
Now that the bottom 10 are in, let's take a look at the Top 5, and why they're there.
#5 Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears
This rivalry is self explanatory. It may not have as much hype as the college football rivalries, but it still has enough wick to light a candle under any Packers/Bears fan. Since 1921, Green Bay has had to lock horns with the Monsters of Midway, and every time has either been a classic or a blowout. Still people boast with pride of how great their team is to this day.
Originally known as the Staleys, the Chicago franchised took the first meeting 20-0 from Green Bay on November 27, 1921. Since that time, the two teams have battled for more than just bragging rights. The eventual champion of the league usually emerged from these two titans of terror.
In 1925, the Bears fell to Green Bay for the first time 14-10 on September 27, 1925 in their fourth meeting of the regular season. Seven years later, the Packers fell short of their fourth straight championship when NFL did not count ties.
Fast forward three decades with some change, and the Bears-Packers rivalry still has the fire that it had since their initial meeting. This is why they are the #5 ranked best rivalry.
#4 St. Louis Rams-Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks played the Rams only once while in the AFC, and even that game left people breathless. After the 37-34 shootout in Seattle, many wondered if these two titans would meet up once more. Their prayers and thoughts were answered one year later.
On May 22, 2001, the Seahawks returned to the NFC when they filled the last spot in the NFC West. Little did anyone know, this would start something major in that division. Every single time these two teams meet, playoff implications are right around the corner. Since the turn of the century, and the Patriots' dominance over the NFL, the Rams and 'Hawks have been to the Super Bowl.
In any event, the division winner seems to always be between these two juggernauts, and no one is complaining whatsoever about that...unless you're the 49ers. Still this series that has flip flopped between the AFC and NFC still holds a fire everytime the two teams collide during the regular season.
The only question left is: What will happen if these two meet in the playoffs?
#3 NFC East
There was much criticism in regards to why there were several rivalries not in this list that came from the Beasts of the NFC East. So to make it a fair deal, I decided to include the entire division because all four teams know how to duel.
Like the dangerous elbows of Rasheed Wallace, and the frame of Bill Laimbeer, the NFC East has managed to do what no other division has done: Have all four members of this division make it to the Super Bowl. Out of the four, three of them have won it, and the lone goose egg of the bunch has come pretty close.
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