Who is the Broncos biggest rival?

[iknowftbll]

It may seem like a simple question on its surface but it's actually quite dynamic.

Depending on one's age, or what part of the country he's lived in he may consider one team over another to be the biggest rival. For example, a Broncos fan coming of age just after the Raiders last SB may not consider the Raiders to be a serious rival at all. Since that game the Raiders have been a worse team than the Browns while the Broncos have been to the playoffs 8 times, won the AFC West 6 times, won the conference title twice, and won the Super Bowl once. It would be easy to see why a younger fan may be dismissive of the notion that Broncos-Raiders is a great rivalry.

So what about the Chiefs? The bad blood between these teams is legit, and one of the greatest playoff upsets of all time happened between these two in the AFC Divisional round on the heels of the 1997 season. Yet that game is the only playoff game between these two teams, and a look at the standings over the years reveals the Broncos and Chiefs seldom reach the playoffs together. It happened in 2003, when the Colts dispensed of both of them. It happened in 2013 and 2015 too, the Broncos most recent Super Bowl years. In both of those seasons what the Broncos accomplished so far surpasses what the Chiefs did that it's fair to dismiss the Chiefs as an "also ran" more so than a great rival.

Are the Chargers a great rival? Don't make me laugh! Then again, I go back to the comments about age. If you're one of those younger fans who came on more recently than the Raiders last SB you may consider the Chargers a bigger rival than the Raiders. There is no questioning the Chargers have been a vastly superior franchise beginning in 2003. They had a run where they finished 12-4, 9-7, 14-2, 11-5, 8-8, 13-3. The 9-7 season (2005) saw them miss the playoffs, but the 8-8 season (2008) saw them win the AFC West and beat the Colts in a playoff game. Not only that but they made another playoff appearance in 2013, after surging to a 9-7 finish and beat the Bengals in Cincy before facing the Broncos for the only AFC West playoff game since the afore mentioned Broncos-Chiefs game. So while the Chargers are the least of the AFC West teams, their most recent 12 or so seasons are as good an era of Chargers football as has ever existed. A younger fan could easily consider them a bigger rival than both the Raiders or Chiefs.

Now of course, when I ask the "biggest rival" question I mean within the division. But there may be something to the notion that the Broncos biggest rival is outside the division. The Broncos have squared off with the Pittsburg Steelers in the playoffs more than other team. (Meaning the Steelers are the Broncos most frequent playoff opponent). This includes 4 times in the past 20 years, and in 3 of them the winner of the game has gone on to win the Super Bowl (1997, 2005, 2015). The 4th was the Tebow miracle OT game, which remains one of my sentimental favorites to this day. Even though the Steelers are not a rival and in all honesty there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between these teams or their fans, it's hard to deny the significance of some of their playoff match ups over the years. It might just be better than anything between two AFC West teams.

And who can forget the New England Patriots? If there has been any team in the NFL that has been the Broncos equal since Elway's return it's the Patriots. In 3 of those 5 years the Broncos and Patriots have played each other twice, just like a division rival. The Patriots won both in 2011 against the Tebow led Broncos. The teams split in 2013, with the Patriots winning the regular season game and the Broncos posting a decisive win in the AFCCG. The Broncos won both last year, with Anderson plowing ahead for the 39 yard game winner in OT in the regular season and the Broncos holding on to a 20-18 lead on a failed 2-point try, again in the AFCCG. The recent history between these two teams is far better than any of the AFC West teams. More, it's better than any rivalry the Patriots have within the AFC East, too.

The AFC West is a great division with some awesome, storied franchises. Some of the great rivalries were kept together even through some recent realignments. But the division has a surprisingly sparse intra-division playoff history. It's just the way things have worked out over the years. I think there would be a more clear AFC West rival if there were a more frequent AFC West playoff rival. This is sort of intuitive because it would mean two AFC West teams were good enough to consistently make the playoffs the same year. This happens often enough, but it's more infrequent the two AFC West teams get to face each other in the playoffs. To me this waters down some of the rivalries in the division.

With that said, I'll tell you who I consider the greatest rival. I still think the Raiders are the Broncos biggest rival. It goes back to my dislike for the Raiders in my days as a kid living in the L.A. area, and persists even though this era of futility for the Raiders due to the fact that despite being so awful for so long, the Raiders were at one time the premier AFC West franchise. Its fair to say the Broncos have officially taken over that honor, but if you take the whole of a team's history from start to finish the Raiders are the only team in the AFC West that is even in the same discussion with the Broncos in terms of franchise achievements.

So who do you think is the biggest rival and why?

 

[Draft Crazy]

When I think of biggest rival I think of a team inside the division.

I thin back to my younger years and would have said the Raiders, but I would proclaim the Chiefs as our biggest rival now.

 

[iknowftbll]

When I think of biggest rival I think of a team inside the division.

I thin back to my younger years and would have said the Raiders, but I would proclaim the Chiefs as our biggest rival now.

There is something to this. The biggest rival is the team that any given year poses the biggest threat. The Chiefs have certainly been the most significant challenge to the Broncos in recent years. But even then, as I said already given what the Broncos have accomplished in this span the Chiefs really are little more than an "also ran" than a great rival.

 

[cdumler7]

Well I was born in 1986. Just turned 30 and in that time span the Raiders have only made the playoffs 6 times! In that same time span the Chiefs have made it 13 of the 30 seasons. The Chargers have made it 9 of the 30 years. So while I understand the Raiders in overall history are the only team that comes close to the Broncos in our division I just can't put them as our biggest rival considering they have been nothing short of down right terrible since I was born. I mean I would put the Chiefs and Chargers as bigger rivals at this point.

Now I will say that Shanahan did add to the Raiders games since he hated the Raiders and it honestly made me hate them all the more. Since Shanahan disappeared though and the Raiders have continued to be a bottom feeder in the league I would have to say the Chiefs have been that team that I just hope the Broncos beat.

Some of that does go to the fact that most of my life I have lived in Chiefs country so when the Broncos win I get to walk around just a bit taller and hear all the Chiefs fans say something like "Well like usual there is always next year."

Having said all that though I would still put New England as our biggest rival. We have played them quite a bit going back and forth on wins and losses and really our 2 franchises have been the heart of the AFC. Since 1997 the Broncos and Patriots are the top 2 teams in the NFL for Super Bowl victories. They obviously with 4 and us with 3. Then there is a decent group at 2 after that but just shows we and the Patriots really have been the cream of the crop when it comes to the NFL. And it shows in that we are I think they only team to have a winning record against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

 

[CEH]

With Manning gone, who knows. Both KC and Oak and almost SD came into Mile High and beat us.
I tend to lean towards Oakland going forward. I like the trajectory they are on to become really good in the AFCW and AFC.

 

[SpiritOf77]

Regardless of when this question is asked, my answer will always be the same

The Broncos - Raiders rivalry is one of the best in all of sport

 

[nflbronco]

Raider's Del Rio angle adds to rivalry. KC is tough but, weak link is Reid.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Raiders are gonna have to build themselves up a bit before we can call them our biggest rival again, IMO.

While Denver has had one of the most successful winning percentages the past 13 years, the Raiders haven't had a winning season in 13 years.

It would be a slap in Denver's fan to call them our biggest rival right now, IMO.

It's like Iowa football.

We call a team like Nebraska or Wisconsin or biggest rival. Minnesota calls us their biggest rival. Get out of here with that Minnesota. We have bigger rivals to worry about.

 

[Mingo]

It's obvious to me - at the moment - the Patriots are the Broncos biggest rival. I also - hate the Raiders and the Chiefs.

 

[Draft Crazy]

I considered the Patriots, but went with the division rival.

 

[cdumler7]

I considered the Patriots, but went with the division rival.

I guess my question is when we get the schedule every year what team or game do you think matters most for us to win? At least for me the last 5 years the Patriots game has meant a lot more than that of any of our divisional games. Home field seems to possibly come down to that game. Throw in that is the game that at least for me I measure our team. If we can beat the Patriots or at least keep it close in the regular season then yeah I think we stand a good chance in the playoffs. If they destroy us well not expecting a victory any time soon.

And throw in I look at our division and in the last 3 years the Broncos have won more playoff games than our entire division combined over the last 13 years. So it really has been the Broncos by a mile and then everybody else in the division for a long long time.

 

[MileHigh64]

As a fan of the Broncos since the early 70's, it is without a doubt the Oakland Raiders in my book.

 

[iknowftbll]

Looks like I'm ahead of both Predominantly Orange AND ESPN!

http://predominantlyorange.com/2016/07/05/jeff-legwold-reveals-denver-broncos-no-1-rival/

Biggest rival for all 32 NFL teams

 

[DownSetHutch]

I've been a fan since the early '80s, but the team that came to mind when I read the thread title is the Patriots.

If we stay within the division, I would say the Chefs, by a small margin over the Raiders.

 

[Southieinnc]

Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Colts, Broncos all name the Patriots as their biggest rival

“In the past eight seasons, especially in Peyton Manning's time with the Broncos, the team that stirred the blood of the fan base the most was the Patriots,” Broncos writer Jeff Legwold confirmed. “Perhaps because the schedule had fallen so that the Patriots have looked strangely like a division opponent. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Broncos have faced the Patriots 10 times, including three playoff games, and two of those postseason games were for the AFC championship.”

 

[Mingo]

Here's the case for the Patriots being the biggest rival at the moment.

The very first game the Broncos ever played was against the Patriots (Broncos won with a last minute FG in Boston).

The became a top rival again way back into the 90s - so I'd say 25 years.

The rivalry has the incident where Shannon Sharpe called 911 on multiple phones to request help for a Patriot team getting beaten badly.

It has so many years of Belichek and Brady - arch villains of their time.

The Broncos once made a big mistake and hired a Patriot coach to be the head coach and Broncos fans are still running up psychiatric bills over those two years.

The Broncos seem to play them every year.

The games are usually close and well contested.

The Patriots are always Super Bowl contenders - as are the Broncos.

 

[iknowftbll]

You can definitely make a case for the Patriots being the biggest rival at least for the time being. This is a bit of an indictment on the other AFC West teams, really.

As CD pointed out, the Raiders have made the playoffs only 6 times in the last 30 years. When the high water mark for a franchise in a 30 year span is getting railed in the Super Bowl it sort of speaks to the level of futility the team has experienced for over half of its existence. The Raiders are coasting on their laurels from a span of time that lasted less than 20 years: from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. That was as good a span for a team as any in the existence of the NFL, but it has long passed.

And the Chargers and Chiefs both simply lack the prestige of the Raiders. Faded as their prestige is, the Raiders still far surpass these other teams, the Chargers more so than the Chiefs.

But the Broncos and Patriots have actually had a good rivalry for a long time. The Broncos are the only team that has consistently bested the Patriots in the BB/Brady era, including beating them three times in the playoffs (2005, 2013, and 2015). The 2005 win saw the Broncos deal the BB/Brady Patriots their first playoff loss, after a 10-0 run, and denied them a chance to further bid to be the league's first ever 3-peat champions. Combine that with the fact the Broncos are the only team with a winning record against the BB/Brady Patriots, and it's a bit head scratching that Mike Reiss in the ESPN article linked above didn't list the Broncos as the Patriots biggest rival.

 

[BHamita15]

You can definitely make a case for the Patriots being the biggest rival at least for the time being. This is a bit of an indictment on the other AFC West teams, really.

This. I consider the biggest rival as the "must watch" game of the year. If I could only watch 1 game all year, at this point, it's the Pats.

If I had to pick an AFC team, it would currently be the Chiefs but I think the Raiders will finally be a challenge this year.

 

[cdumler7]

I will say as another posted that Del Rio being in Oakland does help the rivalry a little bit. It was pretty obvious that he had quit on the team during the 2014 season and was already getting ready to move in with the Raiders. I can't stand the fact that coaches can be interviewed during the bye week if the team has secured one of the top-2 spots. We saw in 2012 and 2014 where that dynamic really lead to our team just not being prepared like they should have been. We see the same thing with college coaches when they leave right before the bowl game. I just hate that they can do that.

So yes I will be cheering extra hard in those games for our team to embarrass Del Rio and the Raiders. I would also add that other than our Super Bowl loss a few years ago where we lost in embarrassing fashion I think the Raiders when they beat us something like 59-14 at home is one of the most embarrassing games I have watched as a Bronco fan. I guess if that is what we had to endure to get McDaniels out the door and get Elway and company in then it was worth it but man I didn't even want to watch another game that year after seeing what our team did in that one.

 

[iknowftbll]

^ Yeah, that was in 2010, a year there was just not a lot of talent on the team and the talent we had didn't have the leadership to pull it together. That team went 4-12 while that Raiders team went 8-8, the only team in NFL history to sweep its division and miss the playoffs. It's interesting because Chiefs finished 10-6 and the Chargers 9-7 so the Raiders swept two solid teams that year. They just couldn't get it done outside the division.

With all that said, the 2010 season was worth it. In hind sight it was so worth it and one regular season blowout isn't even worth remembering especially when you consider the direction the Broncos and Raiders have gone since then. I mean, Raiders fans are stoked about a 7-9 finish last year and are hyping themselves up over the POTENTIAL of their team. Meanwhile the Broncos have been to two Super Bowls since that game, winning one of them.

I'll take it.