National Football League (NFL) games usually don't need intrigue or storylines to drive ratings—regular season games averaged 16.7 million viewers in the 2022 season—but there's often additional fan interest and excitement when two rivals play each other. A 2016 Christmas Day game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, AFC North division rivals, broke a record for viewership on the NFL Network. The two teams even attracted 11.4 million viewers for a Wednesday afternoon game in 2020.
Rivalries in the NFL are usually created out of multiple fierce and competitive contests between two teams or the simple fact that they play within the same state or division. Below are three of the most intense rivalries in NFL history.
Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears
The rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers is among the oldest in the league, but it has been one-sided during the last three decades. The NFC North teams' rivalry is largely based on geography, with Green Bay being about a 200-mile drive from Chicago, but they are also among the most successful teams in NFL history. The two teams have played one another more than 200 times since 1921.
Chicago won the first two games in the Bears-Packers rivalry and held a considerable edge into the 1980s with the likes of Walter Payton and William Perry playing integral roles in the Bears' success. Following the 2022 season, however, Green Bay had won 48 of 67 matches dating back to the 1990 season, thanks in large part to the play of quarterbacks Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Green Bay and Chicago have only played twice in the playoffs. The Bears defeated the Packers 33-14 in a tiebreaker playoff game in 1941, while the Packers beat the Bears 21-14 in the 2010 NFC Championship Game.
Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles is the most heated in an NFC East division rife with rivalries. They have played each other 128 times, with the Cowboys holding a 73-55 edge, and have combined to win eight of the last 10 division titles.
While they're separated by more than 1,400 miles, the two teams are natural rivals based on style of play and culture. Philadelphia is a working man's city, and the Eagles play a blue-collar, gritty style of football. The Cowboys, known as "America's Team," are known for glitz and glamor along with their world-renowned cheerleaders—they're also the most valuable sports franchise in the world.
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The rivalry between the Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals has led to some vicious and scary plays on the field in recent years. In a 2016 game, Bengals player Vontaze Burfict hit Steelers receiver Antonio Brown so hard that Brown was out cold prior to falling to the ground. Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster sought revenge on Burfict with an illegal block in a game the following year and, the next season, Burfict was fined $112,000 for separate unnecessary roughness penalties on Brown and running back James Conner.