September 14th, 2025
Sport is about competition, and competition is about rivalry. Nowhere is this clearer than in the NFL, where teams become opponents and opponents become foes every day of the season. Being up against your team’s strangers rivals can be tricky when betting, which is why it helps to find a list of promotions among online sportsbooks with great bonuses and betting options. These help to balance the scales even during the toughest games. The following are some of the most legendary rivalries that sent ripples through the football community.
Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears
It seems appropriate to start with the oldest rivalry in the NFL. The league, then called the American Professional Football League, was founded in 1920 and, in 1921, two teams that would go on to define what it meant to have a rivalry met for the very first time. Put simply, the conflict between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers has been going on for more than a century, and it looks like it will continue for at least another hundred years.
The first time the teams met, the Bears were still called the Staleys, although their different name didn’t stop them from winning 20-0. Since then, Green Bay has enjoyed some revenge, winning 108 of the sides’ games, with Chicago coming up tops in 96 of them and six ties.
Whether it was the fight between Frank Hally and Tilley Voss that led to the first ever NFL ejection in 1924, the 2010 NFC championship game where the Packers won en route to Superbowl glory, or the new generation of competition between Jordan Love and Caleb Williams, the age-old rivalry between the small town and the big city is set to carry on enthralling fans.
New York Giants vs Philadelphia Eagles
What people in the UK call a local derby is a relatively rare occurrence in American sports, thanks to the large distances involved and the conference system. That said, football’s greatest regional rivalry is the battle of the northeast between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants.
Another long-standing feud, the seeds of this rivalry were sown in 1933 and grew as the teams got bigger in the 1950s and 1960s. Although honors may be relatively even, the Eagles can claim their own footballing divine intervention - twice.
The first Miracle at the Meadowlands took place in 1978. The Giants were up at their home field 17-12 with 20 seconds left, and all that was needed to happen was a spike to ensure victory. But New York quarterback Joe Pisarcik fumbled and Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards collected the loose ball to score.
There was an even more dramatic moment in 2010, when the second Miracle at the Meadowlands saw the Eagles overturn a 31-10 deficit with just seven minutes left to win 36-10. Whether or not there’ll be more miracles, with a playoff place at stake most of the time the teams meet, this feud is set to run and run.
Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers
The Dallas Cowboys call themselves America’s Team, but there are plenty of people in the Bay Area who would dispute that. The San Francisco 49ers' rivalry with the Cowboys really kicked off in the 1970s, when the West Coast franchise was the upcoming power challenging the Texas team’s dominance.
Things stepped up a gear in the 1980s, when a last-minute touchdown by SF won them the NFC championship, while the same teams played for their conference title three years in a row in the 1990s. Although neither side is quite the powerhouse of old, there’s still more intensity - and more history - when the two meet than there is for many other matchups.
Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs
We’ve talked about long-standing rivalries, but with the world of the NFL an intense pressure cooker, new ones are being forged all the time. It wasn’t that long ago that a Cincinnati Bengals vs Kansas City Chiefs game would have been met with a shrug anywhere outside of the franchise’s home areas.
In the 2020s, however, everything changed. The two sides found themselves with two of the hottest young quarterbacks in the league. Representing the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes was the highest-rated QB around.
In 2020, though, the Bengals drafted an offensive cornerstone who would bring the eyes of the game to southern Ohio. Joe Burrows was handsome, strong, and preternaturally talented, and was the sort of player any coach would give his eyeteeth to build a team around. Thanks to him and head coach Zac Taylor, the Bengals turned from being also-rans into Super Bowl contenders.
With the two sides - and the two stars - on a collision course, this rivalry can not only decide the fate of the AFC but, potentially, the NFL season itself. Time will only tell if this will be a feud for the ages, or if it's all about the competition between the game’s current top two quarterbacks.