Eric Berry driving the Chiefs Antonio Brown vs. Odell Beckham

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Eric Berry driving the Chiefs; Antonio Brown vs. Odell Beckham Published: Dec 02, 2016 at 02:55 AM ***** Until recently, to say All-Pro safety has a fear of horses . But as Berry sat on the ' bench , the four-time Pro Bowler couldn't have cared le s when the ' mascot -- , a purebred Arabian that storms the field after touchdowns -- strutted just feet away from him. Perhaps he's learned to contain his fear after playing seven seasons with a team that for a mascot. Perhaps he's overcome something much more frightening, with the result being that nothing scares him anymore. Berry was during the 2014 season. He relentle Wayne Gretzky Jersey sly fought the toughest opponent of his life and shocked his doctors when he not only but went to the and in recent memory. "The heartbeat of was in all of us," head coach Andy Reid said in his opening statement following over the last Sunday night. "Eric's on the back end getting everybody going and motivating. That's why I tip my hat off to him for the job that he's done." It goes deeper than just saying . Immediately following the win, Reid addre sed the team with a few words. Then he turned it over to Berry. And by the time the media was allowed in the locker room some 20 minutes after the game, you wouldn't have known if the had won or lost, or if it was a Wednesday during Week 2 of training camp. The vibe was that of a group of men who had just finished a succe sful busine s trip and were on to the next one. Because that's what Berry preaches. "It just shows that we know how to win when the game is on the line," Berry said in the far back corner of the visiting locker room dre sed in black from head to toe. "That's it, though. I'm looking down the road. That's just how I rock, period." It's not just another clich answer when Berry says it, either. His actions coincide with what he says to the media and his teammates. On the plane ride back to Kansas City -- takeoff came well past midnight -- Berry spent the flight studying film in an effort to correct the defensive mistakes that sent the game to overtime in the first place. Berry would already have a head start on the -- -- before the wheels touched the ground. Hours later, he'd meet with coaches to game plan for Atlanta quarterback . For much of the season, Berry had been leading a defense that was playing without one of the best -- if not best -- edge pa s rushers in the league. Because of offseason ACL surgery, didn't play his first game of 2016 until . Last Sunday, in his second game back, Houston recorded 10 tackles, three sacks, four quarterback hits and four tackles for lo s; he also that led to a safety. "You haven't seen anything yet," Berry told me. "He's just getting his feet wet." Just getting his feet wet? OK. "I'm biased when it comes to Justin, but that's the best pa s rusher in the league," outside linebacker told me after the game. "He comes out, he proves it. He dominated that first half. Hats off to him. He worked so hard, came back from two surgeries. People don't really know what he went through, and I'm really proud to see what he's done." Reid had an idea Houston would break out against the . Houston told his head coach that in the fourth quarter against the the week prior, he had mentally adjusted back to the speed of the game after mi sing so much time. The scary part is, Kansas City hasn't had Houston and -- who, before sitting out the game against Denver with a hamstring injury suffered in Week 11, was tied for the NFL lead in sacks -- on the field together and healthy for a full game yet this season. On Sunday, Berry will be lined up on the back end of a defense that leads the NFL in takeaways heading into the week, trying to tame the league's . Reid said he saw Berry play with an added purpose against Denver last Sunday. That might be nothing compared to this week. For the first time in his career, the Georgia native will be playing in front of his hometown crowd. But he's won in Atlanta before. Fittingly, in the city where he received his treatment, he'll take the field wearing purple cleats in honor of all those fighting cancer. Maybe Berry is the one who is just getting started. Maybe he's the one who is just getting his feet wet. And now, the rest of this week's notes from NFL.com's reporters: The origin of this week's cleat expre sion. The ' has eye charts all over the cleats he'll wear this weekend because his foundation, Von's Vision, provides low-income children with gla ses. , during the ' game Thursday night, wore a pair with the tattoo-inspired art of "Mom" over a heart, to showcase his Raise the Barr foundation, which supports single mothers seeking higher education. The Flint, Michigan, water crisis (Brandon Carr), the homele s (Emmanuel Sanders), awarene s for sickle cell (Devin and Jason McCourty) and prostate cancer (Jaylen Watkins) -- the list of causes illustrated on game cleats this week is almost as long as that of NFL players. It's all part of the NFL's #MyCauseMyCleats initiative, which allows players to break with the league's uniform policy for this one week. And it all started with cornerback . Two years ago, , a solitary effort to draw attention to the scourge of domestic violence. Gay's mother was shot and killed by her husband when he was a child, and while much of the rest of the league was wearing sanctioned pink that month (to raise awarene s of breast cancer), the then-eighth-year pro felt raising awarene s of domestic violence was as worthy. Ike Taylor, a teammate at the time, dared the NFL to fine Gay, offering to pay any he received. Gay was not fined in 2014. But last October, he pulled out the cleats again and -- although he had filmed a PSA for the NFL on the i sue -- he was indeed fined $5,787. He did not appeal. Gay very frankly told me then that he had broken the NFL uniform policy and so he had to pay. : that the NFL would allow players one free weekend to highlight whatever cause was closest to their hearts. A year later, the NFL is doing exactly that. Gay said no one from the league ever called him to discu s his proposal, and he didn't want to take credit for first lobbying for this, but his teammates said the credit is his due -- especially , who lockers a few stalls down from Gay and who is credited with being the progenitor of the league's breast cancer awarene s month. "It took them a year, but it's a step," Williams said. Gay, his purple cleats at the ready in his locker, smiled. He agreed, calling the weekend "a good first step," and then, pointing over at his shoes, said, "I'm just glad I won't get fined for wearing them Sunday." ***** Immovable object, meet unstoppable force ... This will be only the second time in history that the and both have winning records when they face each other. But this has the makings of a cla sic battle of styles. The have the NFL's top scoring offense, while and the have the best scoring defense since Week 6, allowing just 17.4 points per game in that span. They also lead the league with 24 takeaways. The likely matchup to watch is receiver against cornerback . In the last two seasons, Peters has been the most productive cornerback in the NFL, with 13 interceptions and 41 pa ses defensed. In that same period, Jones has 3,011 receiving yards and 15 100-yard games. Peters has been highly succe sful when matched up on an opposing team's No. 1 receiver, allowing just one touchdown (to Houston's DeAndre Hopkins) and Brendan Perlini Jersey seven receptions (two to Carolina's , two to Oakland's and three to Hopkins; Indianapolis' , Pittsburgh's and the ' were shut out). In three games when Jones has been covered by elite cornerbacks, his numbers have fallen off. Against Arizona's , Seattle's and Denver's , Jones had one touchdown and eight receptions on 12 targets. ***** Position switch makes Thomas a prize. Within a few days of letting teams know he was switching from quarterback to tight end, signed with the ' practice squad and then, a day later, . Why did all of that happen so quickly? Because teams had been begging Thomas to make the switch and told the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder they'd jump at the chance to let him play tight end, according to a person who was brought in on the proce s when Thomas was still adamant he wanted to be a quarterback. The person said Buffalo and Detroit were joined by a handful of teams that tried to sign Thomas this week, and that the were able to quickly pry Thomas away from the because they gave him a decent signing bonus ($75,000) as part of his deal. Signing bonuses for contracts signed this late in the season are rare, especially for a player who has never lined up at the position he's been signed to play. ***** Gase getting tough. In the annals of player discipline, this might be a first: coach Adam Gase released a player during practice Wednesday. Defensive tackle was at practice when the team learned that he had been arrested on drug charges the day before, during the players' day off. When Gase was told of the news -- while on the practice field -- . "We're in the middle of the season," said Gase, whose in a critical AFC game Sunday. "We have priorities, and this is the No. 1 priority. If guys have other priorities, then they can go about their busine s somewhere else." Oh. Gase also had some choice quotes in a conference call with reporters. When he was asked what has contributed to the ' six-game win streak, he seemed to point a finger at former coach Joe Philbin and what might have been a tolerance for a lack of discipline that Gase was unwilling to accept. "It starts really with we've eliminated all of the type of nonsense that most of the teams around the NFL don't have during the week -- guys being late, guys getting fined, having practices that really are not energetic, and you're not getting things done the way you need to," Gase said on the call. "We've really turned around as far as a maturity standpoint of our younger guys doing things right, our veterans doing a good job of showing these guys the right way to do things, day in and day out. I think that's been our biggest turnaround as far as just doing all of the things leading up to the game, and then on Sunday, that's at least giving us our best chance to know what to do and to execute our game plan." When asked if players had been trying to take advantage of a rookie head coach, Gase was even more blunt. "No," he said. "I think that's how it has been here for the last how many whatever years. That's just what it was." Whatever it was, it is apparently mostly gone. The are 7-4 and . ***** with Big Blue? and , two quarterbacks forever intertwined by the , for only the fourth time in their 13 NFL years. In 2004, one of them was going to be a New York Giant. If general manager Ernie Accorsi hadn't been able to swing with the , Roethlisberger would have been the ' pick at No. 4 overall. "Yeah, we really thought that it was a po sibility," Ben said this week. "But everything works out for a reason." Their careers are succe s stories. The two rank in the top 10 all-time in pa sing touchdowns; Manning is seventh with 314, Roethlisberger 10th with 295. They are the only pair of QBs selected in the first round of the same draft that both went on to win multiple Super Bowls as starters. "Our paths haven't cro sed that much," Manning said. " But I have a lot of respect for him and his game." Roethlisberger said he'd be "lying if I didn't say, 'His durability,'" when asked about Manning's strengths. Manning will start his 195th consecutive regular-season game Sunday. "He's got one of the most awesome ironman streaks going in never mi sing a game, and that's just so impre sive, to play this position for as long as he has never mi sing a game -- that's so awesome and a compliment to his work ethic." This season -- Manning is 35, Roethlisberger 34 -- both veterans have benefitted from not taking many sacks. Sacked 14 times, is tied with for the 29th-most sacks in the league. Manning has been sacked 13 times, good for 31st. OBJ + AB = Fun for everyone. It's easy to put the quarterbacks atop the marquee of , Sunday's big game. Manning and Roethlisberger both were taken in the first round of the , they've both won two Super Bowls, they both embody the personalities of their franchises and both have acknowledged using each other, in some ways, as measuring sticks. But perhaps equally as boldfaced names are those of each team's star wide receiver: Jr. of the and the ' . The pair is in every conversation centered on the league's best, be it in athleticism, dynamism, ability to catch the ball or even headline-grabbing antics. Beckham comes into the game with 65 catches, for 915 yards and eight touchdowns. Brown has 82 catches for 998 yards and 10 touchdowns. This week, both locker rooms gushed with praise for the opposing receiver, from corner saying he has never seen a receiver extend a route that he hadn't won and still improvise his way to the ball as much as Brown, to safety saying Beckham's "catching ability" might be better than any player's he's ever seen. But it was a fellow wide receiver, the ' , who keyed in on what makes these two on the same field so must-see: their personalities. "When I watch Odell, it's his pa sion for the game that just stands out," Cruz said. Talking about how his teammate cuts or runs or leaps for a ball, he said, "You literally see how much he loves this game." And as for Brown, Cruz said, "You have to admire his tenacity. He plays so much larger than his body frame. Nothing is not po sible for him." Game recognize game. Beckham and Brown are tied for the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL since 2014 (when Beckham entered the NFL) with 33. "This is definitely a game where I'm going to be standing up watching this guy," Beckham said. "I love him like a brother." Beckham said he and Brown trained together in the offseason. "Work ethic is unreal," Beckham said. "Hopefully he doesn't have too many celebrations." Asked if there are similarities in their games, Beckham said: "Yes. I think we both like to score, and we like to have fun. I definitely think there are similarities in our game, though. I watch a lot of film on him and probably stole a lot of stuff from him to make it my own." Since entering the league in 2014, Beckham has sought out greatne s, meeting and befriending Brown, LeBron James and . He also met soccer star David Beckham. "I feel like you are who you hang around with, in a sense," Beckham said. "If you hang around people who have the same mindset, goals and focus as you, it makes it a lot easier for you to stay on track in what you want to do and what you want to accomplish. "The guys like Von and AB, we're all in the same group. We love to kill it when we get on the field, but most importantly, we like to enjoy life, have fun, dance and do all of that. It's cool to be around those guys, being able to learn something from them." Collins, Pierre-Paul more than holding their own. For as much attention as New York's free-agent additions have received -- and , and have made a considerable difference -- two homegrown are contributing at least their share of splash. won NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for November, the first safety to ever win the award. He is the first Giant to win the award since in December 2011. Collins' improvement since his rookie season, when he logged about 1,100 snaps, has been dramatic. He is tied for second in the league with five interceptions. Besides the experience gained, what is the difference? "To start with, loves football," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told me. "When you love something, you're willing to do whatever it takes to get good at it." Clearly, Pierre-Paul has adjusted to playing with his compromised right hand. , he had three sacks, forced a fumble and recovered another fumble in midair and for a touchdown. Pierre-Paul became the first NFL player with at least three sacks and a fumble-return touchdown of at least 40 yards in the same game since 1982, the first year individual sacks became an official statistic. 2.0 has resembled the original. He leads the with seven sacks and 17 quarterback hits. "It's funny," Spagnuolo said, "being around him all the time, we tend to forget -- I do -- what he went through. I think he wants it that way. He's here being a football player. He's not a guy who had an accident being a football player. And he's enjoying that." ***** The Deebo factor. The have produced 11 sacks in their last two games. That nearly matches their output through the season's first nine games (13). A cynic would say that recent outpouring is a direct result of facing the and . would say, no, it's a result of 38-year-old being inserted back into the starting lineup. "That's 'Deebo.' The name says enough," Timmons said, referring to Harrison's longtime nickname, which references the neighborhood bully of the "Friday" movie series. It is indeed an attitude, and approach, that the were looking Max Domi Kids Jersey for in making that move, even though they'd largely kept Harrison on a snap count until now. The team's fiercest worker, and perhaps its most fearsome personality, Harrison's presence alone forces the bar up, Timmons said. "It's his demeanor," Timmons said. "We used to be known for a certain toughne s, a certain aggre sivene s. He's a piece of that past, and he makes sure everyone around him plays the way are supposed to play." This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. 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