Forgotten rivalries

Bogart

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When speaking of rivalries, this always comes to mind.

In 2002 the NFL decided to re-arrange the divisions, which I still believe destroyed some valuable divisional rivalries.

Packers/Buccaneers

Remember when Tampa Bay used to compete very well with us in the late 90's? It wasn't just the worry in Minnesota in '98, the Buc's also were becoming a good team, and i think they had a good run in '99. Sadly this rivalry is no more.

49ers/Saints
Here's one you never hear about. All through the late 80's and early 90's the Saints competed very hard with the Niners, who went from Montana to Young over the period. The 49ers usually beat them, but the games were very close, and most of them from '91-'93 were decided by 6 or less points. This is the team Jim Mora *****ed about that they "could never beat" and most the time they couldn't. The 49ers would wipe the floor with them at home, and then barely edge a victory on the road. Funny thing is, ever since 2002, the Niners have never beat the Saints, despite totally dominating them all through the 80's and 90's.

Oilers (Titans) vs the AFC Central (Browns, Bengals, Steelers)
Remember Warren Moon? Rod Woodson? Back when Houston had a classic team, the Oilers and Steelers had a great rivalry. The Oilers were the team at one point, and the Steelers were trying to get back into the picture as a team. Most of the games were close, most of them were decided by turn overs. But then again, the Oilers were tough for everyone in the AFC Central. Even the Browns and Bengals runs in the late 80's were haunted by the Oilers getting the best of them.

Seahawks vs the AFC West
Before Seattle really had any success they were used as a doormat for the AFC West teams. I believe they had a handful of winning seasons, but not very many. Sometimes I wonder how the AFC West would have looked with them still in it, and their success during the early 2000's under Hasselbeck.

Colts vs AFC East
Ohhhh yeah. This one is ridiculous. New England and Indianapolis are remembered as of the last 10 years for Brady and Manning going head to head, but WHAT IF they were still in the same division? What if Manning and Brady had to go head to head twice a year? Before 2002, the Colts had to play Miami, NY Jets, New England, and Buffalo as a division. I believe the division re-arranging helped the Colts in a long run, as they have never really had any competetion in the South. Tennessee is good when they want to be. Jacksonville has never got over the hump, and Houston is still a young team. I don't think the Colts would have been so successful winning 10+ games every year if they still were in the East.


I'm sure I'm missing a lot of others here in this short list, but I think these forgotten rivalries were a bit fun. I miss playing Tampa Bay, and I still think the 49ers and Saints had a great rivalry going back and forth. Most people down here in the South miss the Oilers, and remember how heated their games between Pittsburgh and Cleveland were in the early 90's.
 

ivo610

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I miss TB too. Even though they gave us a few beatings recently.

I think you could have included Lions packers too. Excluding this year I think its been almost a decade or two since I have worried about them. Thats changing though.

I think in the future you will be including packers seahawks in this *** well. Even though most fans on both sides actually like each other.
 

Croak

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Man, the Steelers and Browns and Oakland used to hate each other. Now it's the Steelers and Ravens.
 

bradwillrockyou

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Photo from the Snow Bowl in 1985 ...
 

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Bogart

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I didn't throw in the Lions/Packers because they are still in our division. They can turn up the heat if they want to and get back into the rivalry, just as they did this season.

I miss the Oilers, as most people do in the South. I don't think the AFC North is the same without them. You have Baltimore and Pittsburgh winning that division mostly, but with Houston it would be a different story. They were an AFC team I could root for (and the only team in the state of Texas i could stand), just for some reason I cannot like Tennessee and the Texans are not the same team as the Oilers. Most Oiler fans down here despise of the Titans, cause it's not the same team, and not the same in your face attitude.
 

neilfii

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I would have to agree with you, but also admit that the League did a pretty good job of keeping the most storied rivalries alive: Packers/Bears; Packers/Vikings; Chiefs/Raiders; Chiefs/Broncos;Broncos/Raiders; Cowboys/Redskins, etc. Something had to give, and of all the rivalries we once enjoyed, probably TB was the least of them.
Maybe they could use some of those old rivalries for the non-divisional games to bring a little of the "spice" back into it.
Great Post.
 

GBPack2010

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Considering Josh Freeman is improving don't worry guys we'll have a heavy dose of TB in the playoffs for the next decade. It really comes down to GB, Atl, TB, Chi, and SF(if they find a good QB in time that is) for NFC supremacy in rest of decade now. NO, Phi, NYG, and Dallas have only timespan of 5 years for their QB to have the spunk to lead in deep playoff runs, after that it's a rebuilding project.
 
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Bogart

Bogart

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Some of them I missed.

Arizona vs the NFC East.

They sucked most of the time, but I believe they had close games against Washington, and who ever was next to the bottom of the bucket of the NFC East. They took beatings from Dallas regulary through the 90's.


Rams vs Saints
Much like the 49ers/Saints games, but the Saints and Rams were pretty even most of their history. They still play the Rams almost every year as an outer conference game, and the games are still very close just like they were in the 80's and 90's. The Rams got their first win of 2008 over the Saints (2008 or 2007, can't remember) and then in 2009, they almost gave them their first loss as the worst team in the league. They don't normally blow each other out, like the Saints did to them this year.

Jacksonville and Tennessee in the AFC Central.
This was a mess. The Jags as a new team pretty much became the 5th team in the AFC Central since Baltimore and Tennessee were originally Houston and Cleveland.
This was a bit screwed up geographically, and I think it's the main reason they re-did the divisions.

Imagine if Jacksonville was still playing Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati like they did the first few years of their franchise. I think it would be just 2 more easy games for the Ravens and Steelers since the Bengals and Browns never really compete with them that hard.
 

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