PITTSBURGH — It might not matter the Steelers are on a nine-game winning streak, are the NFL's only unbeaten team and have won the past three meetings with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Nor might it matter the Jaguars have lost eight in a row after a season-opening victory against the Indianapolis Colts, have allowed the most points in the AFC and will use a quarterback making only his second NFL start.
If history is any indication, none of that will matter Sunday when the Steelers go to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars — the worst thing to stink in that northern Florida city since the paper mills shut down.
Strange things always seem to happen when the Steelers and Jaguars meet, which they have since 1995 when the Jaguars came into the NFL as an expansion team and were placed in the same division with the Steelers. Their rivalry wasn't on the order of the nasty meetings with the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s and didn't have the significance of the more respectful battles with the Houston Oilers in the 1980s.
But over the course of 26 lifetime meetings — 14 won by the Jaguars — the series saw a little of everything. And most of it occurred in Jacksonville.
Oh, there were accusations of death threats and kicks to the groin and an intrusive mascot who paid the price for getting too close to the opposing huddle. There were "gut feelings" that went wrong and the spike of a live ball that was almost as costly as it was embarrassing.
There was even a near Woody Hayes-type incident right there on the same field, almost in the exact same spot, where the career of the legendary Ohio State coach came to a shocking and humiliating end. And it all started 25 years ago.
The Steelers went to the Super Bowl in 1995, the year the Jaguars entered the league, but in Week 6 they lost their first-ever meeting with the expansion team — the first of five consecutive losses in Jacksonville. It was a portent of things to come.
The following year, after losing quarterback Neil O'Donnell in free agency, the Steelers opened their season in Jacksonville on a day so hot a dozen players had to leave the field during pre-game warmups to receive IVs, including running back Jerome Bettis, who had asthma. But a bigger issue was a debate about which quarterback should replace O'Donnell — third-year Jim Miller, veteran Mike Tomczak or the multi-dimensional Kordell Stewart.
Saying he had a "gut feeling," coach Bill Cowher started Miller, then yanked him at halftime after he completed 9 of 17 passes for 83 yards and produced just two field goals. Tomczak was inserted and remained the starter for the rest of the season. Not only did the Steelers lose, 24-9, but they lost outside linebacker Greg Lloyd for the season with a torn patella tendon.
Things got even hotter in 1997 when the Steelers traveled there in Week 3, two weeks after they were embarrassed at home by the Dallas Cowboys, 37-7, in the season opener. But, in this instance, the heat had nothing to do with the temperature.
Trailing 23-21 with just seconds remaining, kicker Norm Johnson had a 40-yard field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown by defensive back Chris Hudson. As Hudson was running down the sideline in front of the Steelers bench, Cowher stepped on to the field and cocked his arm as though he wanted to hit Hudson.
He didn't, of course, but the incident conjured memories of the 1978 Gator Bowl when Hayes punched Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman in the throat after Bauman intercepted a pass and was running in front of the Ohio State bench. Cowher later discovered the deja vu: He was standing in almost the exact same spot as Hayes when he had that impulsive reflexive thought.
It was all part of the frustration Cowher had with the Jaguars. He had an 8-9 lifetime record against them, one of only two losing records against teams he met at least five times.
One year later, tempers flared again, though this time with the Jaguars mascot, Jaxson de Ville, who came on the field near the Steelers huddle in the end zone and began stomping on a stuffed doll wearing a Stewart jersey. One of the Steelers players who disliked furry creatures as a child began yelling at the mascot, who later claimed he was having "bodily fluid projected" at him.
Steelers owner Dan Rooney, no fan of mascots, was so angry about the incident he mused, "It's just too bad Jack Lambert or Greg Lloyd weren't still playing for our team ... after the stunts their mascot pulled on the field, we would have had to bail those guys out of jail."
Before Lloyd left the Steelers, he did get in his licks, though not against the mascot.
In a 1997 game at Three Rivers Stadium, he knocked out Jaguars receiver Keenan McCardell with a vicious blindside hit away from the play, retaliation for what Lloyd claimed was a threatening phone call McCardell made to his house the week of the game. A year earlier, Jaguars center Brian DeMarco had claimed Lloyd kicked him in the groin.
After five years of futility, the Steelers finally managed to win a game in Jacksonville in 2000, though not before rookie receiver Plaxico Burress committed an embarrassing gaffe. After making a key reception and tumbling to the turf, Burress jumped to his feet and excitedly spiked the ball. But because he was never touched by the Jaguars player when he fell to the ground, the ball was considered live and recovered by the Jaguars as a fumble.
Never rule out anything in Jacksonville.
