1) Players consistently saying they were more talented: NFL rosters say otherwise. Players overestimating their own talent and underestimating their opponents seems like the kind of arrogant, entitled attitude that loses games.
2) Coaches treating a rivalry game like any other: if my players, year after year, came out hyped out of their skulls, celebrating every tackle, and then crapping the game away with early stupid miscues, I'd try to dial back the intensity and treat things like a normal week too.
The players seem to have moved on from problem 1.