Various modern nucleon-nucleon (NN) potentials yield a very accurate fit to the nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts. The differences between these interactions in describing properties of nuclear matter are investigated. Various contributions to the total energy are evaluated employing the Hellmann - Feynman theorem. Special attention is paid to the two-nucleon correlation functions derived from these interactions. Differences in the predictions of the various interactions can be traced back to the inclusion of non-local terms.