Do the Bills Even Have a Hated Division Rival?

[Augie]

I’m pleasantly surprised that I am the first to mention the refs.  

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, folz said:

 

Yes, at this point (in this era), our biggest rival would have to be the Chiefs. During the Pats run, I would say it was the Pats...but I'm sure the Pats would never have classified the Bills as a rival during that era (because they mostly just kicked our butts).

 

But believe me, the rivalry with the Dolphins in the '80s and '90s was very real and very heated (see Bryan Cox, for one). It was as good as any NFC North rivalry back in the day. Kelly vs. Marino; Shula vs. Marv; a warm, weather vacation city vs. a snowy rust belt city; 0-fer the 70s, etc. And from 1990-1998, the Dolphins and Bills met in the playoffs 4 times (on top of playing each other twice a year in the regular season).

 

Yeah, the old saying goes "the hammer does not consider the nail a rival".

 

The Pats rivals in the 00s were Colts and Ravens. Maybe even Miami since is seemed like the Dolphins could somehow manage some crazy win to split 1-1. BUt definitely not the Bills or Jets.

[BuffaloBaumer]

My bad, I forgot to add DIVISION rival. It is definitely the Chiefs for me by a long shot. Of course I forgot the most important word in my topic, ugh...

[K-9]

13 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

If you are an older fan like me, you have always and will always hate the Fish

Yep. Ofer an entire decade against a team will do that to ya. I think a most hated rival depends a lot on our experiences as fans when we were kids. I suspect there is a generation of younger fans today who were scarred by the Belichick/Brady Patriots*** like we were by the Shula/Griese ‘Phins.

[MJS]

Just now, BuffaloBaumer said:

My bad, I forgot to add DIVISION rival. It is definitely the Chiefs for me by a long shot. Of course I forgot the most important word in my topic, ugh...

We are the hated rival of the rest of the division right now, because none of them stack up to the Bills. The Bills are focused higher, so their rival is the Chiefs. It is much like the Pats who dominated the division while the rest of the division hated them, but the Pats cared less and viewed other AFC playoff contenders as their rivals.

[Warcodered]

Just now, BuffaloBaumer said:

My bad, I forgot to add DIVISION rival. It is definitely the Chiefs for me by a long shot. Of course I forgot the most important word in my topic, ugh...

So then it's like a history lesson like a bunch of other posters have said, as a Wyoming Bills fan that came when Allen got drafted don't really know any of that.

 

Besides that it's like which of your children is the most annoying.....probably the dolphins they just don't shut up.

[Process]

There hasn't been a real rivalry in the AFCE for 25+ years

[RoscoeParrish]

8 minutes ago, BuffaloBaumer said:

My bad, I forgot to add DIVISION rival. It is definitely the Chiefs for me by a long shot. Of course I forgot the most important word in my topic, ugh...

You are off the hook and forgiven.

 

the Bills don’t really have a division rival much like the Pats didn’t because no one is good enough consistently enough to be a rival. 
 

the AFCN is such a fierce rivalry because of some of their teams being largely good for most of their time together. But everyone would rank Browns v the field as the least significant rivalry of any of the matchups because the Browns suck hard and almost always do.

 

We have 3 Browns or Browns adjacent in our division. 

[US Egg]

5 minutes ago, Process said:

There hasn't been a real rivalry in the AFCE for 25+ years

Bad blood rivalries is a fan figment. 

[BuffaloBaumer]

1 minute ago, US Egg said:

Bad blood rivalries is a fan figment. 

Don't tell that to Ravens, Steelers and Bengals players, it's very real to them.

[skibum]

Somewhat true, if you consider that most of the Bills' division "rivalries" have been either lopsided or meaningless throughout much of their history. Even during the Kelly-Marino days, Buffalo usually got the best of Miami (and way back in the day, it was all Miami for a while). The Bills dominated the Pats for many years until Brady turned it sharply the other way, and now it's back to the Bills with the big advantage. The Jets have never been much competition, except when both the Bills and Jets were mediocre. So yeah, not a lot of sustained excitement within the AFC East. 

[stevewin]

Funny - I was at a wedding in Seattle a couple weeks ago and my son and I were sitting around a firepit talking about the Bills.   At one point another guy overheard "KC" and came into the conversation, saying how much he hates KC, then goes "but you guys won't like me because I'm a Patriots** fan".  I suppressed the urge to say "No - I don't care at all about you because you're totally irrelevant" - out of respect for the joyous occasion and because, well, he was totally irrelevant.

Edited August 8 by stevewin

[May Day 10]

I honestly feel lukewarm on everyone in the Division and think it is a silly division for the Bills to be in.  Always wanted them to be in a great lakes/rust belt type division with similar teams and general cultures like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincy, etc.

 

If I hate anyone the most, oddly, it would be the most uncommon answer, it is the Jets.  I loathe NYC sports fans.  I want to see that franchise in the sewer forever. 

[RochesterLifer]

I grew up in the '70s when the Dolphins beat us for an entire decade. Our dominance over the Fins during the Super Bowl years was sweet revenge. Our current ownership of Miami brings me special joy, and I get anxious before every game with them. Don't give them an inch; they already took a mile.

[GunnerBill]

It's the Jets for me for some reason. We have owned the Dolphins for a long time even pre-dating Josh. Marrone and Rex both had decent records against them from memory. 

 

And the Pats for a long time were just better than us. They have beat us twice since they weren't one wind assisted and the other I thought the Bills deserved to lose. 

 

I think I just feel like in the last 15/20 years we have lost to the Jets despite being clearly better than them multiple times and it really winds me up haha. 

[wjag]

I really dislike them all for different reasons.

 

Dolphins -- 0 for the 70s

Pats -- The entire TB12 era

Jets -- Justs a bunch of dirty players they call a team

[BVBILLS]

I hate every other division rival! Yes, the Bills finally got revenge on the Fins and the cheats, but It's not enough. Need a championship.

[RochesterLifer]

9 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Funny - I was at a wedding in Seattle a couple weeks ago and my son and I were sitting around a firepit talking about the Bills.   At one point another guy overheard "KC" and came into the conversation, saying how much he hates KC, then goes "but you guys won't like me because I'm a Patriots** fan".  I suppressed the urge to say "No - I don't care at all about you because you're totally irrelevant" - out of respect for the joyous occasion and because, well, he was totally irrelevant.

I lived in Boston from 2018 to 2023. They didn't take us seriously as we became a strong football team. Pats fans thought Buffalo's excitement was "cute" and expected to keep dominating. With their arrogance, they never knew what hit them. 

[US Egg]

3 minutes ago, BuffaloBaumer said:

Don't tell that to Ravens, Steelers and Bengals players, it's very real to them.

You want to beat opponents in your division for the obvious reasons. The notion that they look across the field seething more so than when non division teams are over there simply plays well with fans and media. Doubt they’d be more pumped wanting to beat a mediocre division rival than a top tier team.

[Walking Tall]

54 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

For me it's the Ravens 

Yep. I hate Baltimore.