One of the most attractive features of the NFL is the rivalries between teams (and their fans) that have built up over time. I believe the rivalries between the teams in the AFC North compare favorably to those in any other division in the league.
Despite the rivalries in the AFC West (Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos, Chargers), NFC East (Washington, Cowboys, Giants, Eagles) and NFC North (Packers, Bears, Lions, Vikings) going back further in time, they are no more intense or important than those between the Ravens, Steelers, Browns, and Bengals.
Before discussing and ranking the particular AFC North rivalries, I want to share my criteria for a good rivalry. The three primary aspects I consider are, in ascending priority, 1) proximity, 2) frequency, and 3) importance.
It is easier to develop a passion for beating a team located closer to you, and perhaps sharing a fan base, than if they are on the other side of the country. In college, that is one of the great things about the Duke-North Carolina rivalry; the schools are only eight miles apart. That is one of features that sustain the intensity of college football rivalries such as Alabama-Auburn and Ohio State-Michigan.
Of course, teams need to actually play each other to develop and sustain much of a rivalry. Washington and Baltimore pass the proximity text, but not the frequency one since they only play once every four years. In the NFL, divisional rivalries are usually the best since teams are guaranteed of playing each other at least twice every season. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, the league has done a good job of keeping rivals together in the same division to sustain rivalries. For example, the AFC West, and NFC North teams have remained in the same division since 1960.
I believe my final criteria, importance, is, well, the most important. When the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry was at its peak in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, it was because those games often decided the winner of the NFC East.
This also explains why rivalries tend to pop up on the radar, then fall off. Examples would be the Cowboys=49ers in the early 1990’s, the Ravens-Titans in the early 2000’s and the Colts-Patriots (or should I say Manning-Brady) in the 2000’s. There was not a lot of history between these teams, but for a period of time they were in each other’s way as they were competing for championships. The Maryland-Duke basketball rivalry of the late 1990’s, early 2000’s is another example of this, a matchup that brought crazy intensity for several years but faded as the Terps’ program did.
With that as background. Here is how I rank the six AFC North rivalries:
Bengals-Steelers (Steelers lead series 67-38)
This is the second most played matchup in the AFC North. I have it at the bottom because of the Steelers’ huge lead, but in recent years this rivalry has become quite nasty. Much of this can be traced to the two times these teams have met in the playoffs, both in Cincinnati.
The first contest was following the 2005 season. In the first series of the game, Bengals QB Carson Palmer had his knee torn to shreds, and the Steelers coasted to a victory on their way to their first post- dynasty Super Bowl championship. Then in 2015 Cincinnati held a 16-15 lead with less than two minutes to play and self-destructed, fumbling the ball back to Pittsburgh and helping them move toward the winning field goal with two personal foul penalties.
There has been plenty of nasty hitting between these two teams, often with Cincinnati on the losing side. Hines Ward broke linebacker Keith Rivers’ jaw with a block in 2008. Steelers’ linebacker Terence Garvin broke the jaw and cracked a vertebrae in the neck of Bengals’ kicker Kevin Huber in 2013.
Cincinnati served notice on Pittsburgh that the pendulum could be starting to swing the other way by winning both matchups in 2021 with a combined 65-20 score. Still, this rivalry stays on the bottom of the AFC North until that trend is sustained.
Browns-Ravens (Ravens lead 34-12)
This rivalry, although even more one-sided than the Bengals and Steelers, ranks ahead of them because of history, and the fact that lots of Browns fans are still mad about the original Browns becoming the Ravens. Baltimore has dominated, winning 11 in a row from 2008-2013, and are currently on a 9-2 streak over Cleveland.
Ravens fans will fondly remember Jamal Lewis rushing for a then-NFL record of 295 yards against the Browns in 2003. They will much less fondly remember Cleveland’s Phil Dawson kicking a 51-yard field goal to send the 2007 game in Baltimore to overtime. The kick was initially ruled no good and the Ravens had left the field, then came back once the officials had ruled, correctly, that the kick had bounced out after hitting the curved support behind the crossbar.
More recently, there was the amazing Monday night comeback when Lamar Jackson came out of the locker room to lead the Ravens to a vital win in 2020. I wrote about that game last year.
Until Cleveland becomes consistently competitive, these games won’t be that important and will not register any higher on my rivalry scale.
Bengals-Browns (Bengals lead series 51-46)
The bi-annual “Battle of Ohio” doesn’t really have a lot of national cache to it, primarily because you would have to go back to the 1980’s to find when both teams were consistently good at the same time. Nonetheless, despite being at opposite corners of the state about 250 miles away from each other, the bragging rights for the state (second in line behind Ohio State) does mean something.
These games are often competitive and entertaining, few more so than Cleveland’s 51-45 victory in 2007. Still, it is hard to see this rivalry breaking into the top three in the division.
Bengals-Ravens (Ravens lead series 27-25)
I also wrote about this last year. The Bengals are responsible for two of the most disappointing and/or heartbreaking losses in Ravens’ history, a 34-17 win in the 2013 finale at Cincinnati, and a shocking 31-27 last second win in the 2017 finale at Baltimore. Both losses knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs.
The Bengals have had a couple of dominant stretches in this rivalry, including 2012-2018 when they won 9 out of 12 including both games mentioned above. They had never previously dominated in a season like they did last year, sweeping the Ravens with a combined 82-38 score. This is rivalry to keep an eye on. It has an interesting history, but with Cincinnati on the upswing and Baltimore looking to bounce back, this one could be even more interesting, and important, going forward.
Browns-Steelers (Steelers lead series 79-61-1)
This one has lots of history and bad feelings, which usually happens when two teams have been competing in the same division for 76 years. This is a series that has seen several momentum shifts, but the Steelers have dominated the Browns since their 1999 rebirth. The last time Cleveland swept a season series was in 1988, when their TE was Ozzie Newsome.
Cleveland fans may have thought their 48-37 playoff win at Pittsburgh in 2020 was their coming out party, their serving notice that they were back. Well, as football sage Lee Corso is known for saying, not so fast my friends. This year, both teams face uncertainty at QB, which means they face an uncertain future.
I have this rivalry ranked second because of the history and the general bad blood that generations of players and fans have inherited from their predecessors. We’ll see if the future continues to justify that ranking.
Ravens-Steelers (Steelers lead series 32-24)
I also wrote about this last year. I called it the best current NFL rivalry, and I stand by that. There could be some very compelling rivalries developing in the AFC with the surge of young, outstanding QBs that dominated the last postseason. This one, though, has staying power. For over two decades, this has been the most physical, intense rivalry in the NFL and perhaps in American sports.
This Baltimore Sun article from 2011 highlights the fiercest hits in the rivalry up to that point, and there have been many others. I have seen the 2008 AFC Championship Game between the two referred to numerous times as the most violent game people, including me, have ever seen.
It’s about more than violence, however. The teams often express great respect for each other, and, back to criteria #3, there is almost always something important on the line when these two teams square off. Last year was no different, and the Steelers’ 20-19 and 16-13 victories over the Ravens being the difference between them making the playoffs and the Ravens missing them.
Each NFL team plays 17 regular season games, but when the schedule is released, they often first look to find when their team plays their divisional rivals. I suspect that happens amongst Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland players and fans more than those in any other division.
That’s because the AFC North has been and will continue to be the most competitive and interesting division in the NFL. I’m ready to see how this season plays out, I hope you are too!
You can follow me on Twitter at @jimjfootball.
Jim Johnson spent most of his life in Maryland, growing up with the Orioles, the Colts, Terps, and later Ravens. He started his sports writing career as “The Courtmaster,” covering the Terps and ACC hoops and was a frequent guest on Bob Haynie’s old WNST show and other sports talk across the region. He is currently in his second run at BSL. After previously covering Maryland and Big Ten Football, he now writes about the NFL, primarily the action in the AFC North. Jim covers both current and historic stories, seeking perspective and having fun in the process.