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Strange Doings Around AFC North

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8 years ago

Good morning,

Today we head all over the AFC North in some Bye Week Stuff:

--- First, to Baltimore, where John Harbaugh’s Ravens are 2-8 and the old coach has come up with his version of Mike Tomlin’s “unleash hell in December” promise back in 2009.

Harbaugh did not exactly promise to unleash hell or anything like that but he did compare the Ravens to the movie “Gladiator.’’

"When they all go shield to shield and shoulder to shoulder, and they’re in the square … that’s how you handle tough times as a family," Harbaugh said. "That’s how you handle tough times as a team or as an organization, and that’s what we will do."

He should hope it turns out better than it did for Tomlin back in ’09. The Steelers were riding a three-game losing streak and were 6-5 as reigning Super Bowl champs when he unleashed those words.

Here is the whole quote from that press conference:

"We will unleash hell here in December because we have to. We won't go in a shell. We'll go into attack mode, because that's what's required."

Duly inspired the Steelers stretched their losing streak to five games by dropping their first two in December, at home to Bruce Gradkowski’s Oakland Raiders and then at Cleveland.

Perhaps it just took awhile for Tomlin’s words to move his players because after that, they finished with a 3-game winning streak to go 9-7, although they did not make the playoffs.

Here’s Harbaugh’s Gladiator speech this week:

And here is Tomlin’s 2009 Unleash Hell promise:

--- Onto Cincinnati, where Andy Dalton apparently never heard of the term “sticks and stones.’’ The Bengals quarterback said he was offended by a mild jab taken by Houston’s J.J. Webb after the Texans pulled a 10-6 upset in Paul Brown Stadium.

"Our goal was to come out here and make the Red Rifle look like a Red Ryder BB gun," Watt said.

Pretty tame stuff, but Dalton acted like an 8-year-old who had just heard a schoolmate tell him Santa Claus wasn’t real.

"I am disappointed in him for the integrity of this game," Dalton said. "I have a lot of respect for him. He's a really good player. And so there's a lot of kids and a lot of people that look up to him. And for him to make comments like that, it just shows that it's acceptable to do that kind of stuff and say that kind of stuff. So I mean, it's disappointing for one of the best players in this league to come out and say something like that.

"I think J.J. is a good player but for him to be one of the best in this league and just show that integrity and show that type of -- you know it shows what he's about, which is disappointing."

Gee, Andy, did someone steal your Teddy Bear as a kid? Really, the integrity of the game? I suppose Dalton hears nothing like that on the field during a game. It sounds as though he might be open to a little trash talking.

Here’s that weird story.

--- And now to Cleveland, where there must be much relief on the coaching staff after owner Jimmy Haslam promised publicly there would be no changes to it during this Bye Week. He told this to two reporters at Heinz Field after the Browns lost to the Steelers 30-9.

In my 31 seasons covering the Steelers, I never thought to ask Dan or Art Rooney if he would make any changes in his coaching staff during the season. Asked if they might do so after it, perhaps, but not during it. It’s yet another contrast in what’s expected from the two different organizations.

And here is that story.

--- Finally, we arrive in Pittsburgh where it is an Off Week, not a Bye Week. I referred to it as a Bye Week because that is what the NFL calls it, but it’s really not a bye because a bye means you advance to the next level without having to do anything, as do the top two playoff seeds in each conference; that is the true Bye. Nevertheless, good bye.