List of NFL rivalries
As with all sports leagues, there are several significant rivalries between teams and notable players in the National Football League. Rivalries are occasionally created due to a particular event that causes bad blood between teams, players, coaches, or owners, but for the most part, they arise simply due to the frequency with which some teams play each other and sometimes exist for geographic reasons.
Rivalries in the NFL are commonly recognized as such by fans and players alike. While many rivalries are well established, others are of more recent vintage, accepted as existing by the nature of the competition and history between the two teams. Other rivalries have fallen by the wayside due to league realignment and a reduction in frequency of meetings. Many modern rivalries are formed simply due to the two teams being within the same division.Foundation
Purely geographic rivalries are rare in the NFL, since crosstown rivals do not play each other nearly as often as in other leagues that have more games and place teams closest to each other into the same divisions.
For example, until the 2022 season, Major League Baseball teams face each league opponent at least six times in the regular season, and within a division as many as 19 times, while the National Hockey League scheduling policies in the 21st century ensured at least eight games with division rivals and ensured the two areas with multiple teams had all of the teams in one area in the same division. In recent years, the NFL changed its scheduling formula to ensure every possible matchup happens within four years, excluding pre-season games or the Super Bowl.
A main factor in the fact that crosstown rivals are almost always in opposing conferences is because of history: in the two current markets that have two NFL teams, both have one team that was a member of the American Football League.
As part of the AFL–NFL merger, all AFL teams had to be retained, even if it meant multiple teams in one metropolitan area: this was not a major issue, as the Raiders and San Francisco 49ers served separate parts of their metropolitan areas separated by San Francisco Bay, and the New York market, the most populous in the United States, supported two or more NFL teams through the 1930s and 1940s. Only in Los Angeles, which was home to the Rams until the Raiders relocated there in 1982, coincidentally; both teams endured poor ownership and financial issues contributing to their relocation in 1995.
The newly merged league opted not to go through an extensive geographical realignment: instead, the AFL formed most of the AFC, with a few existing NFL teams joining the new AFC and the rest of the old NFL forming the basis of the NFC. As a result, each team ended up in an opposite conference from their crosstown rival. This allowed the combined league to retain both existing television partnerships of each league instead of choosing one or the other.
NFL policy currently requires any teams who play in the same metropolitan area to play in opposite conferences: in the event of any relocation causing two teams from the same conference to share a metropolitan area, one of the two teams must move to the other conference.Categories
Division rivals
Games between opponents in the same NFL division. Since 2002, there are 32 teams in eight divisions of four teams each. Each team plays each division opponent twice in the regular season for a total of six regular season games out of 17 total. Occasionally, two teams will play three times in a year if they meet again in the playoffs. The Chiefs, Colts, Cowboys, Packers, Dolphins, and Steelers are the only teams with winning records against all of their current division rivals for rivalries going back at least 20 years. Conversely, the Browns, Chargers, Jaguars, Lions, and Jets are the only teams with a losing record against all of their current division rivals for rivalries going back at least 20 years.Conference rivals
Teams do not play a given conference opponent from outside their division more than once during the regular season. However, they may meet again in the playoffs. The NFL schedules divisions to play against each other on a rotating basis, so that every team from one division will play every team from another division, for a total of four games per team. Each team will also play one team from each of the remaining two divisions within the conference that finished in the same divisional standing position in the prior year, for a total of 96 intra-conference games. Conference games are often important, as a team's record in common games, as well as its overall record against its conference, is sometimes used as a tiebreaker for playoff seeding at the end of the regular season. Also, many regular season opponents have met again in the playoffs, and the result of a regular season game can affect where the playoff game will be played. Conference rivals will play each other at least once every three years in the regular season, and as frequently as once every year depending on record, and can play each other in the preseason. Furthermore, the league also schedules divisional pairings games on a six-year cycle so any particular team will both host and visit any given team in a paired division/conference within six years.Inter-conference
Teams do not play a given inter-conference opponent more than once during the season unless they are to meet up in the Super Bowl. The NFL schedules inter-conference divisions to play each other exactly once on a rotating basis within a four-year cycle, or as frequently as once every two years depending on record since the 2021 NFL season. For instance, given the 2012 NFL season as a reference, the NFC East played the AFC North during the 2012 season, then the AFC West during the 2013 season, the AFC South during the 2014 season, and finally the AFC East in the 2015 season before repeating the cycle. The league also schedules inter-conference games on an eight-year cycle so any particular team will both host and visit any given team in the league within eight years. Inter-conference rivals may play each other more frequently in the preseason, where no structured scheduling formula is used.Historic
Certain rivalries had existed at various points in the league history across either conference, though some have ceased due to relocation, divisional realignment; or both.American Football Conference
In the AFC East rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, the two teams have played 106 regular season and playoff games, with the Dolphins having a 63–61–1 advantage. The intensity of the rivalry stems from the Dolphins winning 20 straight meetings in the 1970s, as well as the emergence of Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks Jim Kelly for Buffalo and Dan Marino for Miami in the 1980s and 1990s. It has re-emerged in the 2020s as the Josh Allen-led Bills and Tua Tagovailoa-led Dolphins have consistently competed for the division title, despite Allen holding a decisively winning record against Miami. The teams have also met five times in the NFL playoffs, with the Bills holding a 4–1 advantage, including a victory in the 1992 AFC Championship Game.This rivalry is not as fierce as other AFC East rivalries, as the two teams have rarely been competitive simultaneously. The rivalry briefly heated up when former Jets coach Rex Ryan was coaching for Buffalo from 2015 to 2016. The Bills lead the series 73–58. The Bills won the rivals' lone post-season meeting in the 1981 AFC Wild Card round.During the Brady–Belichick era, this rivalry became one of the most lopsided in the league, with the Patriots controlling the series under quarterback Tom Brady. The Bills have since turned the corner after Brady's departure to Tampa Bay, winning 8 of 11 games afterwards with quarterback Josh Allen, including a 47–17 win in the 2021–22 NFL playoffs. Prior to the Brady era, Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly compiled a 12–8 career record against the Patriots. The Patriots currently lead 80–52–1. The teams have split their two playoff meetings, with the first one being a Patriots win following the 1963 AFL season.Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets
The Dolphins and Jets have often competed for divisional supremacy, and have played several classic games. This includes the game, known in NFL Lore as the Monday Night Miracle where the Jets erased a 30–7 lead after three quarters and won the game in overtime; as well as the famous Dan Marino fake spike game. The Dolphins lead the series at 63–57–1, while the Dolphins have won the only playoff meeting, the 1982 AFC Championship Game.Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots
The Dolphins currently lead 64–57, but the Patriots lead the postseason series 2–1. The rivalry briefly heated up in 2005, when Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's former Browns assistant Nick Saban was hired as Dolphins head coach and when he nearly signed quarterback Drew Brees with the Dolphins, as well as in 2008 when the teams were battling for the top spot in the AFC East. These Dolphins won the division, making 2008 the only in 16 years in which New England did not win the AFC East. Both teams are also the only teams in the post-merger era to post undefeated regular season records, with the Dolphins doing so in 1972 and the Patriots in 2007, but only the Dolphins were able to win the Super Bowl. Recently, the Patriots have had the upper hand, posting a 26–13 record in the Tom Brady era.New York Jets vs. New England Patriots
Games between the New York Jets and New England Patriots have often played out the fierce Yankees–Red Sox rivalry in Major League Baseball, as New York City and Boston are approximately 3½ hours apart by car. More recently, the Jets have tried to overcome the Patriots’ domination in the division and the conference, facing them in the playoffs twice in a five-season span. The Patriots defeated the Jets 37–16 in the 2006 playoffs, while the Jets won 28–21 in the 2010 playoffs. The series is in New England's favor, 77–56–1, which included a 15-game win streak. The Patriots have a playoff record of 2–1 against the Jets. Perhaps the most famous moment to come from this rivalry was in their game on November 22, 2012, when Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into the rear end of offensive guard Brandon Moore and fumbled the ball, allowing New England to recover for a touchdown. Both the moment and the game as a whole have become known as the Butt Fumble, and it is frequently listed as one of the single most humiliating moments in the history of both the Jets as an organization and the entirety of professional gridiron football.