MVN: Most Valuable Network

I doubt that Titan head coach Jeff Fisher holds any animosity toward the Ravens John Harbaugh, at least no where near what he did for Brian Billick. Years back when the Ravens and Titans were aligned in the AFC Central the two teams had some of the hardest fought contests to ever be played on turf. Rarely would the final score be more than a 10 point differential. And while the Ravens stomped on the number 1 seed Titans in 2000, the Titans returned the favor by knocking out the Ravens in the 2003 Wild card game at M&T bank Stadium. So even though he got his revenge something tells me that Fisher still seeths whenever the Ravens are mentioned. Old hatreds die hard.

These two teams already know the preliminaries of each other having faced one another on October 5th of this year, but while the Titans may have bacome a slightly better team in that time the Ravens have advanced mightily. This Ravens team is much better then they were in October, or December for that matter. Much of the growth is due to the offensive guidence of Cam Cameron, the growth of the offensive line, and the play of Joe Flacco. Is Flacco playing like Joe Montana? No, but too many people like to think he should be. Flacco is a rookie, and he's still learning the game at the NFL level, which is quite a step from Division II football. But if you look at his numbers from that October game forward you'll see a huge improvement. Can Kerry Collins claim the same? Any Titan fans want to make that argument? I didn't think so.

I honestly believe that the Titans are more worried about playing the Ravens, then the Ravens are playing them. Why wouldn't they be? After all, in that first meeting the Ravens were beating them until the referees decided to put their stamp of inadequacy on the game by calling a personal foul on an extremly minor touch of Collin's helmet by Terell Suggs while the Titans were guilty of a false start that should have made it no play. But hey, that's football when you have dairy farmers and insurance salesmen calling the shots.

The Titans are a very good football team,  they fought for, and earned the right to be the number 1 seed. They don't just hand that to you for being good sports. This is a good team, much like the one the Ravens faced in 2000, if you happen to remember.  I've heard this upcoming game described as everything from a ball buster to a blood bath. Take your pick. You can bet both of these teams will give every last ounce of strength and courage they have, and nothing will be left on the field. 

It's funny, I was just watching the 2000 Ravens-Titans playoff game on DVD, and what struck me was watching the Titans score a touchdown, the first points of the game, and seeing Jeff Fisher yell over to Brian Billick. I have no idea what he said as his back was to the camera, but you could tell he was taunting Billick. Later in the 1st quarter when the Ravens scored the tying touchdown you saw Billick yell over to Fisher, his face to the camera, and it seemed he told him , well, let's just say it was a reference to an act that Fisher would have a hard time actualy performing, though maybe he could, I don't know him that well.

This is going to be a slobberknocker, as John Madden is fond of saying. And that's become what you would expect when these two teams take the field. It will be smashmouth running, smashmouth tackling, with a whole lot of trash talking in between.  Ah, playoff football, is there a better thing in life? Well, maybe I'd better mention the wife, because she'll be reading this.