We’re having an exciting rivalry week in the NFL. Multiple divisional rivalries, plus the battle for a state…
Thursday already had the first rivalry, even if Commanders versus Eagles doesn’t play a big role within the NFC East. There is neither the huge urban rivalry like with the Giants nor the sporting rivalry like it was with the Dallas Cowboys in recent years.
But there were special games there too. In 2010, the Eagles gave Washington 59 points in the first three quarters of the Monday Night Massacre game. The “Body Bag Game” also took place on Monday night. Also an Eagles victory, but it was controversial because Washington accused the Philadelphia players of playing excessively hard. So hard that several players from the capital were injured. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan had announced in advance that Washington’s players would be driven off the field in body bags – hence the name…
On Sunday at 7 p.m. we have a few rivalries that I want to take a look at:
The Packers and Bears game is over 100 years old and no duel has been played more frequently than this one. It didn’t even start with the Bears, because in the first matchup the team from Illinois was called the Chicago Staleys. They had just moved to the big city after the team had played its first season in the industrial city of Decatur. The first game ended 20-0 in Chicago’s favor.
Two years later there was the first ejection in an NFL game after an on-field fight. Frank Hanny of the Bears and Tillie Voss of the Packers exchanged a few punches just before halftime…
In 2008, one of the coldest NFL games took place between the two NFC North teams, with the air temperature being minus 25 degrees. The Bears needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Shortly before the end, it looked like the Packers had a game-winning drive, but Mason Crosby’s field goal attempt was blocked. The Bears escaped into overtime and won the game.
Only in 2 years there was no meeting. In 1922 the game plan did not call for a match; in 1982 both duels fell during the major players’ strike, which lasted from September to mid-November.
The rivalry between the Pittburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens is older than the latter team itself. Baltimore only came into the league in 1996, but that happened after the Cleveland Browns were relocated. Today’s Ravens are essentially the original Browns, and for some traditional Steelers fans, that rivalry has moved with the team from Ohio to Maryland. Also because the Browns, who were then “reactivated” in 1999, were never the sporting rival that the Ravens became.
One of the first highlights of this “new” rivalry was in 2008, when they also saw each other in the AFC final after two duels that season. Troy Polamalu “ended” the championship game with a carried-back interception.
In week 2018, the second meeting of the season between the two rivals was Joe Flacco’s last as the Ravens starter.
We have another more recent rivalry in the late shift when the 49ers face the Seahawks. Seattle belonged to the AFC until 2001, and was only moved to the NFC after the Houston Texans joined the league (in which they even started in 1976, the franchise’s first year). As a result, this rivalry only developed in the 2000s and especially in the 2010s with the QB duel Colin Kaepernick against Russell Wilson. Especially since the two head coaches, Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh, were already rivals at college.
Also in the late slot we have a rivalry beyond the divisions. The Bills and Chiefs had memorable duels, especially in the playoffs. In 1966, both met in the final of the AFL – at that time the rival league to the NFL before the AFL was incorporated in 1970.
The duel from 2021 in particular is probably still fresh in many minds. With 13 seconds remaining, the Bills took a 36-33 lead in the divisional round. With just a little time left, the Chiefs got within field goal range via two simple passes and went into overtime. There Mahomes & Co got the ball first and closed the sack. This meant that in the playoffs both teams now have at least one possession of the ball.
Finally, a little rivalry that goes beyond the conferences. The Battle for Texas, which even has a trophy, the Govenor’s Cup. The roots lie in the past when the Titans were still active as the Houston Oilers, which is why the two Texas cities have been compared for many years. Since the duel only takes place every 4 years, there is of course a certain spice missing that goes beyond an everyday rivalry.
Strictly speaking, the roots of this rivalry lie beyond the two teams involved. In the 1960s, the Houston Oilers were still dueling with the Dallas Texans in the AFL – the Cowboys, founded in 1960, were in the NFL.
By the way, the Dallas Texans are not the franchise predecessor of the Houston Texans, no, they became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963.
Thursday Night Game:
Commanders (7-4) @ Eagles (8-2) 18-26
Sunday morning shift:
Packers (6-3) @ Bears (4-5) (DAZN mit Flo Berrenberg)
Jaguars (2-8) @ Lions (8-1) (RTL+ with Frederick Schulz & Adrian Franke)
Vikings (7-2) @ Titans (7-2)
Raiders (2-7) @ Dolphins (3-6)
Rams (4-5) @ Patriots (3-7)
Browns (2-7) @ Saints (3-7)
Colts (4-6) @ Jets (3-7)
Ravens (7-2) @ Steelers (7-2) (RTL mit Florian Schmidt.Somemrfeld & Patrick Esume)
Late shift:
Falcons (6-4) @ Broncos (5-5)
Seahawks (4-5) @ 49ers (5-4) (RTL with Jan Stecker & Björn Werner)
Chiefs (9-0) @ Bills (8-2) (DAZN with Martin Pfanner)
Sunday Night Game:
Bengals (4-6) @ Chargers (6-3) (DAZN with Andreas Renner)
Monday Night Game:
Texans (6-4) @ Cowboys (3-6) (DAZN with Christoph Stadtler & Nadine Nurasyid)
Bye: Buccaneers (4-6), New York Giants (2-8), Carolina Panthers (3-7), Cardinals (6-4)
