Not Cool
Frustrated Titans yank on Brooks Reed's hair: Unable to beat the Texans, teamsturn to dirty play
Another week, another beaten Houston Texans' opponent loses his mind.
Matt Schaub lost a piece of his ear after back-to-back illegal hits from the Denver Broncos last Sunday. Now, Brooks Reed has left a game with his signature flowing locks attacked.
Reed's hair — which has its own Twitter account — got pulled by Tennessee Titans right tackle David Stewart as the Texans rolled to a 38-14 victory at Reliant Stadium. Stewart would draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty early in the second half — though that came on an after-the-whistle takedown of Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (No. 76 was busy). Then, he'd draw another personal foul.
Several Texans defensive players say that the Titans let loose with some punches in the middle of scrums as well. Stewart punched Texans defensive end Tim Jamison at one point.
In a way, the rash of dirty play against Gary Kubiak's team is the ultimate compliment. No one worried about attacking the Texans when they were the ones getting pushed around on the field.
"It is what it is," Reed told CultureMap after the game. "Guys get frustrated out there and cross the line. I'm just concentrating on winning."
That dominant winning — the 4-0 Texans have outscored their opponents by an NFL best 70 points (a combined 126-56) — is likely at the root of the recent incidents. Denver linebacker Joe Mays' helmet-knocking-off hit on Schaub was so over the line that the NFL didn't just fine him $50,000, it suspended him for a game. There is a good chance Stewart will hear from the league as well.
In a way, the rash of dirty play against Gary Kubiak's team is the ultimate compliment. No one worried about attacking the Texans when they were the ones getting pushed around on the field.
"You can see teams getting a little frustrated out there when we're taking a big lead," safety Glover Quin said. "They tried to get in our face, but we could just point up at the scoreboard."
Titans coach Mike Munchak wasn't exactly broken up about Stewart losing it and starting to swing — and yank on hair.
"He's obviously always an aggressive guy, we like that about Dave," Munchak said. "He's got to be smarter not to be the guy caught doing whatever he was supposedly doing on the plays that he was (penalized on)."
No worry. Stewart will play few teams that frustrate him as much as these Texans this season.
