Who Would You Consider To Be The Pats Rivals?

[jhoffa]

I was curious, what teams do you consider to be your big rivals?
It might sound dumb but it’s not simple.
I would think being a Boston based club you would naturally dispise the Jets, and this is before we mention the Parcells era, followed by Belichick, than Mangini.

However the Jets while not always a doormat, have been a very mediocre team with two division titles in 30 years.
While you competed against them in 2004 and in the playoffs last season you have their number and they simply have never been an annual threat.

The Dolphins were a big threat and were a very popular team in the 1970s along with you competing with them for the division in the 90s and early part of the Belichick era.
Nonetheless they haven’t been a big threat to you lately.

Then the Bills, also a division opponent who had a heyday in the 90s, but it doesn’t seem the cities have bad blood nor teams since you really haven’t been head on together.

I know the Manning rivalry is big now, BUT Indy is not a division team, is a basketball city, and really not even the East Coast. I would think this is more of a short term rivalry than bitter long term.

Same goes with the Steelers who have been winner during this era but again are not a division team and like the Colts I think it is a periodic rival.


I’d like to know
1) What teams do you consider your rivals?
-In what order?
2) Who have been your rivals historically?
3) Is the Boston-NY a big deal in football as it is for baseball and basketball or is it more subdued than long term sustained?
4) Are the Colts and Steelers big rivals or just short term as long as they stay good?

5) I spoke to a Pats fan last year who said he felt those two were there biggest rivals, which I found odd because I always hate my division teams (Eagles, Cowboys, Redskins) far more than another team even if they are a contender.
-We, the Giants, had a big rivalry with the Bears and 49ers in the 80s but since we haven’t been battling in the playoffs it was never sustained.
-I wonder if with the Pats, is it like the Giants were the NY-PHI or in your case NE-NYJ is always first, followed by the Dolphins, and then outside division contenders or if given your history is more recent and the Jets/Dolphins/Bills lack that historically of the NFC East if the Colts and Steelers are bigger?

Thanks!

 

[PatriotsReign]

13-0....akuna matada....no worries pal. What the hell is wrong with you? or are you a Squeelers fan in disguise (aka...looser!)?

No Patriots fan would ask such questions after just watching the complete dismantling and domination of one of the supposed "best" teams in the league. In response to ALL of your questions..."Who TF cares!"

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I am guessing you are a Jets fan who would like to hear it is the Jets.

The answer is the Colts. The two best 2 QBs in the NFL are Brady and Peyton. And we do play them often enough between the regular and post season.

As for biggest AFC East rival -- Bills. They might actually make the playoffs.

Although all Patriots fans will enjoy seeing EM suffer an embarrassing blowout the Jets are not good enough to be considered a rival.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I'd say the Colts; seemless transition from Division rival to their rise to prominence together, right about exactly when the Colts were ejected from the East.

In the 70s, the Bert Jones Colts and the Steve Grogan Pats were a bitter rivalry... and I don't even have to discuss the Manning/Brady teams.

PFnV

 

[glutton79]

patriotsreign, if you really don't care, just don't answer the post. he didn't say anything even remotely rude, so there's no need to throw around insults (which presumably is what you meant by "looser"...)

I think it's actually an interesting question, approaching it from the perspective of a college basketball fan. my school has one true rival, regardless of how good each school is during any given season. and even when one team is significantly better, the matchups still tend to be fairly close, simply because of the intensity and emotion of the rivalry.

we also have teams that sort of "become" our rivals because they're successful and contend for the conference championship. these matchups can get pretty intense, but in the end, when they have down years, people don't care quite as much.

so I guess I would put indy and pittsburgh in the later category, and miami and NYJ would be more our "true rivals". this is mostly based on the fact that, if indy sucked, I really wouldn't care about them that much. but the jets suck, and I still hate them I really don't have any antipathy towards buffalo- I think after that 4-year stretch of losing in the super bowl, they're hard for anyone to hate.

I don't think the NY-boston feud is as prominent in football as it is in baseball- probably because the giants tend to be the better team, and they're not even in our conference. basketball, hell if I know, last time I watched the NBA the lakers were our rival.

I think, based on my many eagle-fan friends, that the NFC east is unusually intense in terms of rivalries. I can't think of any other division that hates each other nearly that much, maybe the steelers and browns...

anyway, I think I'd go ahead and put the jets number 1 and the dolphins number 2, for long term purposes. right now, it's obviously the colts and steelers.

 

[glutton79]

I am guessing you are a Jets fan who would like to hear it is the Jets.

it's pretty clear from his post that he's a giants fan.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

The Colts without a doubt.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

The Colts............

However it is fun to go through the ritual of dominating our division rivals on an annual basis.

 

[FrontSeven]

it's pretty clear from his post that he's a giants fan.

We have a Jets guess and we have a Giants guess. Do we have a Dolphins guess, anybody? Going once, going twice .....

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I'm taking the question seriously even though its origin is dubious.

Based on big games played over time, playoffs and regular season? The Colts and Steelers without a doubt.

Based on historical rivalry even when one team is bad? The Jets and Fins.

I also think we have so much history with the Raiders (Darryl Stingley, Ben Dreith, Walt Coleman) that they would qualify if we played them more often.

 

[GaryfromTO]

the Red Sox.

they both compete for the front page.

seriously
I'd have to say the Colts though

 

[CTPatsFan]

the Red Sox.

they both compete for the front page.

Some here would concur.

I'd have to say the Colts first then the Steelers because of the playoff battles and lip flapping.

I do despise the Jests as a "New York" team but they are generally pathetic and not worth the ire. Same holds true for the Doofins but a lot of my disdain for them comes from growing up with a lot of kids who glommed onto their then sizeable bandwagon.

The Bills may be the up-and-coming division rival since they are the only other team in the division that seems to have their $h!t together and New York's only team.

I don't think the Bos-NY rivalry thing is as strong as a Pats fan because there just isn't as lop-sided a history as there WAS with the Sox and Yankmes.

 

[PatsfanGlo]

Jets and Dolts without a doubt. I know Jets have always been our division but after Tuna ditched Pats and poached Curtis Martin from Pats, I just can't help myself calling them 'effing Jests' every single time. Mangini certainly poured gasoline into fire to this rivarly.

As for Ponnies, I know they are not in our division but its almost guarantee every single season that we'll play them twice a season due to both teams' strength. I can't stand Dungy and his 'can't do no wrong' bs and I really wish congress would pass a bill that limits Peyton Manning to 2 commercial per year(even though that's 2 commercial too many still).

 

[jhoffa]

Giants from CT.
Jet hater.

Our rivalry history is as goes.


Traditional/Big

1) Eagles
1) Cowboys
2) Redskins

Then occasional rivals (When both teams were good)

1) 49ers
2) Bears


We just hate Philly, Dallas, and if you live near DC, the Skins with no questions.


I would think for you guys it would be

1) Jets
2) Dolphins

Then
1) Colts
2) Steelers


I would think the Jets would be your biggest due to NY-BOS, Parcells, this current quarell.
I would think the Dolphins for the 70s, 80s, 90s, Marino teams.

I don't get a sense though you guys have a big strong hatred for your divisional opponets, is this simply because they haven't been the major challenge to you during your best years?

Don't you still have a unconditional hatred for the Jets and Dolphins like we would Eagles, Cowboys, Skins even if they all were bad?

 

[Lansdowne]

It's the Colts.

Patriots/Jets is like the rivalry between the hammer and the nail, and you can pretty much guess which is the hammer.

 

[eom]

colts

it's like 21st century bird/magic.

 

[PatsWorldChamps]

we have no real rival... we have no sox/yanks... no celtics/lakers... fact is, no one in our division (natural rivals) is even competitive (they havent been for 5 years)... no one in the afc is worth mentioning, unless you want to say the brady/manning thing, but even the colts are not interesting... i guess when you are this good, the media-initiated "rivalries" dont mean anything... maybe our biggest rivals are the cowboys? as we battle for the title of "america's team" (which we now own)?

 

[Deus Irae]

Giants from CT.
Jet hater.

Our rivalry history is as goes.


Traditional/Big

1) Eagles
1) Cowboys
2) Redskins

Then occasional rivals (When both teams were good)

1) 49ers
2) Bears


We just hate Philly, Dallas, and if you live near DC, the Skins with no questions.


I would think for you guys it would be

1) Jets
2) Dolphins

Then
1) Colts
2) Steelers


I would think the Jets would be your biggest due to NY-BOS, Parcells, this current quarell.
I would think the Dolphins for the 70s, 80s, 90s, Marino teams.

I don't get a sense though you guys have a big strong hatred for your divisional opponets, is this simply because they haven't been the major challenge to you during your best years?

Don't you still have a unconditional hatred for the Jets and Dolphins like we would Eagles, Cowboys, Skins even if they all were bad?

Until the second half of the 90's, the Patriots really weren't a good enough team to actually have rivalries. Fans hated the Dolphins because Miami was almost always a better team and the jealousy factor was there. The Bills, Jets and Colts were teams just like New England: generally mediocre to lousy with nothing to really energize the fan bases.

The rivalry right now seems to be with the Colts, but that will end with Manning's career, if not sooner. The problems with the Jets are really rooted in individuals rather than the teams, and the Bills are just a divisional afterthought. Other than finally being able to really stick it to the Dolphins, I don't know that New England really has a rivalry.

 

[wizwor]

My post count is low, so I'll refrain from being rude, inane, and off topic

We talk about this all the time. From the moment the schedule comes out, we start discussing why this game or that will be great -- Mangina, Bledsoe, Parcells, avenging this slight or that. When a team is undefeated, every team is your rival.

Historically, the Giants could be considered a rival, but we hardly ever play them, so not so much these days. That may be where OP was coming from and there might be lots of folks in Connecticut who are excited, but I don't see them as top rivals.

Indy has to be number one. We had their number for a while, they dethroned us, and we remain competitive teams that play once or twice a year. The quarterback situation and AV just add to it.

I'd put the jets just after the colts. This rivalry will remain strong no matter how good or bad the teams are -- too close, too much blood, and too many games for it to subside. From Parcells defection to the flow of players between the teams to the Belichick defection to Mo Lewis to the Mangini defection -- it just never ends. The fact that fans can drive to away games is great.

Dallas and GB are natural rivals at the moment. They top the NFC, we owe GB a butt kicking, and have already beaten the Boys this year. I wish Parcells and Bledsoe were in the mix, but we still hate She, don't we? TO vs Moss, America's Team I vs America's Team II. All good stuff.

At the moment, Miami and the Jills are not good enough to be considered rivals, but Miami always plays us well. There is also the matter of the Undefeated Pats vs the Undefeated Fins. It's the 25th anniversary of the 1972 Dolphins and undefeated Pats are probably going to play the winless next week. I'm not sure these Fins will be able to hold off the Pats, but I think they want to...bad. And maybe the Pats have heard that the '72 Fins shut out the '72 Pats.

After that, maybe San Diego? There were words and dances, but unless SD shows up in the playoffs, they're just another team. I always root against Denver. Always have, always will. Steelers? There were games -- fog bowl, Bledsoe's Last Stand, and the MNF Blowout, but that feels like a hundred years ago. With Cowher gone, they are not the same team.

Here's my list...

1) Colts
2) Jets
3) Miami
4) Packers
5) Cowboys

 

[Pats Fanatic]

I agree with the Colt, Steelers, Jets and Fish but for historical content the Raiders. With three very memorable play-off games and the hatred between the Sullivan's and Davis it's quite a storied one. I wish nothing but the worst for them (I still remember Darryl Stingley).