ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There’s nothing quite like a real, naturally built rivalry in sports. Yes, the Denver Broncos have a traditional rival in the Oakland Raiders, but as the Raiders have dwelled in the cellar for more than a decade, the Orange & Blue have needed a new opponent to put in the crosshairs.
A wonderful thing about these natural rivalries is the fact that they are built on respect, maybe even envy. Natural rivalries are born when two teams have so much admiration for each other that they learn to hate the other. The rivalry is built on a series of matchups with high stakes, stakes that remain high because both teams have something to play for, something they both strive for. Championships.
That’s the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
Over the past five seasons, the two model franchises of the National Football League have met eight times, four coming in the second half of the season, three coming in the playoffs. In those eight meetings, the Patriots have won five games, but the Broncos have won both meetings in the AFC Championship. In those five years, one of these two teams has ended up in the Super Bowl four times. In those five years, Broncos-Patriots has become arguably the best rivalry in the league.
It has its fair share of hate, but that hate veils admiration.
“It’s a dislike, but it’s a respect. It’s a respectful dislike,” Broncos safety T.J Ward said of his relationship with the AFC’s top team this season. “We’re two of the best in the business. Anytime you have two organizations that are on top the division most of the years and battling for big trophies and championships, there’s going to be a disdain. There’s going to be a dislike, and that’s okay.”
“It’s football. It’s cool to dislike your opponent,” Ward added. “Everybody acts like you have to be friends in this league. You do not have to be friends. A lot of people dislike me. I’m cool with that. I love it. If you like me and the opposing team likes me, I’m not doing my job.”
The old saying “opposites attract” is most appropriate when it comes to magnets: Each magnet has two poles, a north pole and a south pole, when matched with another magnet it’s the opposite poles from each that stick together. On the flip side, the same poles—when brought together—repel.
The Broncos and Patriots are the same pole of different magnets. They repel because of how similar they are; they hate each other because of how much they both love the same thing: winning.
“I just love playing against the Patriots,” defensive end Derek Wolfe explained. “Tom Brady is the ultimate competitor. I love playing against guys like that. When I say that I ‘hate’ them, I hate to love them. That’s what it is. It’s a love, hate thing. I love playing against them, but I hate them at the same time.”
“He is the best quarterback in the league,” cornerback Aqib Talib added about the face of that hated franchise. “He is a Hall of Fame quarterback, anytime that you have a chance to go compete against him, you can’t turn that down. If you are an ultimate competitor; we have a bunch of ultimate competitors on our team, you can’t turn that opportunity down. We’re looking forward to it.”
Sunday will mark the ninth occurrence of this great rivalry over the past six seasons, and as things stand now the two teams could very well meet again in the playoffs. As the great philosopher Jay-Z once said, “Real recognize real and you lookin familiar.”
