Wednesday Morning Cup O’Chiefs
There are generally three things that create a rivalry in the world of sports.
First, its geography. KU vs. K-State. Mizzou vs. Illini. Packers vs. Bears. Texas vs. Oklahoma.
Second, it’s a history of big games played in important circumstances like the Chiefs vs. Raiders or Redskins vs. Cowboys.
The third way to create a rivalry is to show disrespect. The old diss can turn a couple of teams into foaming at the mouth dobermans at the mere mention of their rival.
The NFL has a new rivalry, and it doesn’t qualify under No. 1 or No. 2. But it definitely meets the criteria for No. 3.
That would be the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
You may remember those two faced off this past Sunday in Nashville. It was a meeting of the two teams with the best records in the AFC. Both teams were already in the playoffs. Both were already assured of a bye week and at least one home game.
This was really more about pride, and here the advantage went to the Titans. Tennessee drubbed Pittsburgh < and on the way dissed the iconic Terrible Towel that’s part of the wardrobe of just about every Steelers fan.
DE Jevon Kearse (above) blew his nose on one, while LB Keith Bulluck (below) stomped and wiped his feet on another.
If these two teams should happen to meet in the AFC Championship Game (again in Nashville) then expect the actions of the Titans to become very big points of discussion with the Steelers.
“We won’t forget it,” said Steelers CB Deshea Townsend after the game.
Apparently Bulluck had some second thoughts about his actions on Tuesday. In an interview with the folks at Sirrius NFL Radio, he said
“It was definitely no disrespect to the players on the Steelers or players from the past because the Pittsburgh Steelers they are one of the foundations of this league. So it’s definitely not like that. Look, we don’t get a lot of respect. We have the best record in football and we’ve been playing the same football all year round and people have been wondering, ‘How is this team doing it?’ In the playoffs they’re going to get to see. We were just excited. We were just happy. And I don’t care who we play, if they come with 15,000 fans and we happen to be the victors that day, yeah, I’ll probably stomp their towels, too.”
That appears to be what ticked off the Titans so much this past Sunday. They were playing at home, but somehow an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Steelers fans made their way into LP Field. Because they have been so consistently good for so long, the Steelers have fans everywhere. Plus, the team has been sold out since the early 1970s and very few tickets ever leave the hands of a family; they get passed down from generation to generation and have now for over 35 years. That means a lot of Pittsburgh fans can only see their team when they play away from Heinz Field.
Yes, we know it’s all going to be meaningless if these teams do face each other again. What will get them there is the talents of their players and coaches and both teams have plenty of those qualities.
But this is the stuff that puts some pizzazz in the game. Hey, we focus more on the football aspects of the NFL, but there can never be any doubt that this is show business.
Nothing helps show biz in the pigskin world more than a good rivalry.
CINCINNATI WEATHER FOR THIS SUNDAY
Last Sunday the Bengals played the Browns in Cleveland under similar weather circumstances to what the Chiefs and Dolphins faced at Arrowhead.
But right now it looks like the Chiefs may finish out the season with rather balmy temperatures. The National Weather Service forecast for Sunday in southern Ohio reads like this:
A chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Given the weather the Chiefs have seen the past two weekends at Arrowhead in games against the Chargers and Dolphins, that sounds pretty good.
OPPONENT NEXT/CINCINNATI BENGALS
Sounds like the future of former No. 1 draft choice Chris Perry in Cincy is just about over; like minutes after Sunday’s game with the Chiefs.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY
On December 24, 1989, the Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 27-24 at Joe Robbie Stadium. In the final game of the first season of the Peterson-Schottenheimer Era, the Chiefs held off a late Dolphins rally and got the victory with a 41-yard FG from Nick Lowery. The Chiefs had a big second quarter when they scored three touchdowns, topped by a 20yard TD throw from Steve DeBerg to Stephone Paige. James Saxon scored o n a six-yard run and Christian Okoye banged it in from a yard away. Lowery added a 19-yard FG with his game winner. Miami QB Dan Marino threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Chiefs. It was the second victory of that season for Kansas City over Miami; at that time the two fifth place teams from the divisions with five teams were scheduled to face each other in home-and-home games. The victory left the Chiefs with an 8-7-1 record for the season. Miami that year finished 8-8.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO …
On December 24, 1921, Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Dudley was born in Virginia. Bullet Bill played nine seasons for Pittsburgh, Detroit and Washington. In 1946, he had 10 interceptions and also ran for 604 yards as a halfback.
Born on this day in 1976 was former Chiefs offensive lineman Chris Bober. He spent six seasons in the NFL, including three with the Chiefs (2004-06) when he played in 45 games.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
James Harris resigned on Tuesday as the head personnel man for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rumor has it he lost a tug-of-war battle with head coach Jack Del Rio.
New York Jets DE Shaun Ellis got fined $10,000 for throwing a snow ball at fans in Seattle last Sunday. His coach isn’t happy with the face the Jets were getting pelted by Seahawks fans.
Here’s a fun comparison between the 0-14 Tampa Bay Bucs of 1976 and the 0-15 Detroit Lions of 2008 from USA Today.
AROUND THE AFC WEST
For the second season in a row under Norv Turner, the Chargers are finishing with a strong kick.
Johnnie Lee Higgins has them excited in RaidersLand after he racked up another return TD in Oakland’s victory last Sunday over Houston.
Because of so many injuries, the Broncos have had to juggle their kicking teams quite a bit this season and that will play a big role this Sunday in the AFC West Bowl against the Chargers and return man Darren Sproles.
That’s one thing that bothers me about Herm.
It’s the Coaches job to fire-up the team before battle every Sunday and Herm of all people down played the hype of Rivalries with in our division this past year.
Instead he made excuses that our young players don’t know anything about our Division Rivals, well then it’s your DAMN JOB to teach them and FIRE-UP our team for them games.
Just think if he would of made a bigger deal about a rivalry between us and any of the 3, we might be sitting at 6-10 and would have won the division.
He could of at least sold them on the thought of we have to beat all our division rivals, no matter if we lose to everyone else. At least built/teach his team to own our Division, that would of been a respectful record & he has had more than enough time here in 3 years to at least accomplish that.
Enough said!
Rivalry is fine. It’s great. But what those Tennessee players did was just a lack of class, plain and simple. Too bad a few players’ actions make the whole team look bad…which is often the case.
“No disrespect to the Steelers”? Ha! Nice try. I’m sure the Steelers players and fans will buy that. Plus, it’s always good to add a little extra fire to an opposing team that you might very well play again.
We beat two out of the 3 teams in our division what are you complaining about.
Lack of class. What? This football if the Steelers got a problem with it then settle it on the field. I hated when people make things bigger than what they are. Its a game you suppose to have fun. Their are more important issues in the world than getting mad about Titans stomping out the terrible towel.
While I have been a big supporter ( finding talent ) of Herm . I thought he was unwilling to change his mind on offense yet that was not the case this year . His players seem to like him & their is no quite in them this year. What worries me that if we where to change coach. Would the next coach start all over with his kind of players. I do feel that a lot of the other coaches should be replaced D-Coordinator D-line QB Coach & the not so special teams coach. If no one at least the special teams & QB coach.
Yes Ed, lack of class. Just my opinion of it. What those players did was not “on the field” as you say. It had nothing to do with playing the game…and everything to do with rubbing their noses in defeat. It’s poor sportsmanship, and makes the whole organization look bad. Again, just my opinion.
I’m not personally mad about it. There was a story…and I made a comment on it. Nothing more.
If Dorsey- Turk- Tank turn out to be bust Peterson- Herm & Krumrie All went to evaluate these players there well be no excuses other than by injuries for these picks. To me 2 out of the 3 are backups unless they change . I don’t know who is picking our return players but to this day we haven’t replace Dante Hall that was 2yrs ago .Even Al’s Raiders have one so it cant be that hard can it !!!
My Old Man always said (I say now to my Son) “You can do what ever your willing to suffer the consequences for or of”. So here’s to hoping the Steelers and Titans meet again this season.
jt,
I think the trick to getting a good return man is more about the players blocking for him. Our special teams coach has not impressed me one bit. I know he’s dealt with injuries and new players more than anyone, but our return game hasn’t been good ever since he was hired.
Dorsey to middle line backer, he is quick , has some movement before being blocked , he might become the needed sack master ?
i dont think that it’s that easy to pick up great return men. Before Hall the chiefs really didn’t have a great return man. I would say that a majority of teams dont have great return men.
I agree JT that the chiefs could be worse next year if they get rid of herm, whose to say the players will want to play as hard for the next coach and what changes would be made to the playbook. These things take time to learn and so for another year you will have them trying to learn something different. My example for that is Oakland, they change there coach constantly and look where there at for a while now.
If Dorsey ends up a bust I think it would be more than just peterson, herm and krumrie. How about every sports network who said before the draft he was the gem of the draft?? It takes longer then a year to guage a DT’s progress though. i think if they get an end that can put pressure on the line then he will show up a little more. Hali just isn’t playing up to what he did last year.
I dont think Dorsey would be good as the middle linebacker…
Scott. At the end of the day its football. You got a problem with a guy dancing in the endzone or stomping a towel you stop him. You whin to the media as players about how they shouldn’t do that. You just go out there and stop the guy. I seen nothing wrong with what they did. When we played the Titans earlier this year and Chris johnson was beating on the drums in the endzone I thought it was funny. NOw I hated we got blown out,but I do look forward to us playing them in the future and us kicking their butts and doing something hilarious in their stadium. But its football when guys do stuff like that you don’t whin about it you just stop them. These guys are not robots their people they should be allowed to have fun. Fans taunt players all the times at games and players taunt players I don’t see anything wrong with either as long as no one is physically getting hurt. Other than that its all in good fun and if you got a problem with as a player than stop them
But the media pisses me off when they say well Thats going to fire the STeelers up next time they play the Titans. IF the Steelers aren’t already fired up to play the Titans because its a playoff game alone then a stupid stomping of a towel sure want do it.
The Chiefs had Tamarick Vanover before Dante Hall and as I recall, he was electric in his career. He ran back 4 kickoffs and 4 punts to the house before Bam Morris got him involved in some shady stuff. Hall followed him immediately after. Dale Carter handled punt return duties pretty darn well before Vanover was drafted in 1995. This year, they drafted Kevin Robinson, one of the best return men in college football and super speedy Jamaal Charles to handle the duties. When Robinson got dinged up, they signed BJ Sams, who was a pretty good returner in Baltimore. The year before, we had Eddie Drummond, who also went to the Pro Bowl in Detroit as a return man.
The Chiefs haven’t had too much trouble finding elite returners, so I think the blocking is the culprit here not the talent.
I want to say Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night with glad tidings and all that, but come on Bob! Give us some more red meat with all your access!
Tell me about a power struggle going on behind closed doors, what the players are saying about CP being dumped, and the true future of the current coaching staff. OK?
I like your site Bob, but you’ve gone this far so now, man up and give us the good stuff, ok?
By the way, Merry Christmas. (I do have a sense of common courtesy, afterall).
Keep up the great work Coach Edwards! See you back here in KC 2009!