One of my sons recently asked me who the Patriots’ rival was. I told him they don’t really have one, and haven’t since Peyton Manning departed Indianapolis. The truth is, though we have vied for AFC dominance with New England for the past decade and a half, we haven’t had enough success to earn the standing as a rival. We hate them the way the Oilers, and before them the Raiders hated us. We are to New England what Cincinnati is to us.
My fear is that such will soon be even more true.