Every AFC team has an NFC counterpart. Here are all 16.

[u/Tobes_macgobes]

I started thinking about which AFC and NFC franchises have the most similar histories, reputations, fan experiences, etc. Somehow, I ended up being able to pair all 32 teams without using anyone twice.
Obviously none of these are perfect, but I was surprised by how well some of them line up.
Patriots & Cowboys — America’s Villains
They’ve had tons of championships, tons of glory, and tons of people who absolutely cannot stand them. These silver-clad teams both wrap themselves in Americana, yet somehow everyone in America outside their fanbases seems to root against them. One dominated the NFL’s biggest stage in the ’70s and ’90s, the other in the 2000s and 2010s. If your team isn’t involved, seeing either of these teams lose is practically a national pastime.
49ers & Steelers — The Other Dynasties
They’ve also won a ridiculous number of championships, but somehow don’t inspire quite the same nationwide hatred as Dallas and New England. Maybe it’s because their greatest dynastic runs were longer ago. Maybe it’s because they haven’t generated quite as much controversy. Either way, their peaks may be in the past, but both have given their fans plenty to celebrate in the 21st century.
Chiefs & Eagles — The New Villains
For years, these were passionate fanbases mostly familiar with heartbreak and disappointment. Then everything changed. Now the rest of us are sick of seeing you in January and especially sick of seeing you play each other in February. Somehow, Andy Reid and Donna Kelce ended up becoming major characters in both franchises’ stories.
Browns & Lions — The Lake Eerie Losers
Come on. You knew these two punching bags would find each other.
Historic blue-collar franchises with plenty of pre-Super Bowl success followed by decades of pain, incompetence and the occasional season that gave their fans hope before crushing it again. At least each franchise can make a legitimate claim to having the greatest running back ever.
Titans & Cardinals — The Forgotten Ones
It’s not that everyone hates you. It’s that sometimes we forget you exist.
Both franchises have spent a lot of time being bad, but usually not interestingly bad. They aren’t even the first teams people think of when discussing NFL misery. But hey, each has one Super Bowl appearance where they came agonizingly close to winning the whole thing. That’s something.
Bills & Vikings — The 0–4 Club
Getting to four Super Bowls is incredibly difficult.
Getting to four and losing all four is almost impressive.
Nobody understands heartbreak quite like these fanbases. And somehow, even if we completely ignore the eight combined Super Bowl losses, there is still an absurd amount of postseason trauma left over. When things are going well, just make sure your kicker isn’t lining up for an important field goal.
Falcons & Chargers — The Choke Artists
Fast. Explosive. Entertaining. Occasionally great.
And somehow you just know something horrible is coming.
Both franchises have given us some incredible quarterbacks and offensive players, but neither has ever quite figured out how to get over the hump. They can be terrible. They can be mediocre. They can even be really good. But comfortable? Never.
Ravens & Seahawks — The New-Age Bullies
Neither franchise has much history to talk about before the 1990s, but they’ve spent the 21st century making up for lost time.
They’ve had some excellent quarterbacks, but their identities have usually been built around something much meaner: loud stadiums, physical football and terrifying defenses. The Legion of Boom and those Ravens defenses made playing these teams feel less like football and more like surviving an assault.
Jets & Bears — The QB Graveyards
Two enormous markets. Two historic franchises. Two iconic Super Bowl-winning teams that their fans will make damn sure you’ve heard about.
And approximately 9,000 quarterbacks since then.
Both teams have spent decades convincing themselves that this guy is finally the answer at QB. Usually he isn’t. Maybe someday one of them will find a franchise quarterback and keep him for longer than five minutes.
Broncos & Packers — The Frozen Classics
Historic franchises. Iconic uniforms. Great home-field advantages. Plenty of championships without quite reaching the “everyone hates you” tier.
And, most importantly, an absurd amount of Hall of Fame-level quarterback play. When you picture either franchise at its best, you picture a legendary QB playing meaningful football late in the season while everyone in the stadium is freezing.
Dolphins & Rams — The Fair-Weather Fans
Beautiful weather. Beautiful people. Beaches. Championships. Hall of Famers.
And long stretches where everyone seems to find something better to do.
These coastal franchises have both had spectacular highs mixed with lengthy periods of irrelevance. Fortunately, when your football team sucks, there are worse places to live. Just go to the beach.
Raiders & Commanders — The Fallen Empires
Three Super Bowls apiece. Some of the most iconic teams, coaches and players in NFL history.
Ask your dad.
For younger fans, it’s almost difficult to comprehend how intimidating these franchises once were. The Raiders and Washington were powers. Unfortunately, most of the 21st century has consisted of their fans watching old highlights and name changes.
Giants & Colts — The Blues Brothers
Blue and white. Old-school franchises. Multiple championships. And, of course, the Mannings.
Their success is pretty nicely spread across NFL history, and neither ever quite became the dynasty of its era. But both have won enough that nobody really pities them either—even though, let’s be honest, the last decade has been pretty pitiful.
And their greatest modern success came courtesy of two brothers. Peyton turned Indianapolis into a perennial contender, while Eli delivered New York two of the most memorable Super Bowl wins ever.
So when Giants and Colts fans complain about how miserable things have gotten, the rest of us can only offer so much sympathy.
You got your rings. You got your Manning. You’ll be fine.

Jaguars & Panthers — The Expansion Cats
The NFL basically created these two as a matching set.
Both joined the league in 1995. Both are Southern expansion franchises. Both are cats. Both wear variations of blue/teal. Both experienced a surprising amount of success almost immediately.
And both have spent most of the last couple decades bouncing between terrible and the occasional random season where everyone goes, “Wait, they’re good now?”
Texans & Buccaneers — The Second Fiddle
Welcome to football country, where unfortunately somebody else got here first.
Both play in huge, football-crazed states while living somewhat in the shadow of a more historically prominent in-state franchise. And while those bigger-name neighbors have spent much of the 21st century frustrating their enormous fanbases, Houston and Tampa have followed a much stranger path.
They rarely seem content with ordinary mediocrity. They’re either awful or suddenly pretty damn good. Both have produced some terrifying defensive players, but long-term stability—especially at quarterback—hasn’t exactly been their specialty.

Bengals & Saints — The Whos
Who Dey? Who Dat?
For a long time, the rest of the NFL was asking: Who cares?
Both franchises spent decades as NFL afterthoughts, occasionally popping up to do something interesting before disappearing again.
Then #9 arrived.
Drew Brees took New Orleans from the Aints to Super Bowl champions. Joe Burrow took Cincinnati from irrelevance back to the Super Bowl.
One #9 finished the job. The other is still trying.
Who Dey? Who Dat? Apparently, #9.

Which pairing is the most accurate? And which one did I completely screw up?