“You always hear about how tough they are and all that stuff,’’ Orton said. “I don’t think they are tough. I think they are cheap, and it was one of the cheapest games that I’ve ever seen out of some of those players."
Hell yeah, Kyle. That quote is up there with old-school Steeler Lee Flowers calling the Tony Dungy era Bucs "paper champions" after the Steelers kicked the living hell out of them one weekend years back.
Thankfully it didn't stop there as Bronco's coach Josh McDaniels went there on the GREAT Jeff Fisher saying to the Denver Post (emphasis mine):
"You can put any tape you want to of Tennessee and there's going to be 10 penalties. You either coach it or you allow it to happen. That's how I look at that."
Never thought I'd ever write the following sentence, but: Josh McDaniels is awesome!
The GREAT, CLASSY (I found out today that this is the new permanently attached, never demonstrated, Jeff Fisher characteristic) Jeff Fisher responded with a sort of stunned, placid anti-grace (I couldn't decide if the comatose style he used stemmed from the shock of McDaniels and Orton actually calling his cheesy ass out or if he'd actually just the watched tapes of Vince Young and his offense) saying (emphasis mine):
"We play aggressive — we don't play cheap," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "If there are things after the whistle or during the play, players are fined for them. But we're not a cheap football team. I don't know what he's referring to."
Fisher is saying this after a game where his Defensive Coordinator Chuck Cecil got fined $40,000 for shooting the referees the finger; surely something a cheap football team would never do. He's saying this amidst the fact that as of Sunday's game the Titans lead the NFL in personal fouls with six for 88 yards and roughing-the-passer penalties with two for 29 yards, not to mention total fines assessed with over $47,000 and counting this season. Fisher is saying this two weeks after the Titans Cortland Finnegan openly admitted his ambition to be known as "the dirtiest player in the league." Those are all things Josh McDaniels could have been referring to. Mike Florio of PFT reported on Monday morning that:
"A backlash quietly is building in league circles against the Titans, who entered the weekend with the most personal foul/unnecessary roughness penalties in the league -- and who led all teams with fines in the amount of $47,500...Some league insiders believe the time has come for Fisher to take control of the situation. Said one high-level source with another team, "We have to sit and listen to Fisher pontificate at league meetings every year, and his guys are as dirty as anyone."
So McDaniels and Orton deserve serious credit for saying brashly and publicly what more and more people around the league are starting to realize: that the Titans are cheap and it has to start reflecting on the GREAT, CLASSY Jeff Fisher. It should also be noted that Haynesworth played for the Titans when he stepped on Andre Gurode's face. Obviously Fisher didn't do the actual deed, but it is worth mentioning and considering in regards to the larger questions stemming from McDaniels' comment/observation that 'you either coach it or allow it to happen" on your watch. It's hilarious seeing the dude do a full-on politico and lie with a straight-face, though, insisting that black is actually white and "we are not a cheap team" blah blah...yet
Today I watched Trent Dilfer nearly jump out of his seat on NFL Live defending the honor of the CLASSY Jeff Fisher. I thought he was going to smack Josh McDaniels in the face with a glove ala Bugs Bunny and challenge him to a duel in defense of Fisher's honor. Michael Wilbon, whom I love and almost always agree with, pulled the "Fisher is the most respected coach in the league" card. I thought Bill Plaschke was going to cry on Around the Horn when he addressed McDaniels goshdarn intransigence. And so on...
The force is strong in the one formerly of the cheesy moustache and utterly mediocre track record
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