The game's best rivalries?

It's not just a good game; it's good theater, with drama, passion, angst and hyperbole injected into a series that suddenly threatens to become the West Coast version of Baltimore-Pittsburgh. I know, it's not there. Not yet. But it gets closer with every Harbaugh spitball. In the meantime, let's just say it's a rivalry that has everyone's attention, which means it just entered rarified air -- along with these guys:

Pittsburgh-Baltimore

These two not only regularly compete for the AFC North championship; they regularly compete with New England for ownership of the AFC, period. One or the other has appeared in four of the past five conference championship games (with both in the 2008 game), and they've been to three of the past five Super Bowls. But there's more than that. Look at the series history: Seven of the past nine games between these two were decided by three points. Three frickin' points. Moreover, look at what their players say about each other. It's not pretty, with Terrell Suggs once suggesting the Ravens had a "bounty" out on Pittsburgh star receiver Hines Ward -- a comment he later said was made in jest. Ravens' coach John Harbaugh calls the series "a defining type of rivalry," which makes sense if the definition is the best of the best of the best. This is Boston vs. the Yankees in baseball, UNC vs. Duke in basketball and Tiger vs. Phil on the back nine. The two teams are built around suffocating defenses, winning quarterbacks and organizational stability, and they bring an intensity and respect for each other rarely seen elsewhere. "If there is one place you want to play as a football player," Suggs once said, "it's definitely being the bad guy in Heinz Field." Now that's how you light a fuse.

Peyton Manning-Tom Brady

They're two of the best quarterbacks in pro football, and the only thing safer than their enshrinements at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is that they meet each other next year. You can look it up: Manning-Brady is on target for national TV Nov. 24 at Foxboro, the 11th time since 2001 they've met -- with 2008 and 2011 the only leap years. But there's a catch: Their teams did, in fact, meet in each of those seasons. It's just that their quarterbacks couldn't make it. Brady was hurt in 2008, and Manning was out in 2011. So they've been scheduled to play in each of the past 11 years, meaning they're one of the few stories with more sequels than Rocky. So Brady is 9-4 head-to-head vs. Eli's older brother. Only once in the last five times they met has the gap between the two been more than four points. Plus, now Manning has Brady's favorite receiver. Brady's been to five Super Bowls; Manning to two. Manning has four MVP awards; Brady has two. I think you get the idea. These are two of the most decorated quarterbacks in history, and enjoy them while you can. They won't last forever.

Chicago-Green Bay

Of the rivalries mentioned here, none goes back further than this one. It's not the meanest. Baltimore-Pittsburgh qualifies there. Nor is it the most competitive. While the series is close (92-88-6 in favor of the Bears), it hasn't been close lately. Green Bay won eight of the last nine. It's just that there's something about Green Bay-Chicago, and it's more than memories of Halas and Lombardi, Butkus and Nitschke, Sayers and Starr. It's 22 NFL championships (including five Super Bowls) and 48 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's 186 games and fierce hitting and bitter cold and Super Bowl Shuffles. Granted, there haven't been a lot of championships lately. But look at the NFC North: Nine of the last 11 titles have been won by one of these teams, with the Packers -- which didn't win the 2010 title -- running the table that year in the playoffs before winning Super Bowl XLV. When you think of the division this season, you automatically think Green Bay. But then whom? Minnesota? Not unless you believe Adrian Peterson runs for another 2,000 yards. Nope, it's Chicago, and, yeah, OK, so the Bears lost Brian Urlacher. They're still the team Packers' fans love to hate.

Atlanta-New Orleans

The last four years these two took turns at the top of the NFC South, with Atlanta winning it last season while the Saints' Sean Payton was on sabbatical. So there's balance. But that's not what I like about this series. This is: It's charged with as much emotion as it is superb play. Remember when Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's single-season passing record? It was against Atlanta, and the Falcons didn't like how it went down. Up 38-16 with under five minutes to play, New Orleans passed on the chance to kill the clock with running plays and, instead, had Brees pass to gain the 30 yards he needed to set the record. Afterward, Payton explained the situation, saying he thought it was "appropriate," but the Falcons weren't buying it. "That's just who they are," one of their players told our Pete Prisco. "We'll see them down the road. We won't forget any of it." Turns out, he was right. It was the Falcons who ended Brees' record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass at 54. That was a 23-13 Falcons' victory last season where Atlanta intercepted Brees five times, a first in his career. It was also after New Orleans had broken the Falcons' unbeaten record and airport workers in Atlanta egged the Saints' team bus when their charter arrived. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, egg 'em.

Jim Harbaugh-John Harbaugh

Following Super Bowl XLVII, Baltimore's John Harbaugh said, "There's no greater coach in the National Football league -- or in the world, as far as I'm concerned" -- than his brother, Jim, which is a nice thing for Big Brother to acknowledge. Only it begs this question: What does that make John? He played his brother twice and beat him both times -- including that 34-31 defeat in Super Bowl XLVII when the 49ers couldn't go five yards in three plays. These two have a total of seven years coaching in the NFL, with seven playoff appearances, four division titles, a combined record of 90-39-1 and five conference championship-game appearances. Nope, they don't hate each other, but neither is OK with losing -- which is good because, as the numbers tell us, neither one of them does much losing. I understand this is a stretch because the rivalry doesn't exist in head-to-head play. They've only met twice, for crying out loud. But don't tell me it doesn't exist in their bodies of work, because it does -- with one brother trying to outdo the other. Advantage, John.

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Mangini hired as 49ers offensive consultant

Eric Mangini is back in the NFL - and back to his coaching roots.

The former coach of the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets was introduced as a senior offensive consultant for the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, one day after he formally began his new job with the defending NFC champions.

While the move surprised many around the NFL because Mangini's background is on defense, the 42-year-old spent his first two seasons in the NFL working as an offensive assistant.

So after working as an analyst at ESPN for the past two years, Mangini is diving into his new gig with the hope of helping quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Co. take the next step after losing to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31 in the Super Bowl in February.

``To be able to do something new like this is really exciting. To be able to do it in a place like San Francisco, to me that was a big part of wanting to come back,'' said Mangini following the 49ers' two-hour OTA practice. ``I just want to help. Whatever that means, whatever that evolves into, the most important thing to me is to help.''

Just how the former Browns and Jets head coach ended up on Jim Harbaugh's staff in San Francisco is almost as interesting as the new job the 49ers created for him.

Mangini had never met Harbaugh until last September when the 49ers - in the midst of back-to-back games near the East Coast - stayed in Youngstown, Ohio to practice rather than flying back to California. Mangini attended one of the workouts and struck up a friendship with Harbaugh. The two men stayed in contact until meeting together two weeks ago, and shortly thereafter Harbaugh reached out with a job offer.

``I feel like we added a really talented, knowledgeable coach,'' Harbaugh said. ``He'll look at how defenses prepare for us and where we can attack defenses. That's what his role will be.''

Mangini had been out of the NFL since being fired by the Browns in January 2011 following a pair of 5-11 seasons. That came only two years after he lost his job in New York. Mangini coached the Jets from 2006-08, leading them to the playoffs in his first season with the team.

The time off from coaching helped give Mangini a different perspective on football - and life.

``I've got three little boys so it gave me a chance to spend time with them and to just get refreshed,'' Mangini said. ``But I missed it. I missed the competition, the strategy, the guys.''

Although he has spent the majority of his coaching career on defense - Mangini was the defensive coordinator for New England in 2005 - he spent his first two seasons in the NFL working as an offensive assistant with Cleveland and Baltimore.

With the 49ers, Mangini will break down opposing defenses as an advance scout and will aid Harbaugh in developing game plans each week.

His first order of business will be finding a place to live. Mangini has been staying at a local hotel since getting hired and has yet to bring his wife and children to the Bay Area.

Once that's done, Mangini will initially immerse himself in San Francisco's offense before starting to scout teams on the 49ers' 2013 schedule.

``This is a good system. They went to the Super Bowl last year, they went to the NFC championship the year before,'' Mangini said. ``They're doing so many things right I just want to find a way to complement them.''

Harbaugh says Mangini's role with the 49ers will be ``evolving'' and left open the possibility it could lead to some on-field coaching as well.

That, along with his new title as an offensive assistant, fits well with Mangini's desire to be a head coach in the NFL again.

``I think that's going to make me a lot better overall coach because it gives you a totally different perspective,'' Mangini said. ``That's definitely a goal of mine. Right now I want to do what I can do here as well as I can do it. But I think it's every coach's goal to eventually (be a head coach).''

Notes: The 49ers signed wide receiver/special teams standout Kassim Osgood. Osgood has been to the Pro Bowl three times in his 10-year NFL career. ... To make room, San Francisco waived WR Joe Hastings. ... Nearly all members of the starting secondary were absent from Tuesday's workout. CBs Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown, along with S Donte Whitner, were not on the field. ... Veteran S Craig Dahl continues to take the majority of reps with the starters, but first-round pick Eric Reid is being worked into the rotation.