Remember when the Ravens-Titans rivalry mattered?

[Cillmatic]

It seems like even the players don't care about the rivalry, seems like only Titan fans care about us. Remember two hard nose football teams, stealing players, breaking streaks, fights, all that. Then all of a sudden it just stopped. Hopfuly Mariota can change things. Anyone else kinda sad about this?

[January J]

Not really - I'm too focused on getting redemption and beating the pulp out of the pats. I see them as public enemy number one now- more so than the steelers. Atleast we have a certain respect for each other both being from the blue collar afc north. When either of us win it's actually earned.

Edited May 16, 2015 by January J

[ravensdan]

Actually the Jacksonville rivalry was bigger. There was a time beating them was getting over the hump. They were a top contender for a short time.

[RavensAllTheWay]

The realignment hurt the rivalry a lot. But I don't really miss it.

[H8ME]

It seems like even the players don't care about the rivalry, seems like only Titan fans care about us. Remember two hard nose football teams, stealing players, breaking streaks, fights, all that. Then all of a sudden it just stopped. Hopfuly Mariota can change things. Anyone else kinda sad about this?

 

No. Re-alignment along w/the downfall of the Titans killed this rivalry.

[Willbacker]

It seems like even the players don't care about the rivalry, seems like only Titan fans care about us. Remember two hard nose football teams, stealing players, breaking streaks, fights, all that. Then all of a sudden it just stopped. Hopfuly Mariota can change things. Anyone else kinda sad about this?

I'm surprized Titans fans care about us. lol. We only play each other every 3 yrs and thats only 1 game.

[Bltravens]

Think the 2008 AFC division game the final chapter in that rivalry.  They still had Kearse and we had Lewis and Rolle from the old days.

 

That game was mans football though, no young pups survived.

[757RavensFan]

Ray Lewis owned Eddie George during the old rivalry games.

[GrimCoconut]

We traded the Titans and Jaguars for the Steelers and Patriots.

[Florida Ravens Fan]

Have to say I've grown to hate the pats more then steelers.

[Alexir]

Best Division would be Ravens, Steelers, Pats and doesn't matter who. Would love it!

[RavensFanMania]

We traded the Titans and Jaguars for the Steelers and Patriots.

The Steelers rivalry has always been there, even when the team was still in Cleveland and Ozzie was playing TE.

[ravensdan]

Best Division would be Ravens, Steelers, Pats and doesn't matter who. Would love it!

I suspect the pats are in for a long decline one Brady hangs it up soon.

[VeiledPsychosis]

I suspect the pats are in for a long decline one Brady hangs it up soon.

If you look at their fans they seem to think Garappolo is the second coming. I saw an article a while back written by a Pats fan about whether the Patriots should trade Garappolo for a first rounder, something no team, even the Browns, would ever do.

[Alexir]

Jimmy Garappolo is a good QB. Was very efficient in college, beat a lot of Romo's records. Think they will be fine with him.

[JO_75]

Think the 2008 AFC division game the final chapter in that rivalry.  They still had Kearse and we had Lewis and Rolle from the old days.

 

That game was mans football though, no young pups survived.

 

Yep, indeed it was. If the Titans hadn't fallen off the way they did, and were still the team we faced when they were our rivals, I'd happily switch out Cleveland for Tennessee in the AFC North.

[The Raven]

Jimmy Garappolo is a good QB. Was very efficient in college, beat a lot of Romo's records. Think they will be fine with him.

 

Yeah, I gotta say I'm almost sold on Garappolo as an NFL QB. He didn't have a whole lot of playtime last year, and he plays in an easy system for a QB, but I really liked what I saw from him. Well I didn't like it, but he looked good. This is a debate for another section, but I think he looked good enough to consider trading Brady. Sounds crazy, I know, but it would put some distance between the Patriots and their most recent scandal, as well as getting a young competent QB out there. Brady's career could come full circle. He replaced Bledsoe, Garappolo replaces him. Wild, but it's not unthinkable for the Patriots.

[The Raven]

As for the Ravens-Titans rivalry, I wasn't really old enough to appreciate the rivalry when it existed. However, I understand it was almost as fierce as our rivalry with the Steelers. I think the Titans rivalry has been effectively replaced. 

[Gordo52]

Patriots

Steelers

Browns

Bengals

Colts

That's how I'd rank em, currently...

I miss the Tennessee rivalry, but whatcha gonna do... It will always be in the back of my mind when we play them but the hatred is gone.

[CalvinSmoke]

Jacksonville and Tennessee were dog fights in the old division. Jacksonville still plays us really tough though.

[Raven07]

It seems like even the players don't care about the rivalry, seems like only Titan fans care about us. Remember two hard nose football teams, stealing players, breaking streaks, fights, all that. Then all of a sudden it just stopped. Hopfuly Mariota can change things. Anyone else kinda sad about this?

 

back when we were division rivals in the AFC Central. but since the league got rid of the AFC Central and The Titans are no longer in our division, that rivalry has died down quite a bit. if not all. Now if we play the titans more than we do, then it get attention but we sparingly play each other.

[JoeyFlex5]

Have to say I've grown to hate the pats more then steelers.

without question, that rivalry has been far above the steelers rivalry since 2011 as far as im concerned.

[Cillmatic]

Patriots

Steelers

Browns

Bengals

Colts

That's how I'd rank em, currently...

I miss the Tennessee rivalry, but whatcha gonna do... It will always be in the back of my mind when we play them but the hatred is gone.

Browns a such a sorry team I have NO hard feelings toward them whatsoever.

[Purple Punishment]

Think the 2008 AFC division game the final chapter in that rivalry. They still had Kearse and we had Lewis and Rolle from the old days.

That game was mans football though, no young pups survived.

THAT game had me on my toes the whole time. When rookie Chris Johnson shook Bart Scott out of his shoes, i was like oh man we are in for a long day.

The way it ended though! I'll always remember that. Flacco to Heap after the play clock definitely expired! We got one over on them lol. Then Stover nailing a field goal way outside of his range! I'll never forget that game.

The Titans were a juggernaut that year and we weren't expected to give them any problems. Had we not beat them, they probably would have beat Az in the Super Bowl

[Gordo52]

Browns a such a sorry team I have NO hard feelings toward them whatsoever.

True. I think my hate for their fans made me rank them that high

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

When the divisions realigned the rivalry was never going to survive.

Playing in the same division was the only reason the rivalry started, the stretch of time where both teams were Super Bowl contenders propelled it, and the epic, blood-bath games sustained it. Had both teams remained at the top and continued to face each other in important games it may have survived, but with both teams being expansion teams it never had the ingredients to stand the test of time.

My most hated team right now is the Pats, but Steelers are still the top rivalry. It's taken a little bit of a step back in recent years, but it's got the history, were divisional foes, both are competitive franchises, great coaching, star players, and the physical nature to remain a heated rivalry.

The past few seasons I've cared more about playing the Patriots than the Steelers but that's because it's always in the playoffs and they've been incredibly close games. The Patriots are the only team that's been as consistent as us yet while their success gets national acclaim and praise we go un-noticed.

Plus you've got the controversies, Tom Brady and Belicheck, the ridiculous rule changes and penalties that go in their favor, dropped passes and missed FGs - if not for the Pats we would likely have been to another Super Bowl or 2 in the past 6 years.

Yet while I hate them more right now I also recognize that once Brady retires and the Pats fall off, or a couple years go by without seeing them in the playoffs the hatred that makes it a rivalry will die down. Plus there's no guarantee we play them. If were not playoff teams we likely only see each other once every 3 years or so. I feel it's merely a brief rivalry, a decade or less.

The Steelers on the other hand, both teams could be 4 win teams year after year yet we'll still get up for it. I'll hate the Steelers no matter what. And we'll always see them twice per year, many times thrice (lol) when we're competitive.

Because of that Steelers is still and will always be the top rivalry (unless we see another divisional realignment).

Patriots our best rival right now, Steelers still the best rivalry.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

Rivalries:

Steelers

Patriots

Browns

Colts

Denver

Top Current Rivals:

Patriots

Steelers

Bengals

Colts

Broncos

Texans

To me a rivalry has to have some deep seeded emotional and historical context to qualify, players/coaches that leave your team to guide theirs to success, or a divisional opponent you see twice per year.

Steelers you have the division, all the heartbreaking playoff losses, the big hits and cheap shots, and trash talk.

Pats you've got the playoff catastrophes, the rule bending, the villain Tom Brady, the wins.

Browns you've got Modell and the franchise move. We've got their HOF'er Ozzie running the show and building champions who Clevelanders feel like should be theirs. They've been a bottom dweller, a ship with no direction and we've got their captain. There's the division.

Colts is just the flip side. They' stole our team. It's our history... Peyton should've been in Baltimore and for a while they were the hurdle we couldn't topple, then we finally slay the dragon when he moved to Denver. This one has died off a bit once we beat Manning and got our rings the sting a losing the Colts and having a new successful identity has helped cool off the hate. Especially with a younger generation of fans now who don't remember the Baltimore Colts.

And Denver... John Elway. Need I say more?

--

To bring it on topic, the Titans were rivals and creates a brief rivalry due to big games that were emotional, physical and meaningful. There were quite a few within a short span. It had the makings of a rivalry. But without any historical ties that changed the course of either franchise there wasn't enough to sustain it through the division change and lack of meaningful competition.

The Patriots have this sort of feel. The Bengals fall into this category for me too.

Edited May 17, 2015 by BOLDnPurPnBlacK

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

Patriots

Steelers

Browns

Bengals

Colts

That's how I'd rank em, currently...

I miss the Tennessee rivalry, but whatcha gonna do... It will always be in the back of my mind when we play them but the hatred is gone.

Just my opinion but I think I would rank them 1. Steelers #1 rivalry for sure

                                                                        2. Browns / Bengals

                                                                        3. Bengals / Browns

                                                                        Bengals and Brown can be inter-changable both AFC north opponents

                                                                        4. Patriots Just because we always seem to meet them in the post-season

                                                                        5. every other AFC team.

[January J]

When the divisions realigned the rivalry was never going to survive.

Playing in the same division was the only reason the rivalry started, the stretch of time where both teams were Super Bowl contenders propelled it, and the epic, blood-bath games sustained it. Had both teams remained at the top and continued to face each other in important games it may have survived, but with both teams being expansion teams it never had the ingredients to stand the test of time.

My most hated team right now is the Pats, but Steelers are still the top rivalry. It's taken a little bit of a step back in recent years, but it's got the history, were divisional foes, both are competitive franchises, great coaching, star players, and the physical nature to remain a heated rivalry.

The past few seasons I've cared more about playing the Patriots than the Steelers but that's because it's always in the playoffs and they've been incredibly close games. The Patriots are the only team that's been as consistent as us yet while their success gets national acclaim and praise we go un-noticed.

Plus you've got the controversies, Tom Brady and Belicheck, the ridiculous rule changes and penalties that go in their favor, dropped passes and missed FGs - if not for the Pats we would likely have been to another Super Bowl or 2 in the past 6 years.

Yet while I hate them more right now I also recognize that once Brady retires and the Pats fall off, or a couple years go by without seeing them in the playoffs the hatred that makes it a rivalry will die down. Plus there's no guarantee we play them. If were not playoff teams we likely only see each other once every 3 years or so. I feel it's merely a brief rivalry, a decade or less.

The Steelers on the other hand, both teams could be 4 win teams year after year yet we'll still get up for it. I'll hate the Steelers no matter what. And we'll always see them twice per year, many times thrice (lol) when we're competitive.

Because of that Steelers is still and will always be the top rivalry (unless we see another divisional realignment).

Patriots our best rival right now, Steelers still the best rivalry.

extremely well said - we could write a book about this stuff

[Radinho84]

Patriots

Steelers

Browns

Bengals

Colts

That's how I'd rank em, currently...

I miss the Tennessee rivalry, but whatcha gonna do... It will always be in the back of my mind when we play them but the hatred is gone.

I hate the bengals so much more than the Browns. The browns don´t hurt anybody. Like the little annoying brother...