Rivalries
In their history the Patriots' longest rivalries have been with eight of the nine other teams that played them in the American Football League in the 1960s. Seven of those eight rivalries began in the AFL's debut season of 1960 - the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs (originally the Dallas Texans), and Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers. The Miami Dolphins joined the AFL in the Patriots' division in 1966. The Cincinnati Bengals joined the AFL in 1968 and played only twice against the Patriots in the last two years of the AFL as an independent league. The Patriots have faced AFL-era rivals fifteen times in playoff runs in the club's first 52 seasons, winning eleven times. The Patriots rivalry with quarterback Peyton Manning was switched in 2012 from rivalry with the Indianapolis Colts to the Denver Broncos with the signing of Manning to Denver.
Other notable AFC rivals have been the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Jacksonville Jaguars; the Patriots have played all three in the playoffs (winning seven of ten postseason matchups) as well as in closely contested regular season matchups.
The Patriots' most notable interconference rivals are the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, and Carolina Panthers - the Patriots have played six of these seven in Super Bowls while their 1994 victory over the Vikings was a critical game in the club's history.
The Patriots have also had memorable games against the Seattle Seahawks, whe have played the Patriots as member of both NFL conferences. The largest comeback victory in Patriots history was 1984's 38-23 win over Seattle after trailing 23-0, while notable losses occurred in 1986 (38-31 Seattle) and 2012 (24-23).
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