What is the NFL's Equivalent Rivalry? (1 Viewer)

[Saints4Real]

So I was watching a special last night on the Jerry Buss (Lakers Owner)passing, and it was mentioned that the Lakers-Celtic games have been the biggest rivalry in the NBA for a long time. Which then made me think about baseball, you have the Red Sox-Yankees that goes back as far as baseball and continues today. So what is the equivalent in the NFL? Is there a matchup that would get put in the catagory of those two rivalries? I can think Raiders-Chiefs, Cowboys-Skins, Bears-Packers but even those to me dont have the same feeling as the NBA and MLB rivalries. Thoughts?

 

[insidejob]

Giants and Philly has a ton of hate. Always has too.

 

[Saint_Kyle]

I don't think any of them are as well defined and extraordinary as Lakers-Celtics..


Nor do I feel the MLB is that way, since they don't have a salary cap so Boston and New York were able to constantly be at the top by spending the most.

 

[DomeFome]

Bears-Packers was the first one that came to mind for me. You have to remember that MLB and NBA play a ton more games, so by default there's more history in those leagues than the NFL.

For more recent ones and to avoid homerism, I'd say the Ravens-Steelers has provided some of the most entertaining, physical games and would be on the short list for the best of this generation.

 

[SuperQuincy]

To much parity in the NFL and its to popular in each city. People in the gulf region care about the Saints, and the NFC South. They couldn't care less if the steelers are playing the ravens, they are watching their Saints game.

I think New England VS. Indy had a decent rivalry for awhile, but that has faded with Manning going to Denver.

The Saints vs. Atlanta is huge for us. There are the division rivals especially in the NFC East. Lotta bad blood between those teams. Jets vs. Pats is a big game up here. Steelers vs Ravens.

But Bird's Celtics vs. Magic's Lakers met in the finals for what felt like an entire decade. The NBA was those 2 guys. They saved basketball, and the NBA ran with it. Everyone in the country was getting sold Celtics vs. Lakers, Bird vs. Magic. They would be the only teams on prime time in the 80's. The NBA would open up with the Celtics on the east coast at 8 (5pm PST), and close with the lakers on the west coast at 8 (11p.m. est)

The NFL will never be sold on just 2 teams like the NBA was in the 80's. So you probably won't see anything like that in the NFL.

Yankees vs. Red Sox is a huge because those teams are in the same division in 2 giant media markets, and they both spend a billion dollars fielding teams filled with superstars.

 

[duhonmark551]

With football the injury rate is high and the careers are shorter and the salary cap is the great equalizer among NFL teams. Most NFL teams could care less about rivalries and spend all their efforts trying to get to the playoffs and the championship.

The way the league sets up the game schedules, you may only have the Jets and Giants play once every four years. So many geographical rivalries just don't happen. Even division rivalries are only two games per year so who can get very excited about a 1-1 split.

Baseball is the most apt to develop rivalries because the season is so long; you might have 'good games' in a rivalry against your nemesis, and consider it a statement if you sweep a series in April. It doesn't need to have much bearing on the playoff picture as the season still has a long ways to go.

 

[Proximo]

Never heard of lakers celtics being a huge rivalry so I wouldn't say it is implicit that everyone knows it. Yankees red sox is probably bigger.

 

[ASaintFerLife]

]Never heard of lakers celtics being a huge rivalry[/B] so I wouldn't say it is implicit that everyone knows it. Yankees red sox is probably bigger.

I guess I could see that, sorta, but to me Lakers Celtics takes the cake, I agree Yankees - Sox is huge as well, hard to choose, Lakers/Celtics I am much more familar with as I watched them all in my youth.

To me those 2 are 100% identifiable as Iconic, in NFL, UHHHH, the best I can come up within NFC is Skins/Dallas for a LONGGG time hated rivials(at least it was the 19 years I lived in the DC Metro), AFC I guess would be Baltimore and Pittsburg.

As far as Hockey, I been to a few prefessional games, but just never got into it, respectively.

 

[imnosaint]

For the the best equivalent during the Superbowl era it might be Steelers-Cowboys. Like the Celts and Lakers they're in different sides of the bracket, championship-wise, and don't play each other all that often during the regular season. For a good chunk of the 70s and again in the 90s there was a decent chance one or the other would end up in the big game. When they met up in the 'Bowl, the two (usually obnoxious, though I grew up liking the Steelers) fanbases would bring a little extra to the party.

That being said, it's really the divisional rivalries that drive the NFL.

And don't forget, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry was going pretty strong well before Bird-Magic. They met up six times in the finals in the 60s with Bill Russell's Celtics usually, though not always, taking out the Lakers, before and after Wilt.

 

[BSC504]

Cowboys / Redskins?

I'm thinking the whole cowboys and indians thing has been going on for a while but not sure about top NFL rivalry.

 

[rob22278]

It's obviously Jacksonville vs Buffalo.

/End thread

 

[TechDawg09]

I like that the nationally relevant NFL rivalries cycle. For example, I like what's brewing between Seattle and San Francisco right now.

Jets/Pats is a big rivalry because of Boston/NYC...but the Jets suck. Packers/Bears is generally regarded as the most historical, but it's not that big of a deal compared to other divisional rivalries.

But Lakers/Celtics was all about championships, not regular season wins. Imagine if the Super Bowl was Dallas/Pittsburgh or Giants/Pats for 7 out of 10 years or something...then it would be comparable

 

[JimmyB1775]

If I had to pick one that has been around for a while, its New England and Miami. But Miami is irrelevant. There's the toothless rivalry that exists between the NFC East and the NFC East.

 

[mambodeath]

Yankees/Red Sox cannot be a rivalry...Does a hammer and a nail have a rivalry?

 

[SaintArchieManning]

No NFL rivalry can touch Lakers-Celtics.

There has never been a similar situation in the NFL where the same 2 teams kept meeting up in the Final game/series for a long period of time.

Basically, it requires a double-dynasty, from teams on opposite sides of the conference alignment.

 

[RockyMtnSaint]

No NFL rivalry can touch Lakers-Celtics.

There has never been a similar situation in the NFL where the same 2 teams kept meeting up in the Final game/series for a long period of time.

Basically, it requires a double-dynasty, from teams on opposite sides of the conference alignment.

I agree there's no cross-conference rivalry that matches Lakers - Celtics. For a while, there was Colts - Patriots and in hockey for a while there was Red Wings - Avalanche but neither of those has the longevity or history of Lakers - Celtics. Too much parity in football for two teams to be that dominant in their respective conferences for that long.