Linebacker's words may stir up rivalry with Texans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The fans in Houston always have hated

the Titans as the team that left town without looking back. Now

Tennessee linebacker Keith Bulluck may have stirred up things

between the players.

Bulluck said Thursday the Texans treated their 34-31 win over

Tennessee like the AFC championship game than Week 2 of the regular

season. He also pointed out Houston has never sniffed the playoffs

so that must be why any win over a fellow AFC South team is treated

like a postseason victory.

The Texans (5-4) are thinking playoffs. The Titans? Well, they

stuck at 3-6 after an 0-6 start, and their visit Monday night to

Houston offers up a huge stage, according to Bulluck.

"We're a 3-6 team with nothing to lose. I know they have

playoff aspirations and everything, so we're really looking forward

to come down to Houston and destroying all playoff thoughts and

aspirations they have. Thank you. Because my season is not going

the way that I intended it to," Bulluck said.

Tennessee leads this series 11-4. But the Texans have won two

straight and have the chance for their second season sweep since

2004 in a rivalry finally showing some intensity on the field.

That last win on Sept. 20 featured a scuffle on the Texans'

sideline that left three players fined as Houston receiver Andre

Johnson was tagged $7,500 for taking Tennessee cornerback Cortland

Finnegan to the ground by the face mask after a play in which he

wasn't flagged. Houston receiver Jacoby Jones was fined $5,000 for

entering the fight.

Officials ejected Tennessee defensive tackle Jason Jones for

throwing a punch, which the lineman denied. Still, Jones was fined

$5,000 as well.

Houston quarterback Matt Schaub dismissed the scuffle as just

the heat of competition during a conference call Thursday with

Tennessee reporters.

"Obviously, it's unfortunate how things went down with

everything, but it's a hard fought game and things like that

sometimes happen," Schaub said.

Now two straight wins? Schaub said that does help build a

rivalry.

"It makes everything more interesting especially within the

division because you know the team extremely well and the faces

stay the same for a few years," he said. "You get to know how

each other plays, and then it's just about going out and executing

your plan."

Plays are one thing. Bulluck had to stop Thursday to remember

Schaub's name and called it a very distant relationship.

"We did have a relationship like in the sense that this

organization used to be in Houston. We're more like cousins.

They're like our fourth- or fifth-cousin. We don't really

acknowledge them," Bulluck said.

The linebacker was on a roll, but did admit he respects the

Texans' progress from their start as an expansion franchise that

debuted in 2002 - two years after he was a first-round draft pick.

"I've been here since they've been in existence, so that's like

less than 10 years that they've been in existence," he said. "The

last couple years they've been playing good football. For them to

be a young expansion team, they're making strides in the right

direction. I don't know when it comes to a rivalry."

By TERESA M. WALKER-AP Sports Writer

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)