Rivalries in any sport are precious. Every sport has them and be they on an individual or a team level, rivalries make the heart beat just that little bit faster, quicken the step and sharpen the mind. And that's without even mentioning the players.
Rivalries in sport should be nurtured, but never crafted. They're born through locality, division or conference roots or, sometimes the greatest reason of them all...an injustice. The latter succinctly explains why the Cleveland Browns view the Baltimore Ravens through a wounded and sore eye. The feeling exists that only an AFC Championship Game victory over the Ravens will ever truly cleanse the Browns of their darkest ever day (you can forget 'The Drive' in January '87), February 9, 1996, the day the NFL announced that the Browns would be 'deactivated' for three years, ready for return in the 1999 season; the late Art Modell was relocating his Browns franchise to Baltimore to give rise to the fearsome Ravens.
The bleeding hearts turned out in force in support of Cleveland and the Ravens were a team that only their mother could love. Their victory in Super Bowl XXXV, when they demolished the New York Giants 34-7 in Tampa, may have been one of the most unpopular championships in living memory when it occured, but Father Time has been kind to the franchise and that team is now looked upon with admiration. Hang on, that isn't true at all. Half of that team is looked upon with admiration as the offense is never spoken about, save for the few souls who remember that quarterback Trent Dilfer was charged with doing whatever he could to not lose games.
No, that Super Bowl winner is now recognised as boasting a defense to rival that of the '85 Bears, a comparison that stands up, and is why the opprobrium directed Baltimore's way in the aftermath of the shellacking handed to the Big Blue that day barely exists any more, unless you happen to reside in a particular corner of Ohio.
It took probably longer than it should have, but the Ravens earned the respect of the league and in Ozzie Newsome they possess one of the sharpest General Managers in the NFL. If we're honest, Newsome's class is probably the cornerstone of that aforementioned garnered respect, the only irony being that his bust sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton...as a Cleveland Brown.
If Cleveland views Baltimore as the Rebel Alliance sees Emperor Palpatine, then what happened to the Ravens that they can barely consider the Browns a worthy opponent? The summit of the AFC North and the playoffs is what happened, air space shared with the Pittsburgh Steelers and it's helped forge a rivalry that your correspondent considers the Daddy of them all in the NFL.
As the league stands right now, *no other on-field conflict has me chomping at the bit for game time and should they conspire to meet in the playoffs, don't do anything as ridiculous as making plans to go see the family.
* I have a confession to make. As a Seahawk, Seattle's rivalry with San Francisco sits atop the mountain, but in games where my heart doesn't suffer the fate of leaping out of my chest with virtually every snap, you'll find me clearing the diary at Ravens/Steelers.
Their first postseason matchup came in an AFC Divisional Playoff in January 2002, a contest the Steelers won 27-10 at Heinz Field. In two subsequent playoff games since, Pittsburgh's emerged victorious on both occasions, including the AFC Championship Game after the 2008 season, but it was before those last two games even took place that Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward laid bare what was really going on.
The regular season encounter in Baltimore took place at the end of November 2006 and, as was reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the week leading up to the game, Ward opined that "the coaches hate each other, the players hate each other. They don't like us, and we don't like them. There's no need to hide it, they know it, and we know it."
Honesty's the best policy and this is exactly what we wanted to hear. However, for Ward and the rest of his team that day, his words undoubtedly served as greater motivation for Baltimore as the Ravens ran out 27-0 winners. That happened to be the second shutout in series history, a feat Baltimore's achieved twice now, having done the same in a 16-0 win at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000, the season the Ravens won their only Super Bowl; the Steelers have yet to embarrass their hated rival with a shutout.
Six years on from Ward's words, little has changed. The Browns are still struggling to find an identity and no matter which heights the Cincinnati Bengals scale during any given season, they perenially seem unable to beat either the Ravens or Steelers as these two powerhouse franchises simply swat away what must seem like two insipid Ohio teams unfortunate enough to inhabit the same division.
Just last week, the most engaging rivalry in football was reignited on primetime on Sunday night in Pittsburgh and while the outcome was as close as we've come to expect (13-10 to Baltimore), both teams entered the game severely depleted due to injuries.
The biggest loss was undoubtedly felt by the hometown Steelers as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was forced to sit out with a rib injury, one serious enough that Roethlisberger himself claimed his own life could be in danger if hit in the right spot, what with the injured rib being so close to the aorta.
Roethlisberger may not be the most popular figure in the league (it's probably not a stretch to say he's not the most popular figure in Pittsburgh), but when an injury such as this rears its ugly head, it's time to put fierce rivalries on the back burner. Despite the passion reserved for the sporting arena, it's imperative that perspective is constant and supercedes anything and everything in its way.
Due to a quirk in the schedule, these two juggernauts meet again in less than two weeks' time, which, considering Roethlisberger's rib, means he has no chance of even one second of playing time against the Ravens this season. However, as easy as it may be to consider his absence a dilution of the rivalry, nothing could be further from the truth. While Roethlisberger does cut a polemic figure capable of instantly raising the ire of opposing players and fans, no one man is greater than the rivalry.
Granted, the Steelers may struggle horribly in Baltimore on December 2 with Charlie Batch starting in place of Roethlisberger (as seems likely barring a catastrophe in Cleveland on Sunday), but it's worth remembering that Batch is 5-2 in his career when subbing for Big Ben. In addition, the Ravens rank an astonishing 25th in the NFL in total defense so they're hardly impenetrable.
Come game time in a week-and-a-half, Baltimore will already be without ILB Ray Lewis and CB Lardarius Webb and their situation at corner could be further jeopardised if Jimmy Smith isn't yet healthy having undergone groin surgery last week. That said, Pittsburgh's cause would be greatly improved if receiver Antonio Brown's (sprained ankle) able to suit up, something that wasn't possible last week and is by no means guaranteed for the return fixture.
The feeling persists that this rivalry has missed and will miss Roethlisberger this season, but the rivalry transcends the shadow his absence does admittedly cast.
Follow @TheNFLInjuryRpt
Rivalries in sport should be nurtured, but never crafted. They're born through locality, division or conference roots or, sometimes the greatest reason of them all...an injustice. The latter succinctly explains why the Cleveland Browns view the Baltimore Ravens through a wounded and sore eye. The feeling exists that only an AFC Championship Game victory over the Ravens will ever truly cleanse the Browns of their darkest ever day (you can forget 'The Drive' in January '87), February 9, 1996, the day the NFL announced that the Browns would be 'deactivated' for three years, ready for return in the 1999 season; the late Art Modell was relocating his Browns franchise to Baltimore to give rise to the fearsome Ravens.
The bleeding hearts turned out in force in support of Cleveland and the Ravens were a team that only their mother could love. Their victory in Super Bowl XXXV, when they demolished the New York Giants 34-7 in Tampa, may have been one of the most unpopular championships in living memory when it occured, but Father Time has been kind to the franchise and that team is now looked upon with admiration. Hang on, that isn't true at all. Half of that team is looked upon with admiration as the offense is never spoken about, save for the few souls who remember that quarterback Trent Dilfer was charged with doing whatever he could to not lose games.
No, that Super Bowl winner is now recognised as boasting a defense to rival that of the '85 Bears, a comparison that stands up, and is why the opprobrium directed Baltimore's way in the aftermath of the shellacking handed to the Big Blue that day barely exists any more, unless you happen to reside in a particular corner of Ohio.
It took probably longer than it should have, but the Ravens earned the respect of the league and in Ozzie Newsome they possess one of the sharpest General Managers in the NFL. If we're honest, Newsome's class is probably the cornerstone of that aforementioned garnered respect, the only irony being that his bust sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton...as a Cleveland Brown.
If Cleveland views Baltimore as the Rebel Alliance sees Emperor Palpatine, then what happened to the Ravens that they can barely consider the Browns a worthy opponent? The summit of the AFC North and the playoffs is what happened, air space shared with the Pittsburgh Steelers and it's helped forge a rivalry that your correspondent considers the Daddy of them all in the NFL.
As the league stands right now, *no other on-field conflict has me chomping at the bit for game time and should they conspire to meet in the playoffs, don't do anything as ridiculous as making plans to go see the family.
* I have a confession to make. As a Seahawk, Seattle's rivalry with San Francisco sits atop the mountain, but in games where my heart doesn't suffer the fate of leaping out of my chest with virtually every snap, you'll find me clearing the diary at Ravens/Steelers.
Their first postseason matchup came in an AFC Divisional Playoff in January 2002, a contest the Steelers won 27-10 at Heinz Field. In two subsequent playoff games since, Pittsburgh's emerged victorious on both occasions, including the AFC Championship Game after the 2008 season, but it was before those last two games even took place that Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward laid bare what was really going on.
The regular season encounter in Baltimore took place at the end of November 2006 and, as was reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the week leading up to the game, Ward opined that "the coaches hate each other, the players hate each other. They don't like us, and we don't like them. There's no need to hide it, they know it, and we know it."
Honesty's the best policy and this is exactly what we wanted to hear. However, for Ward and the rest of his team that day, his words undoubtedly served as greater motivation for Baltimore as the Ravens ran out 27-0 winners. That happened to be the second shutout in series history, a feat Baltimore's achieved twice now, having done the same in a 16-0 win at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000, the season the Ravens won their only Super Bowl; the Steelers have yet to embarrass their hated rival with a shutout.
Six years on from Ward's words, little has changed. The Browns are still struggling to find an identity and no matter which heights the Cincinnati Bengals scale during any given season, they perenially seem unable to beat either the Ravens or Steelers as these two powerhouse franchises simply swat away what must seem like two insipid Ohio teams unfortunate enough to inhabit the same division.
Just last week, the most engaging rivalry in football was reignited on primetime on Sunday night in Pittsburgh and while the outcome was as close as we've come to expect (13-10 to Baltimore), both teams entered the game severely depleted due to injuries.
The biggest loss was undoubtedly felt by the hometown Steelers as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was forced to sit out with a rib injury, one serious enough that Roethlisberger himself claimed his own life could be in danger if hit in the right spot, what with the injured rib being so close to the aorta.
Roethlisberger may not be the most popular figure in the league (it's probably not a stretch to say he's not the most popular figure in Pittsburgh), but when an injury such as this rears its ugly head, it's time to put fierce rivalries on the back burner. Despite the passion reserved for the sporting arena, it's imperative that perspective is constant and supercedes anything and everything in its way.
Due to a quirk in the schedule, these two juggernauts meet again in less than two weeks' time, which, considering Roethlisberger's rib, means he has no chance of even one second of playing time against the Ravens this season. However, as easy as it may be to consider his absence a dilution of the rivalry, nothing could be further from the truth. While Roethlisberger does cut a polemic figure capable of instantly raising the ire of opposing players and fans, no one man is greater than the rivalry.
Granted, the Steelers may struggle horribly in Baltimore on December 2 with Charlie Batch starting in place of Roethlisberger (as seems likely barring a catastrophe in Cleveland on Sunday), but it's worth remembering that Batch is 5-2 in his career when subbing for Big Ben. In addition, the Ravens rank an astonishing 25th in the NFL in total defense so they're hardly impenetrable.
Come game time in a week-and-a-half, Baltimore will already be without ILB Ray Lewis and CB Lardarius Webb and their situation at corner could be further jeopardised if Jimmy Smith isn't yet healthy having undergone groin surgery last week. That said, Pittsburgh's cause would be greatly improved if receiver Antonio Brown's (sprained ankle) able to suit up, something that wasn't possible last week and is by no means guaranteed for the return fixture.
The feeling persists that this rivalry has missed and will miss Roethlisberger this season, but the rivalry transcends the shadow his absence does admittedly cast.
Follow @TheNFLInjuryRpt
