Lions' current chief rival has been born out of great familiarity

With how much losing they did for the better part of multiple decades, the Detroit Lions were a doormat more than a great rival for any team they played on a regular basis. Rivalries usually have a back-and-forth nature to them, and the Lions simply could not reciprocate nearly enough to fuel any notable rivalries. Multiple Hall of Fame resumes (coaches and players) had a foundation built on going against the Lions in the same division year after year.

Of course the Lions' rise to success in recent years has them on the radar of the entire league as a force to be reckoned with. Some people just don't know how to deal with them being a winning team, criticizing the manner in which they win when an opponent proves to be feeble as if it's something wrong and no other team does it. That broad sentiment is unlikely to go away anytime soon, and in what's looking like a strong NFC North for years to come some real rivalries could be born.

In tabbing the biggest current rival for each NFC team, Gilberto Manzano of SI.com went a different, perhaps unsurprising direction.

"This recent rivalry has had several intriguing story lines, none bigger than the 2021 trade involving quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. The Rams got the better end of the deal with Stafford winning a Super Bowl in his first year in Los Angeles after many losing seasons in Detroit. But since then, the Lions have become a powerhouse and knocked off the Rams in the wild-card round during the 2023 season."

"These two teams also had an overtime thriller in Week 1 last year, with Detroit winning, 26–20. It wouldn’t be a surprise if these two rivals meet in the postseason again in 2025."

Lions-Rams rivalry is rooted in unique familiarity

When the Lions were embarking on another rebuild in 2021, they hired Brad Holmes as general manager. Prior to coming to Detroit he had worked for the Rams since 2003, with the last portion of those years (2013-2020) as their director of college scouting.

Upon taking over as Lions' general manager, Holmes had a franchise quarterback who wanted no part of another rebuild as his career winds down. Matthew Stafford wanted to go to the Rams, and Holmes granted that wish, sending him to Los Angeles for Jared Goff and multiple draft picks.

Goff was clearly deemed unable to get the Rams over the hump to a Super Bowl win by head coach Sean McVay, which at the time McVay was right about. Stafford got that done in his first year as the Rams' quarterback.

McVay has acknowledged multiple times how poorly he handled Goff's departure, but the Lions' signal caller clearly still carries how the trade went down as motivation.

In 2023, the Lions beat Stafford and the Rams in the Wild Card Round for their first playoff win in more than 30 years. Then they beat the Rams again at Ford Field in the 2024 season opener. A rematch in Los Angeles is on the docket for Week 15 this season, and like Manzano suggested it may only be a matter of time before the two teams see each other in the playoffs again.

The Lions may eventually have a bigger rival than the Rams. But right now, the strong familiarity between the two sides (with a side of lingering sour grapes from Goff) fuels a sneaky rivalry that seems to have a few chapters left in it.

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