In Sunday’s week 12 NFL matchup between the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders tensions got more than a bit heated. Only 3 minutes into the game, Aqib Talib and Michael Crabtree were lined up on opposing sides on the trenches as if it were any other play of the game, but apparently it was not. As the ball was snapped, Crabtree grabbed onto Talib’s shoulder pads and started pushing him rather violently. Eventually Crabtree resorted to pushing Crabtree all the way out of bounds, onto the Bronco sideline, and eventually onto the ground. What ensued after was an all out brawl on the sidelines between the Broncos and Raiders. After the encounter was seemingly about to be put to rest and dealt with, Crabtree and Talib confronted each other once again and this time it resulted in Talib throwing a punch at Crabtree. After all this was settled both Crabtree and Talib were ejected from the game, and the Raiders ended up winning 21 to 14. On Monday just a day after the fight, both Michael Crabtree as well as Aqib Talib received 2 game suspensions for their actions. After the swift suspensions were handed out Raiders coach Jack Del Rio expressed his disagreements with the suspensions. He explained that just two weeks earlier in the Cincinnati Bengals vs Jacksonville Jaguars game, no suspensions were handed out for the similar brawl between A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey.

Getting back to the Crabtree, Talib fight, the whole fight started when Talib grabbed Crabtree’s chain that  he wears around his neck during games. Talib explained that the reason he snatched Crabtree’s chain was that he thought Crabtree’s chain was annoying ever since the incident in week 9 from last year. On Monday, Talib announced his intention to appeal his 2 game suspension, which seems unlikely if you take into consideration that Talib has had multiple incidents with other players which has led to him being labeled one of the most “dirtiest” players in the NFL. This is the second time that Talib and Crabtree have gotten into a fight over Crabtree’s chain, the first time took place last year on the final game of the season, a 24-6 win for the Broncos. Both teams are most likely going to discipline their respective players and make sure that this does not escalate further.