Most Hated Rival?

With Tom Brady recently flatly stating that he “hates the Jets” on a local radio station, I was wondering which team Bills’ fans have the most disdain for heading into the 2010 season.

New England Patriots: The Patriots have been an easy team to hate for Bills’ fans for quite a while. The Bills have lost 13 straight games to the Patriots, dating back to the 2003 season opener. As a matter of fact, the Bills have only won one of their last 19 meetings with the Patriots. The Pats have also embarrassed the Bills on national television, overcoming a seemingly insurmountable lead in last season’s Monday Night Football opener, and pummeling the Bills in Buffalo 56-10 on Sunday Night Football in 2007. Throw in that they have won three Super Bowls in the past decade, their coach is a cheater, Tom Brady is a crybaby, and that you have to listen to Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison as commentators on ESPN, and the Pats have likely been the Bills’ biggest villain of late.

New York Jets: The Jets are making a push of late to be one of the most hated teams in all of football. Their show on HBO’s Hard Knocks has already rubbed all-around nice guy and well-liked Tony Dungy the wrong way. I’d say they’ve been sneaking up on people with their run to the AFC Championship game a season ago, but it’s difficult to sneak up on teams when you’re so loud the whole way there. Rex Ryan never saw a microphone or a doughnut that he didn’t like. Mark Sanchez is one of the least accomplished players to be anointed a franchise quarterback, and the New York fans that travel to Ralph Wilson Stadium are some of the least enjoyable to sit with in the league.

Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins have been the Bills’ historical rival dating back to the 1970’s. The Bills went zero for the ’70’s against the Dolphins, losing 20 straight games. The Dolphins were the Bills’ closest competitors during the height of Bills popularity in the early 1990’s, and even most recently when the Bills had their quality teams in the late ’90s. The Bills’ legends seem to show up in the largest numbers for games against the Dolphins, which usually gets the fans hyped up at The Ralph. Throw in the historical Dolphins to hate like Dan Marino (a bigger whiner than Brady), and the master of the two-bird salute Bryan Cox, and Bills’ fans still get excited to ‘Squish the Fish.’

Other teams that Bills’ fans may still strongly dislike include their NFC East Super Bowl opponents the Giants, the Redskins, and particularly the Cowboys. The Cowboys embarrassed the Bills in consecutive Super Bowls and weren’t exactly humble in victory. Perhaps Bills fans are still sore from ‘Homerun Throwforward’ and dislike the Titans.

Let us know what you think, check out our new poll and tell us who your most hated rival is.