NASHVILLE -- An axiom held true through the season's first quarter of games -- what you do in divisional matchups colors your season as much as any other factor in the NFL.
Charity -- or your season's success -- starts at home. And home is in your division, where each team plays twice a year the three others in its division. That comprises six of each clubs' 16 games.
It is like putting on your socks before your shoes.
A team that does not compete successfully in its division has little shot at a special season. And, sometimes, winning a big divisional matchup can provide a one-of-a-kind boost.
Kansas City won a regular-season game for the first time since Oct. 21 of last year, while Washington took its third straight. Gil Brandt examines what we learned from Week 4. **More ...**
Take Jacksonville.
Three of its first four games this season were against teams from its AFC South lot. Jacksonville began 0-2 losing to divisional rival Tennessee and to a team less familiar to the Jaguars, Buffalo. But the Jaguars are 2-2 now with consecutive victories over divisional foes Indianapolis and Houston. The victory over Houston on Sunday in overtime on a Josh Scobee 37-yard field goal gave the Jaguars a distinctive and likely lasting boost.
Take New Orleans and Carolina.
Both teams entered divisional games on Sunday after losses the week prior. Both (New Orleans over San Francisco and Carolina over Atlanta) found healing power in the magic of a divisional beat-down.
Cleveland had not won a game in three tries. But on Sunday at divisional foe Cincinnati, the Browns created hope with a 20-12 victory.
"Our players seem to approach and play this game more as a team attempting to win than as individuals trying to win the game," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "Divisional games can help bring that out in you."
This season's signature game thus far was supposedly hapless Miami in Week 3 toppling brute New England on the Patriots' home turf.
And on Sunday, Washington pulled the trick at Dallas.
"I think the biggest difference in these types of divisional games is they are rivalry games," Redskins general manager Vinny Cerrato said. "We know each other so well. The stakes are higher. Our guys know the matchups. We are not intimidated by who they are. We are not in awe of them. And it is always exciting to play them."
These types of games on the surface are just one of 16. But, apparently, they mean more to the players, the coaches, the owners. And to fans.
Now Washington looks for a duplicate effort when it travels to divisional adversary Philadelphia next.
The timing of these divisional battles for Washington is perfect: It has helped create urgency and a grand opportunity for the Redskins to increase the learning curve under new coach Jim Zorn. Across the field, the Eagles, fresh from stubbing their toe on Sunday night at Chicago, experience heightened awareness with the familiar Redskins in view.
Kansas City last won a game in Week 7 last year. After dropping 12 straight, the Chiefs won again on Sunday.
The previous victory? Over divisional rival Oakland 12-10.
The latest? A divisional 33-19 victory over the previously undefeated Broncos.
Coach Herman Edwards presides over a team that has 45 of its total of 61 players with three or fewer years of NFL experience. It has 14 rookies and seven of them are starters.
Edwards told his young club after its 0-3 start and before it met the Broncos that it ought to be fed up, ought to be tired of its lack of respect locally and nationally.
He convinced them of the merits of not only beating Denver but of making a statement within the division.
"They are so young, so fresh out of college, that I used the divisional matchup as a way to try and grab their total attention," Edwards said. "We are young on top of young. I talked to them like they were still in college. I asked them to think back to their biggest rival games in college, like the UCLA-USC, Cal-Stanford and Ohio State-Michigan matchups. That is what divisional games are like in the NFL. They played like they got it."
Running back Larry Johnson, who said he felt through three weeks of the season that he was being "phased out" all of a sudden felt phased in. Johnson in his last four games versus Denver had rushed for 151, 140, 126 and 157 yards. This time, it was 198. Young Chiefs defenders flew around, harassed the Broncos' big-play offense and became the first defense to hold that vibrant group to fewer than 20 points.
Edwards saw a new level of emotion from his young players.
Embracing this divisional matchup helped produce it, he said.
"When you play with emotion, you get a shot," Edwards said. "It helps you overcome mistakes. It keeps your mindset positive. And one thing about football, you can teach plays. You can teach technique. You can't teach emotion. Our young guys are starting to look at these divisional games like they are conference games in college. They understand that concept. For a really young team, it's a great tool."
For a veteran team, it is a productive tool.
"The easiest way to the playoff is to win your division," Edwards said. "In this league, divisional games, no matter where you stand, are a great point on which to build."
