NFL's Best Rivalries in the New Decade

The new decade is just beginning and there are some new rivalries taking hold while other bitter rivalries continue to be as vicious as ever. Rivalries such as the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears will forever be a rough and tumble affair but rivalries between teams like the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans are just now beginning to generate heat. The following ten rivalries will rise to a fever pitch in the next decade.

No. 10 Seattle Seahawks vs St. Louis Rams

This rivalry may not look like much yet but it will soon develop into one of the best rivalries of the upcoming decade. Two young and promising quarterbacks and developing defenses will lead to a decade of hard hitting vicious games between the two NFC West teams.

No. 9 Indianapolis Colts vs Houston Texans

This rivalry was one sided for the last decade in the Indianapolis Colts favor. Now the Houston Texans have made strides offensively and they have added Wade Phillips as the new defensive coordinator. Phillips plans to bring in an aggressive 3-4 defense and he says he will make Mario Williams even more dangerous on the Houston Texans front defensive line.

No. 8 Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Redskins

If Mike Shanahan doesn't blow up the Washington Redskins over the next few years, the rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the Redskins could be one of the best in the NFL. Tony Romo is still young and it looks like the Washington Redskins will work on either acquiring a young free agent quarterback or drafting a quarterback in the NFL Draft. This rivalry will pick up steam halfway through the decade.

No. 7 New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints rivalry has grown in recent years and it should flourish well into the next decade. Drew Brees should be in his prime for the first half of the decade and Matt Ryan can only get better. Both teams have already developed a bad taste for each other and the venom will flow freely as these two teams lock horns for the NFC South title every season.

No. 6 Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns

This rivalry has been one sided since the Cleveland Browns were re-established in 1999. Mike Holmgren is now running the show as the general manager of the team and under his leadership they have assembled some great young talent.

Now with a head coach of Holmgren's choosing this team should give the Baltimore Ravens all they can handle. The Ravens/Browns games in Cleveland are a huge event for the jilted fans of Cleveland. They are still bitter over the Modell's decision to move to Baltimore with their team.

No. 5 Oakland Raiders vs Kansas City Chiefs

The Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs rivalry is ageless and it will continue as long as the NFL exists. Throw the records out when these two teams play. Both teams play like they are in the Super Bowl when they match up and cheap shots on both sides of the ball are common.

The victory of the Oakland Raiders over the Kansas City Chiefs to end this season was a perfect example. Oakland ended the season 8-8 and 6-0 in the AFC West division. Another classic game between the two was at the end of the 1999 season. The Oakland Raiders overcame a 17-0 deficit to come back and win 41-38 in an explosive ending to a disappointing 8-8 season. Young head coach Jon Gruden celebrated the victory as if he won the Super Bowl.

No. 4 Indianapolis Colts vs New England Patriots

They meet once a year in the regular season and these two teams play each other as tough as any division rivals in the NFL. The battle of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will not last through the end of the new decade but the first half of this decade will feature some of the greatest tilts between the two rivals.

Both teams have been evolving as their teams have aged and the young New England Patriots defense will be a force through the new decade. The obvious hurdle both teams will face in this decade will be the transition to new quarterbacks.

No. 3 New York Jets vs New England Patriots

Rex Ryan and the New York Jets are establishing themselves as the new up and coming challengers to the New England Patriots throne as the best team in the AFC East. Bill Belichik avoids the media at all cost and Rex Ryan cannot get enough exposure for himself and his New York Jets. The two teams and head coaches are polar opposites and this is what makes this rivalry one of the greatest in the NFL heading into the new decade.

No. 2 Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears

All four teams in the NFC North are bitter rivals but the rivalry between the Green bay Packers and the Chicago Bears is legendary. The small town Green Bay Packers against the big city Chicago Bears features all of the intensity of a major college football rivalry.

The two teams take the rivalry seriously as the Chicago Bears showed in the last week of the regular season. The Chicago Bears were in the NFL Playoffs with the number two seed and did not have any reason to play their starters against the Green Bay Packers.

Lovie Smith sent in his starting lineup against the Green Bay Packers in an effort to prevent the Packers from making their way into the NFL Playoffs. The game was as intense as an NFL Playoff game but the Green Bay Packers prevailed over their hated rivals.

No. 1 Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens battles result in several players leaving the field on stretchers in every game. The games between these two AFC North combatants are fast becoming wall to wall highlight reels for the devastating hits and bone crushing blocks.

The highlight of the last meeting between these two teams last meeting was the broken nose of Ben Roethlisberger delivered by Baltimore Ravens defensive end Haloti Ngata. The grotesque scene of Roethlisberger's nose bent and misshapen is a symbol of the brutality of this rivalry. These two teams define the football euphemism "smash mouth football."

Statistical sources:

www.yahoosports.com