Colts, Titans develop rivalry in AFC South
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This week’s game at Tennessee is much more significant to the Colts (0-1).
“This one is a lot bigger,” tight end Marcus Pollard said Wednesday. “It’s really worth two points because you can win on the road and you can win in the division.”
The Colts want to make an early season impression this week in what has become their biggest rivalry.
After losing 27-24 at New England on national television last Thursday, Indianapolis wants to prove to the football world that it hasn’t taken a step back this year.
It’s also about necessity. Another Colts loss would give Tennessee a two-game lead in what many consider a two-team division race and would assure the Titans (1-0) of no worse than a split in the season series — the first determinant in breaking a tie.
Perhaps that’s why playoff talk has already seeped into the locker room comments less than two weeks into the regular season.
“They have something to prove, we have something to prove and the winner of this division has to go through one of these teams,” safety Cory Bird said. “So it will be a fierce competition.”
During the past two years, the Titans-Colts matchup has developed into one of the league’s most underrated rivalries. No, it’s not Giants-Eagles, Packers-Vikings or even Steelers-Browns.
But it is almost no-holds-barred, and this week, the NFL’s standard talking points — respect the foe, focus on the next game and say nothing to rile an opponent — has taken a back seat to championship aspirations and pride.
“You pretty much have to go out, hit them in the mouth and come out on top,” cornerback Nick Harper said. “It’s pretty much like a college rivalry but on a different level because there’s so much at stake.”