Young Titans need lesson on Steelers’ rivalry
NASHVILLE — Linebacker Keith Bulluck knows exactly how to teach his young Tennessee teammates about the Titans’ rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers: Roll some videotape.
Talking simply won’t do the trick in explaining how physical games between these one-time AFC Central Division foes are, with both the winner and loser left battered and aching.
Half the players on the Titans’ roster weren’t even born when the Steelers ended the then-Houston Oilers’ dreams of a Super Bowl appearance in consecutive AFC championship games in the snow in Pittsburgh after the 1978 and 1979 seasons.
That’s why Bulluck believes it’s time to introduce them with visual evidence.
“It’s a whole new crop of players. Maybe showing some highlights of games in the past when we played them in the playoffs, some of the battles we’ve had against this Pittsburgh team, maybe for them to get the visual of what it’s going to be,” he said.
“Just by getting out there Sunday is not going to be enough. Practice all week and just going out there on Sunday is not going to be enough. They need to practice and visualize what it’s going to be about.”
Pittsburgh leads the overall series 40-29, but these teams haven’t met since the 2003 season when the Titans won 30-13 in Pittsburgh, which was Tennessee’s 10th win in the last 12 games in this series.
Left guard Zach Piller thinks a history lesson couldn’t hurt.
“I think Coach (Jeff) Fisher will do a good job explaining that. I think the older guys know what it’s all about. I came in as a rookie, I learned real quick what Pittsburgh was. People know. They’ll learn,” he said.
Piller thinks the rivalry remains intense because both teams mirror their coaches, both ex-players who now are the longest tenured coaches in the NFL. Bill Cowher is going into his 14th season with Pittsburgh, while this will be Jeff Fisher’s 11th season with the Titans.
“There’s a reason for that. Their teams don’t hurt themselves. They wait for their opponents to screw up and take advantage of it,” Piller said.
The only time Pittsburgh has won since the former Oilers became the Titans was in 2001 when the Steelers swept both games. The Titans went 7-9 that year with a secondary decimated by injuries.
Now the Titans are one of the youngest teams, if not the youngest, in the NFL with 12 rookies. Fisher said he thinks his young Titans won’t need to hear much from him before they start noticing a difference in the locker room.
“Those guys who have played against the Steelers understand what it’s all about. They’ll notice. The young players will take notice on the practice field immediately. They’ll know exactly what’s going to be expected,” Fisher said Monday.
Receiver Drew Bennett agrees. He has watched the young players adapt to the demands first of training camp, then preseason games without having to be told what to do.
“They watched pro football last year and saw how good Pittsburgh was and know the challenge we have. They got a taste of the speed of the game in the preseason, so I don’t think there’s going to need to be a lot said,” he said.
And they all agree that the Titans couldn’t have a better opponent to open against.
“If we started against a team we weren’t too familiar with, we might go out there with maybe not the right attitude, maybe a little lackadaisical,” Bulluck said. “With Pittsburgh, you know what they’re bringing to the table and the great season they had last year and the terrible season we had last year.”
Notes:@ Fisher said the Titans agreed to terms with quarterback Matt Mauck to join their practice squad. Mauck, who went to LSU, was on Denver’s practice squad in 2004 and was the Broncos’ emergency quarterback in the first two games and their preseason game. … Steve McNair and Tank Williams were returning from Mississippi on Monday. They had gone home to help their families clean up from Hurricane Katrina. McNair’s foundation is holding a 12-hour relief drive Tuesday in the parking lot of the Coliseum to fill tractor-trailers with supplies for victims including water, battery-powered lamps, cash, clothing and paper towels and toilet paper.