(09-17-2020, 02:52 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(09-17-2020, 01:59 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: I never really had a hatred for the Titans. I am completely indifferent to them and always have been. Before realignment, we were in the AFC Central with Pittsburgh and those games were epic. I loathed the Steelers and do to this day. For us being such a young team, the hatred between Jacksonville and Pitt built very quickly as we had their number, early in our franchise's history. That rivalry was epic, IMO. After realignment, our rivalries seemed to lose something in my eyes.

Every team wants to think of Pittsburgh as a rival. Pittsburgh fans love the game as much as they love their team.  Rare to find a fan base so numerous that will still tell you "good game" after you beat them.

Bengals fans think of Pittsburgh as their rivals, but Steelers fans don't feel the same way. They could care less about the Bengals and don't see them as a threat. That rivalry was an invention of the NFL. When we were in the same division, I have friends that are Steelers fans. They hated us. They couldn't stand that this new team came from out of nowhere and were beating them. I remember when they told me they were glad we got moved to another division, so they wouldn't have to play us twice a year. 

When realignment happened in 2002, our team started a rapid descent. We've only had 4 winning seasons since that time period. To compare, we had 4 winning seasons between 1995 and 2001, before we were forced to switch divisions.

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