These 14 rivalries made the NFL better

Cowboys-49ers

The 49ers-Cowboys rivalry kicked off in 1981, after Dwight Clark famously made "The Catch" in the NFC Championship to send the 49ers to the Super Bowl. The heated clashes between the two superpowers continued into the 1990s. From 1992 to 1994, the two squads met in three consecutive NFC Championship matches.

Things got so heated that, in 1993, the team captains refused to shake hands prior to the game.

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Steelers-Ravens

These AFC North foes truly dislike each other. It's arguably the the most intense rivalry in the NFL today. Any time these two hard-hitting teams meet, it usually has serious playoff implications. For the past decade, Ravens-Steelers games have been some of the most entertaining. The Steelers currently lead the series 24-18.

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Tom Brady-Peyton Manning

What started as a Patriots-Broncos rivalry turned into a QB battle after Peyton Manning left the Colts for the Broncos. Tom Brady and Manning have been battling out for the best QB of this generation since the early 2000s.

No matter which QB you choose, these are two of the best to ever play the game, and their match ups have made the NFL infinitely more fun to watch.

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Cowboys-Redskins

Come on, it's cowboys versus Indians, so of course these two teams are bitter rivals. The two franchises have met a total of 110 times, with the Cowboys winning 65 times. These division rivals have combined for 8 Super Bowl victories in their storied history.

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Packers-Bears

There might not be two teams who hate each other more than the Bears and Packers because of their NFC North ties.

These bitter rivals have a combined 22 NFL Championships, five Super Bowls and 57 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Packers have won the last three meetings, yet the Bears lead the all-time series 93-91-6.

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Patriots-Jets

Fans of this rivalry get to see the Patriots and Jets play twice a year. The battle began to boil in 2006, when the Jets hired former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini as head coach. The following year, the Spygate incident emerged, making their matchup that much more enticing.

Once Rex Ryan came to New York, he immediately reignited the inter-division contest. Under Ryan, the Jets beat the Patriots in the playoffs. The last gasp in this rivalry came when Mark Sanchez "butt fumbled" on Thanksgiving.

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Colts-Patriots

The Colts-Patriots rivalry really started to heat up in 2001, when it was all about Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. These two teams have seemingly battled it out for supremacy the last 15 years. Brady and the Pats owned the rivalry with back-to-back AFC Championship wins, but Manning engineered a beautiful comeback in the 2006 AFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl.

Now that Manning is a Bronco, the Pats-Colts rivalry is still pretty intense, with new phenom Andrew Luck turning Indy into a perennial contender.

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Vikings-Packers

The Packers and Vikings have been rivals since the Vikings entered the NFL in 1961. Whether it's Randy Moss faux-mooning the Lambeau crowd, or Brett Favre changing allegiances and playing with the Vikings, these two teams have disliked each other for over 50 years.

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Patriots-Giants

The Giants won two Super Bowls over the Patriots in a span of five years, including ending the Patriots' chances of becoming the first team to go 19-0 in a season. Ultimately, an unbelievable David Tyree helmet catch helped the Giants get in to position for a game-winning score. It's one of the best plays in Super Bowl history.

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Niners-Seahawks

This looked to be the best rivalry of the decade, but it's slowly falling apart. The 49ers and Seahawks share a division and have represented the NFC in the last three Super Bowls. Seattle has dominated the recent contests. The highlight came during the 2013 NFC Championship when Richard Sherman deflected a game-ending pass and got in Michael Crabtree's face. He then delivered an infamous, but unforgettably entertaining, speech to Erin Andrews on how "mediocre" Crabtree was as a receiver. Ouch!

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J.J. Watt vs. Zach Mettenberger

This isn't much of an on-the-field rivalry, because J.J. Watt is the best defender in the NFL, and Zach Mettenberger is a backup QB. But last season, Watt did not appreciate Mettenberger's selfies to celebrate his starting QB job. Watt ended the argument with a sack and dance that showed Watt hilariously miming the picture-taking maneuver.

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Peyton Manning-Eli Manning

A little brotherly rivalry never hit anybody. Both brothers have had success in the league, so, when the Mannings sit around the dinner table, who wins the argument over who's a better Manning? Peyton obviously has the superior stats, but Eli has two Super Bowl rings. With luck, one day we'll get a brother vs. brother Super Bowl match up.

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Jim Harbaugh-John Harbaugh

When Jim Harbaugh's 49ers met John Harbaugh's Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII, it was deemed the HarBowl, or any other cute name you could come up with. The two brothers tried keep the game focused on the players, but the two fiery competitors stole the headlines. The Ravens came out on top and John now has lifetime bragging rights over his younger brother, Jim.

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Eagles-Giants

Philadelphia and New York sports teams hate each other, but this rivalry is turned up another notch. The Eagles and Giants have been battling it out in the same division since 1933, which is the longest in the NFC East. The Giants leading the all-time series. NFL Network ranked this the No. 1 rivalry in all of football.

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