I do think you're right...two bullies battling!
But we just might have an upset, stranger things have happened...right now, I'm pulling for Tampa!
As for Tennessee, it might be dangerous to overlook them too!
Forget these Titans at your own risk
By Greg Garber
ESPN.com
The night before the Tennessee Titans met the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Jeff Fisher showed his players clips of the inspirational film "Remember the Titans."
And then, when the lights came up at the team's hotel, Herman Boone, the coach of those original Titans, stood before them. Tennessee responded with a 34-31 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers to advance to Sunday's AFC Championship game at Oakland.
Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland is called "The Black Hole," but the Tennessee Titans have been living in that dark void all season long. Why does everyone seem to want to forget about these Titans?
"We've been below the Super Bowl radar," Floyd Reese, the Tennessee general manager, said Monday from his Nashville office. "I've said this all along: We're the ugly duckling of the NFL, the red-haired stepchild. We're not like Kurt Warner throwing the ball up and down the field. When we go out and play it's a scratch and a bite -- there's nothing pretty about it."
Said Joe Biddle, a columnist for The Tennessean, "They've perfected playing ugly. They're not very sexy. They just play Jeff Fisher football. Play good defense, keep it close, win in the fourth quarter. It's not the West Coast offense, I guess it's the Middle Tennessee offense.
"They have to supply us with No-Doze in the press box."
“ We've been below the Super Bowl radar. I've said this all along: We're the ugly duckling of the NFL, the red-haired stepchild. We're not like Kurt Warner throwing the ball up and down the field. When we go out and play it's a scratch and a bite -- there's nothing pretty about it. ”
— Floyd Reese, Titans general manager
The Titans reached football's fabled Final Four but had no players voted to the Pro Bowl. In a week when the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are being celebrated far and wide, the Titans -- who have won 11 of their past 12 games -- are getting no such love. No love. No respect. No shot, the experts are saying, against the Raiders.
Based on last weekend's results, you can make the case. The Bucs beat the San Francisco 49ers by 25 points. The Raiders prevailed over the New York Jets by 20. The Eagles outscored the Atlanta Falcons by 14. The Titans? They needed one, two, three kicks by Joe Nedney to survive the Steelers in overtime.
Given the recent history of the NFL, however, you'd be wise to take them seriously. The Raiders know better than most; last year's Tuck-Rule, Snow-Game experience against the New England Patriots taught them to take nothing for granted. Even after watching the videotape of Oakland's 52-25 dismantling of Tennessee back on Sept. 29, the Raiders understand the Titans will be fired up.
Truth be told, the Titans are getting a lot of mileage out of this no-respect thing. During key points of the Steelers game, Fisher and various Titans were featured on the message board repeating the words, 'No Pro Bowls, no respect.' "
Biddle had a terrific idea on Tuesday. He suggested that Titans owner Bud Adams dangle this carrot in front of the team: Win the Super Bowl and win an all-expenses-paid week in Hawaii. Let them walk around Honolulu with their Super Bowl champion T-shirts and play golf, while the vaunted Pro Bowl players grind through the daily practices. Biddle's travel agent figured that, based on 70 players and coaches, it would cost Adams about $250,000. That's a cheap incentive for a championship ring.
"Take a chance, Bud," Biddle wrote. "Go for it.
"If you happen to have room, I can clear my calendar."
Biddle said the idea makes sense since Adams owns his own travel agency.
"He's crazy enough to do anything," Biddle said. "What the heck?"
Part of this, of course, is the Titans' fault.
They do not exactly inspire awe in their opponents; style points do not exist in Nashville. Tennessee started the season with a nice win over Philadelphia, but then lost four straight games -- to Dallas, Cleveland, the Raiders and Washington. The defense allowed 135 points in those four games, nearly 34 per game.
The Titans slowly gathered themselves, but aside from a riveting comeback victory in overtime against the Giants they have been their usual ugly-duckling selves. They beat the expansion Houston Texans by ho-hum scores of 17-10 and 13-3. They scraped past the lowly Cincinnati Bengals by all of six points.
The victory over the Steelers was messy. The fireworks operator, who pulled the trigger before Nedney's first overtime kick was negated by a Steelers timeout, wasn't the only guy who had a tough day. The Titans ran out to a 14-0 lead but allowed 20 unanswered points by the Steelers. There were four turnovers and Nedney was shaky. He missed a 48-yard field goal at the end of regulation and mis-fired again before Dwayne Washington was called for running into the kicker, setting up his winning 26-yarder.
Still, the Titans are the only team among the remaining four that have been to the Super Bowl in recent years. Tennessee, you will remember, ended the 1999 season with a 23-16 loss to the Rams in Atlanta -- by the length of Kevin Dyson's arm.
The Bucs, in business since 1976, have never been to the ultimate game. The Eagles have been there once, losing to the Raiders at the end of the 1980 season in Super Bowl XV. Three years later, the Raiders were using Los Angeles on their letterhead the last time they appeared, beating the Redskins 38-9 in Tampa.
So why the lack of respect? Why, when the Titans met the Steelers on Nov. 17 with first place on the line, didn't they get anything more than regional television coverage? Why didn't CBS pop the $20,000 for the yellow first-down line?
Reese blames last year's 7-9 season and this year's 1-4 start.
"When it comes to things like Pro Bowls, unless you have a truly outstanding season, it usually takes a good year to build on the next year," Reese said. "Last year was such a disaster, the beginning of this year was such a disaster, we were kind of written off."
Bill Bradley, sports editor of "The Tennessean," said it is largely a matter of size.
"We're one of the smallest media markets," Bradley said. "That doesn't help. I think the fact that this team has only five years, playing in four stadiums in four years, contributes to it.
"You've got to remember that, the NFL never wanted this market in the first place. (Moving from Houston), Bud just got a better deal from Nashville, not Los Angeles."
The Titans are huge in Nashville, though. The newspaper's most recent detailed reader survey discovered that the Titans are the eighth most popular among all topics, ahead of irrelevant things like city government and the environment.
The fans adore running back Eddie George, defensive end Jevon Kearse and quarterback Steve McNair for their skill and their toughness. George and McNair were injured in the game against Pittsburgh and both are expected to play at Oakland. McNair has been a warrior this season, playing every game despite a series of injuries. He notched career highs in passing yards (3,387) and touchdowns (22) and provided invaluable leadership in his eighth season.
With apologies to Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon and Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe, McNair might have been the most valuable player to his team this year.
And yet he didn't make the Pro Bowl.
"The argument can be made that we deserved some Pro Bowl honors," Reese said. "McNair played really well, (free safety Lance) Schulters, (linebacker) Keith Bulluck, (cornerback) Samari Rolle has done a great job with leading receivers."
Rest assured, the Titans are walking into "The Black Hole" with a chip on their collective shoulder.
After the Raiders torched his team 3½ months ago, Fisher said he would love to play them again. Wish granted.
"I believe we are a better team now than when we were when we went in there," Fisher said after the Steelers game. "I know a lot of players were very disappointed in the outcome of the first matchup and look very much forward to having another opportunity to play them."
Greg Garber is a senior writer at ESPN.com. |
