Both teams of Sunday Night Football's slugfest are accusing their opponents of purposely trying to injure their teammates.
Two days ago, Ed Reed claimed in an interview that Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward attempted to deliver a few brutal hits to defenseless players on the Ravens defense. The statement was likely contemptuously driven by news that the league fined fellow teammates Haloti Ngata and Jameel McClain $15,000 and $40,000 respectively.
McClain gave tight end Heath Miller a concussion with a neck-wrenching hit on a play in which Miller never actually had the ball in his possession. Haloti Ngata came screaming through the offensive line to sack Ben Roethilisberger, breaking his nose in the process.
The Steelers believe Ravens guard Chris Chester tried to injure their linebacker James Harrison on a false start penalty against the Ravens that led to a scuffle between players of both teams.
All this publicized bickering between the two organizations proves the physical game we witnessed last Sunday ran deeper than just jerseys and pads. These men put their hearts and souls out on the field and this week their emotions are erupting in a volcanic fashion for the media to capture and broadcast.
However, both teams need to move past what occured five days ago. Baltimore, specifically, must travel to Houston to play the underachieving (5-7) Texans and could be unpleasantly shocked if distracted.
In Houston's two most recent losses to the Jets and Philadelphia (two of the league's better teams), the loss margins did not exceed 10 points.
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