The Top 5 rivalries of the Super Bowl era
As I write this, it is July 11th, which is a significant date in American history.
On this day back in 1804, Aaron Burr shot and mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawkin, New Jersey. Burr was widely condemned for shooting Hamilton, given the fact dueling was more for show than for true political retribution. His political career was essentially destroyed in the aftermath. Hamilton, meanwhile, suffered the ultimate consequence, but his death catapulted him to political greatness. His ideas on expanding the nation and developing its industry were widely embraced, and Hamilton’s image ended up on money. Burr won the battle. But Hamilton, as they say, won the war.
The Burr/Hamilton spat ranks with Lincoln/Douglas and Nixon/Kennedy among our most heated political rivalries. What about football, then? What rivalries stand out for their intensity and the weight of their consequence? Here are the five I believe have been the most notable of the Super Bowl era.
Before we get to the list, a caveat on how I assembled it. Many rivalries are intense because of time and familiarity. Green Bay/Chicago is an all-time rivalry, for example. But those teams have rarely been good at the same time in recent decades, and have almost never played one another with big stakes on the line. For a rivalry to make this list it has to involve divisional titles, playoff games, or even Super Bowls. Geographic rivalries are nice, but the ones that matter most occur on the biggest stages.
5. Patriots-Colts, 2001-2010
The Patriots and Colts faced each other an astounding 13 times between 2001 and 2010, in both the regular season and the playoffs. New England beat Indianapolis in the 2003 and 2004 post-seasons, going on to win the Super Bowl each year. Indianapolis rallied from an 18-point deficit to shock New England in the 2006 AFC championship game in route to winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl since 1970.
The Patriots-Colts rivalry featured two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Tom Brady’s Patriots won three Super Bowls in the decade, while Brady won the 2007 and 2010 NFL MVP awards. The Colts won a Super Bowl and Manning won four of his five MVP awards in that span. Few rivalries in the history of the sport have featured two all-time players facing each other in so many big games.
4. Giants-49ers, 1980s
The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers met in the playoffs five times from 1980 to 1990, the most of any two opponents in the NFL. The 49ers won four Super Bowls during that span, while the Giants won twice. San Francisco won the first two playoff showdowns of the decade before the Giants claimed the last three. The 1990 NFC championship game, won 15-13 by New York, ranks among the best playoff games of all-time.
The Giants-49ers rivalry of that era featured some of the best players in NFL history. Particularly, it pitted San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana and wide receiver Jerry Rice against Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Montana was the NFL’s MVP in 1989 and 1990, while Taylor was MVP in 1986 and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards. Rice is the league’s all-time leader in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns. These contests also pitted Hall of Fame coaches Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells against one another, with Bill Belichick serving as Parcells’ defensive coordinator.
3. Cowboys-49ers, 1970-1995
This rivalry made its mark on the strength of some great playoff games. Dallas and San Francisco met eight times in the post-season between 1970-1995, with Dallas holding a 5-2 advantage. The Cowboys won three straight playoff games over San Francisco from 1970-1972. The 49ers then won the 1981 NFC Championship game on Montana’s epic game-winning touchdown pass to Dwight Clark, a play that has been immortalized as “The Catch.” The two teams then met in three consecutive NFC Championship games in 1992, 1993 and 1994, with Dallas claiming two of them.
Those games from the 90s were particularly spectacular. They were star-studded affairs, featuring the likes of Montana, Rice, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders. The team that won all four of their championship contents went on to win the Super Bowl. Between 1970-1995, Dallas and San Francisco combined to win eight Super Bowl titles and were annually among the best teams in the NFL.
2. Eagles-Cowboys, 1980-present
The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry was legitimized back in 1980, when an upstart Philadelphia team knocked off Roger Staubach and the powerhouse Cowboys in the NFC championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. Dallas had owned the rivalry prior to then, but the pendulum has swung in subsequent decades.
There was Bountygate in the 1990s, with Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan encouraging his players to take runs at Dallas players, including their kicker. There was the famous incident of Philly fans cheering when Cowboys’ receiver Michael Irvin suffered a career-ending neck injury and was lying motionless on the turf at Veterans Stadium. There was Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson mocking Eagles fans at the 2017 draft, held in Philly, by thanking the Eagles for allowing him to have a successful career at their expense. Dallas has long portrayed itself as NFL royalty, right down to the star on its helmet. Philly has epitomized a blue-collar, “Rocky” mindset. The clash of styles and mutual hatred has created a rivalry for the ages.
In recent years, the Eagles have dominated. Philly has made three Super Bowls, winning two, since 2017. The Cowboys, meanwhile, haven’t advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs in 30 years. But this rivalry makes the list because the sheer animosity between these two teams, and their fan bases, is unparalleled in the sport.
1. Steelers-Ravens, 2000s
Simply put, Pittsburgh-Baltimore has been the league’s most intense rivalry of this century.
Both teams have won two Super Bowls in the 2000s. Both have made 16 playoff appearances, which is tied for third-most in the NFL. Pittsburgh has won the AFC North ten times in the 2000s, while Baltimore has claimed eight division titles. And, these two teams have played one another five times in the playoffs, with the Steelers holding a 3-2 edge.
More than all of that, however, has been the ferocity of their contests. Steelers-Ravens games are unbelievably hard-hitting affairs. It’s physical football more like the game was played in the 1970s than the 2020s. For a while, both teams had losing records the week following a Pittsburgh-Baltimore contest, which spoke to the toll these games took on each other. And, the rivalry has been exceptionally close, with Pittsburgh leading 30-26 this century.
There are longer rivalries in the NFL, and ones with more storied histories. But for the intensity, the stakes, and the competitive balance, none can match Pittsburgh-Baltimore in the Super Bowl era.
For more on this topic, check out my “Call Sheet Daily” podcast from Friday, where Pez from Pez’s Picks and I discuss some of the greatest rivalries in sports history. Link to the episode is below:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ACyIHVtgLCZNm9bDdeo4H?si=0z1_lEMWQ5iQQ9mFus-vFQ