Rivalries in sports are not what they used to be. Players do not typically stay with one team long enough to establish a sufficient hatred for an opposing team which typically consists of players that are their former teammates, college buddies or offseason acquaintances. It seems as though the biggest rivalries in sports currently exist between individual players rather than teams. Brady and Manning, Josh Norman and Odell Beckham JR, Lebron and Steph, Crosby and Ovechkin, Messi and Ronaldo, and the list goes on and on. With respect to pro sports teams, the true rivalries exist between the fans who support their teams through thick and thin and in good times and bad. The Dallas Cowboys are one team that many fan bases have declared as rivals. After all they are “America’s Team” and every other team in America can’t stand it. But, of all of those teams, which of them do the Cowboy fans also consider as their biggest rivals?
Traditionally, the Cowboys rivals are not relegated to within their division. in the 70’s it was the Steelers. During the years I grew up as a Cowboy fan the San Francisco 49ers were their chief rival as both teams battled it out for NFC supremacy. Those days seem so far away now as neither team has claimed a championship in over 20 years. More recently it is the Green Bay Packers who have taken the Niner’s place as Dallas’ biggest non-division rival. Aaron Rodgers and company have eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs twice in three years in heartbreaking fashion. They also beat us at home last season on a last minute game winning drive led by Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers are definitely in contention as the Cowboy’s biggest rival.
Within the division their is no shortage of suitors either. The Giants have been a thorn in the Cowboys side for several years now. Every season seems to start out with an epic back and forth nail biter between the two clubs. As recently as 2016 the Giants beat the Cowboys twice during their 13 win season. Apart from the Giants success against Dallas, no Cowboy fan needs to be reminded that Eli has led his team to two Super Bowls in recent history. Those championship are more palatable for most Cowboy fans since they prevented the Pats from owning bragging rights over Dallas in terms of number of Super Bowl victories in franchise history. Perhaps it is partly for that reason that the Giants are least relevant Cowboys rival in the NFC East.
Historically speaking the Washington Redskins have always been the titleholder as the Cowboys biggest rival. The two franchises logos conjure images of the wild west and the classic childhood game of Cowboys and Indians. The two teams became rivals immediately when Dallas earned an NFL franchise. There are conflicting stories on how and why the rivalry began but regardless of the origin it was one of the best in all of pro sports for several decades. For me the rivalry hit it’s peak during the 80’s when the Cowboys were a laughing stock while the Skins were accumulating Super Bowls. Even several years after that it always seemed to me that no matter what the Redskins record was, they would always manage to split the season series with Dallas. Lately the rivalry seems to have dissipated to an extent. The Redskins are such a laughing stock and the rivalry has been so one sided that it is only running on fumes from days past. The Redskins were once the Cowboys biggest rival but they have since lost their title.
That leaves us with one divisional foe left…The Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have a better record All-time against the Cowboys than both the Giants and Redskins. During my tenure as a fan, the Eagles actually have a winning record against Dallas. In that time I have had to endure the trash talk of a loud mouth named Buddy Ryan, Eagle fans cheering as Michael Irvin suffered a career ending injury, the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb era and now a Super Bowl victory. Eagle fans are notoriously obnoxious and always were even when they never won a Super Bowl. Now that they have finally won one, they act as though they have won ten Super Bowls. If there is one team that I can crown as the Cowboys biggest rival it is without a doubt the Philadelphia Eagles.
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All data and statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/