Richie Incognito revealed the Oakland Raiders took Khalil Mack's pre-game comments "personally" before they beat the Chicago Bears in London on Sunday.
Star pass rusher Mack faced the Raiders for the first time since he was dealt to the Bears, whose much-vaunted defense had led the league in sacks and takeaways since acquiring the 28-year-old star in the blockbuster trade last year.
Mack had said he "liked" the term "vindictiveness" ahead of the reunion, but he was largely anonymous as the Raiders' offensive line did not give up a sack in a 24-21 victory.
With all the talk about Mack and the Bears' defense prior to the game, guard Incognito admitted Oakland was keen to change the narrative.
"Of course we take that personally," he told Omnisport.
"He's over there talking about how he's looking forward to playing us and all this stuff.
"There's history. We came out and were physical with him. They didn't like it."
“I don’t have a disco, but let’s all start dancing.” pic.twitter.com/E9A36DiICP
— Oakland Raiders (@Raiders) October 6, 2019
Oakland stormed to a 17-0 lead and although Chicago fought back and led in the fourth quarter, rookie running back Josh Jacobs scored a touchdown to cap a 13-play, 92-yard drive with under two minutes remaining to give the Raiders an advantage they would not relinquish.
Ironically Jacobs, who finished with two touchdowns and 123 yards on the ground, was selected with a draft pick the Raiders acquired in the Mack trade.
"We took the challenge head on," offensive tackle Kolton Miller added.
"We heard a lot about these guys being the No. 1 defense in the league. We didn't really see on our film guys being able to run the rock on them.
"We took that challenge and we really took it to them and that helped our passing, helped us establish good field position. We played for four quarters."