Colts/Titans thoughts

Well I agree with Chris that you can't place all that much stock in a team winning "because they don't want to go 0-2." These guys are professionals (most of them are, excepting a few idiots) and likely get up for most games the same way, and at the same level. But there is some intangible quality for desperation and rivalries. They are human, after all, and not machines. I refuse to believe they can all just turn that human quality off for a game and be robots.

When you see Eddie George pound Ray Lewis in that game last year...there's something extra there because it's the Ravens and Ray Lewis. When you see the Atlanta Thrashers (not football, I know, but pro sports anyway) leading the entire conference in points a third of the way through last season...you know they're playing above their level out of bonding and rememberance of the death of Dan Snyder. When you see the Lakers last year in the playoffs...you know Kobe and Shaq's personality conflict has reached a new level of seriousness. I know I personally think the crowd helped the Preds win those two playoff games by giving them an emotional lift.

Those may not even be the best examples, but I think emotion is an intangible that can definitely impact a team's performance. Now, does "not wanting to go 0-2" translate into an emotional boost enough to affect the game tomorrow? I don't really know. It's not as much motivation as, say, wanting to get to the Super Bowl or avoid getting knocked out of the playoffs. And certainly the Titans are going to equal whatever emotional boost the Colts have with their own boost just from the newly formed rivalry. So I don't think that factor alone will affect this game.

What I think is neat is that both teams' offenses are improved this year, and both teams' defenses are a little more suspect this year. So it should be a high-scoring, back and forth game, decided by a turnover or something wacky like that. Either outcome, I'm really getting pumped for that game. It's pretty rare that I get to see the Colts on the regionally covered game. Plus, even if they lose, I know my other favorite team won.