The Biggest Current Rival for Every AFC Team

Rivalries in the NFL significantly influence betting outcomes, particularly with critical matchups such as the Bills vs. Chiefs and Ravens vs. Steelers, often leading to closely contested games and unpredictable results, creating opportunities for savvy punters.

Rivalries make sports. And no sport has rivalries like the National Football League. With so few games per season compared to the other three North American major men’s sports leagues, every contest holds critical importance. And in the AFC, we’ve seen some of the league’s best action, whether it’s been between two division rivals clashing for a chance to host a playoff game, or two of the league’s best fighting for a Super Bowl appearance.

The conference has seen some epic confrontations over recent years, highlighted by the Steelers and Ravens doing their annual battle in the AFC North. Then there’s the Bills and Chiefs, who, despite being in different divisions, have played a staggering nine times in the past five seasons. But which rivalries are the hottest for each franchise? Let’s take a look.

Baltimore Ravens Biggest rival: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Ravens have existed for only 30 seasons, and their chief rival has never changed. The Steelers have been their division nemesis, with the two fashioning some of the hardest-hitting games this century. The Ravens and Steelers have combined to win 17 of the 23 division titles since realignment in 2002, with the duo also winning four Super Bowls and appearing in five since the ’05 season.

Buffalo Bills Biggest rival: Chiefs

Buffalo has won each of the past five AFC East titles, so it’s tough to look inside the division and find a rival. However, the Bills have plenty of animosity for the Chiefs, who have knocked them out of the playoffs in four of the past five years. Whether it’s quarterback play or overall stature, there’s a terrific argument that over the past half decade, the only team to eclipse Buffalo is Kansas City.

Cincinnati Bengals Biggest rival: Browns

Paul Brown founded both teams, starting the Bengals in 1968 as part of the American Football League. Brown, furious with his dismissal after the 1963 season by former Browns owner Art Modell, not only created another team within the state of Ohio, but also used identical colors for the uniform. There’s no rivalry with more shared history than Browns-Bengals.

Cleveland Browns Biggest rival: Steelers

There’s a strong case to be made that the Browns should also have the Bengals listed as their biggest rival based on the explanation above, but the Steelers have more history with Cleveland. The franchises have shared the NFL stage since 1950, when the Browns merged into the entity from the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). However, Pittsburgh has certainly gotten the better of Cleveland in recent years, with the Steelers sporting a regular-season record of 38–9-1 since the Browns reentered the NFL in ’99.

Denver Broncos Biggest rival: Chiefs

The Broncos have a storied history that includes plenty of big moments against a litany of teams, but the Chiefs are the current rival that stands out. Denver had a brutal stretch between 2015 to ’22 when the Broncos lost 16 consecutive games to Kansas City. However, the Broncos have had better success of late, splitting the season series each of the past two years. If Denver can continue ascending in the AFC West, this matchup will only grow more intense.

Houston Texans Biggest rival: Colts

When the Texans entered the NFL in 2002, the Peyton Manning era Colts routinely beat them. Now, things have changed, with the two teams typically fighting atop the AFC South standings. Before 2014, Houston staggered to a 4–23 mark against Indianapolis. The Texans have gone a far more respectable 9–10 since, including wins in four of the past five contests (one of which came with a playoff berth on the line in Week 18 of C.J. Stroud’s rookie season). For Houston, finally being able to beat the Colts has been a mark of real progress.

Indianapolis Colts Biggest rival: Texans

Again, the games between the Colts and Texans have typically been significant in recent years. The AFC South was created in 2002, and these two franchises have combined to take the crown 17 times. Going into 2025, the Texans are favored to win the AFC South for the third consecutive year, but Indianapolis might be their biggest threat if either Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson proves capable under center.

Jacksonville Jaguars Biggest rival: Titans

The Jaguars are one of the newer franchises in the NFL, as are the remodeled Titans, who showed up in Nashville after the 1996 season. The two teams have formed an intense rivalry, starting in the old AFC Central and continuing after the 2002 realignment, which placed both in the AFC South. The apex of their animosity came in 1999, when the Jaguars went 14–2 and lost in the AFC title game. All three losses came to Tennessee.

Kansas City Chiefs Biggest rival: Bills

The Chiefs have turned the NFL into their playground over the past six years, reaching five Super Bowls and winning three. If there’s one team that Kansas City respects, it’s Buffalo. The Bills have been a thorn for the Chiefs in the regular season, winning their matchups each of the four years. Kansas City has gotten revenge in the postseason, eliminating Buffalo in the 2020, ’21, ’23 and ’24 seasons.

Las Vegas Raiders Biggest rival: Chiefs

While the Raiders have myriad rivalries across the league and their franchise history, none match up to their hatred of the Chiefs. The two have been bitter rivals since their days in the AFL, where the Chiefs and a Raiders franchise then based in Oakland won four of the league’s 10 titles, including three of the final four. The Raiders and Chiefs have only met twice in the playoffs, both Kansas City wins, but their battles and rancor for each other are legendary.

Los Angeles Chargers Biggest rival: Raiders

The Chargers have often been on the outside of the most heated AFC West rivalries. That said, their games against the Raiders have been the best of the bunch. The two teams shared California for their entire histories until the Raiders relocated to Las Vegas for the 2020 season. Additionally, they’ve played some classic games, including the “Holy Roller” epic in 1978, the ’80 AFC championship game and the Week 18 overtime thriller in 2021, which the Raiders won to reach the playoffs.

Miami Dolphins Biggest rival: Bills

The Dolphins have been reasonably competitive in recent years, but it hasn’t mattered much with the Bills standing in the way. While Buffalo has finished first in the AFC East each of the past five seasons, Miami has logged four second-place finishes while twice making the playoffs. In 2022, the Dolphins earned a postseason berth as the AFC’s seventh seed and, despite having to start backup quarterback Skylar Thompson, almost pulled a massive upset in the wild-card round against Buffalo, losing 34–31.

New England Patriots Biggest rival: Jets

For two decades with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, most of the league would have claimed its most significant rival was New England. These days? The Jets are the top pick. While the Bills and Dolphins are rivals, New York and New England have a sordid history, including Belichick being hired by the Jets as their head coach, then re-signing before being traded to the Patriots. There’s also the 2011 AFC divisional round game, where Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan shocked the 14-win Pats in their building.

New York Jets Biggest rival: Dolphins

The history of the Jets and Dolphins dates back to their shared days in the AFL, when Bob Griese and Joe Namath locked horns. Still, the best period for this rivalry was the 1980s. In that decade, quarterbacks Dan Marino and Ken O’Brien were drafted in 1983 and competed for years, including the famous ’86 shootout at the Meadowlands, won by the Jets in overtime, 51–45. Four years prior, the two met at the Orange Bowl in the ’82 AFC title game, with Miami winning in a downpour, 14–0.

Pittsburgh Steelers Biggest rival: Ravens

This rivalry has been going strong for decades. However, unlike the Ravens, the Steelers have a ton of other well-documented rivalries, including old-school ones with the Raiders and Cowboys. Still, Baltimore is the best one, with the two teams having faced off five times in the playoffs this century. Pittsburgh won three of the matchups, including a fiercely contested 2008 AFC championship game, which sent the Steelers to Super Bowl XLIII.

Tennessee Titans Biggest rival: Colts

The Titans have had their battles with all of the AFC South teams over the past few decades, but none stand out more than their games with the Colts. Tennessee went to the Super Bowl in 1999 and upset Indianapolis in the divisional round to continue its run. The two teams also battled in the final week of the 2018 season for a playoff spot, with the Colts and Andrew Luck winning, 33–17.

The conference has seen some epic confrontations over recent years, highlighted by the Steelers and Ravens, and the Bills and Chiefs. While some feuds go back decades, others have heated up in recent years.

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