And this season it escalated to tense, gripping heights because both teams featured talented players, both were fighting for the same division crown and now both scrap for a Super Bowl berth.
The winner, Radio 4's The Lost Honour of Katarina Blum, based on a novel by Heinrich Böll set in Berlin, was described as "tense, gripping", and made by independent producer, Somethin' Else.
Whatever it is, it's state of the art film-making: lean, snappy, tense, gripping and as single-minded as its heroine in the 10-year pursuit of Bin Laden.
This tense, gripping paranoid thriller (based on a novel by John W. Grow) suggests the CIA and the Swedish State Security Police, alarmed by Palme's attempt to make Scandinavia a nuclear-free zone, turned a blind eye to his would-be assassin.
And yet, Mr Pope has somehow created a tense, gripping game - a claustrophobic thriller that has been soaked with praise by the critics.
Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club was positive, grading it an A. He particularly praised the way the darkness was handled which made it a "tense, gripping mini-movie", and also praised the guest stars.
It's a tense, gripping drama, marks the film debut of UK director Yann Demange who's had good success on TV and features a strong central performance from a very talented young actor named Jack O'Connell.
At first, Nate's immersive switch from bespectacled, classical music fan to tough-talking hatemonger can feel like a bit of a stretch; it would've been nice to see the agent doing more "homework". But once Nate convinces his prey he's one of them, things snowball in tense, gripping and disturbing ways.
I usually write with a thin Hi-Tec rollerball, but Cherrell thinks I might have more control with my writing if I try a thicker barrelled pen, which will help to extend the fingers and loosen my super-tense grip (hence my aching hands).
When one scientist in the control room said, "All right, here comes the first picture," the young woman visibly tensed, gripping her elbows.
