I was pulling for the Bengals. Now? I'm GLAD to see them lose. Fucking GLAD.

[cherokeeprogressive]

Fucking GLAD. Bengals #55 needs to be banned from the league. He literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and tried to hurt someone in the process.

[dhill926]

1. agreed...

no dog in this fight, but some truly bullshit behavior by the Bengals...esp. 55.

[Electric Monk]

82. Bengals' Vontaze Burfict facing suspension for Antonio Brown hit - SI

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/01/10/cincinnati-bengals-pittsburgh-steelers-vontaze-burfict-suspension

https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/686049199368966144

[cali]

2. That was truly dreadful

[Tennis Magnet]

4. Kinda feel bad for them though.

But my team has to face the Steelers next.

Hopefully Manning will be ready this time around. Just gotta hope that Rothesburger and Brown's injury isn't that serious.

`

[cali]

6. Good luck to the Broncos and Manning next week

[HERVEPA]

28. Fuck Manning (and Elway) and their right wing crap

[joeybee12]

36. amen!

Why do those two Repukelicons get a pass here?

[SickOfTheOnePct]

37. Because some, if not most people

are able to separate politics from football.

If I'm rooting for a team, I couldn't care less about the politics of the players.

[HERVEPA]

39. Player does commercials for Pizza guy who went all anti-Obamacare and talked about

it ruining his business, while he lives in huge mansion. I repeat, fuck Manning and Elway.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

47. Have at it n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

41. Some people aren't capable of separating politics from the sunrise.

I was once royally castigated here while rooting for the Texas Rangers and called names for not approaching every waking moment with an eye toward how politics affects people 24/7, everywhere.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

48. That must be a really miserable way to live n/t

[HERVEPA]

50. Nope. It's not. Life is actually pretty fun.

[bullwinkle428]

43. I have to wonder why a guy who's supposedly completely innocent of

the charges against him (obtaining HGH) feels the need to hire the front-and-center face (Ari Fleisher) of the Shrubya administration that pushed the idea that Iraq was manufacturing WMDs (necessitating our need to go to war), as his "crisis manager".

[HERVEPA]

49. I think you know the answer. :-) Liar hires a liar.

[yeoman6987]

53. Because their football players not politicians

And (gasp) have a different opinion then we do. Well sports are entertainment.

[KamaAina]

61. *cough*bloody sock game*cough*

Schilling is as much of a repuke as Payless and Hellway.

[Yavin4]

66. *ahem*

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. I don't feel bad for them, I feel bad for their FANS.

I'm flabbergasted at what I just watched. Mad as hell too.

[missingthebigdog]

13. Nah. Their fans were out of control, too.

At least some of them were. Throwing debris at the Pittsburgh players, cheering when Ben was carted off.

Ugly game all the way around.

[pintobean]

21. and it's nothing new

[SheilaT]

3. I likewise had been rooting for the Bengals.

I'm not exactly glad to see them lose, but I'm now happy the Steelers won.

Plus, my very best friend lives in Pit, and he'll be happy.

[LittleBlue]

5. That was worse than the Odell Beckham hit

Burfict put an actual kill hit on that guy. That could have broken his neck and killed him. He's a uncontrollable maniac, should be cut and never play again.

Then the other guy appeared to lay hands on the ref. No self-control whatsoever. Just shocking.

Just glad that guy walked off the field, we thought he was paralyzed.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. So did I. Especially after seeing it in slow motion.

If #55 is a Bengal next year I'll bet on every team they play, out of spite.

[underpants]

18. I was sure he was knocked out

He probably was. What a bunch of morons.

[LittleBlue]

24. NFL site says he has a concussion

Dude is lucky he's even walking.

[Snobblevitch]

9. The penalty went to #24.

Was that a mistake?

I frankly didn't care who won this game.

[Iggo]

30. Two 15 yard penalties in a row. Second one was to#24.

First one was for headhunting by the linebacker.

[Snobblevitch]

31. Oh.

I should have been paying more attention. I don't follow football all that much and even less so for the AFC.

[demtenjeep]

10. and the fans cheered when Big Ben was carted off the field. There is much hatred between these team

it was all a disgraceful, ugly game

[HERVEPA]

29. No sympathy for the rapist

Last edited Sun Jan 10, 2016, 10:20 AM - Edit history (1)

[yeoman6987]

54. Wow. And he was convicted? Not!

[HERVEPA]

55. Naivete is not your friend.

[yeoman6987]

56. I just don't think it's a good liberal practice to accuse others of things

But that is just me.

[rufus dog]

11. Vontaze has severe issues

I watched most all of his games in college, exact same thing happened almost weekly. Never was I happier to see a guy leave Arizona State.

He is incapable of learning and controlling his antics.

[yourout]

12. Burfict has a well earned rep going all the way back to his college days at ASU.

First team all - Goon.

[underpants]

17. When he ran off the field with the interception

I had this tangible feeling shoot up my spine. What a dumbass. I wasn't really rooting for either but he and PacMan gave them 30 yards on an incomplete pass.

[tishaLA]

57. the refs should have penalized him for that

...for delay of game. But even if they had, Lewis would have left him in the game and his antics would have continued.

[underpants]

60. It was a change of possession but yes they should have charged him for something

just on general principle.

Move back behind the fumble. The Bengals 2 point try was a dumb play call* (of course Pittsburgh as sending the house) and it nearly was a disaster. It foretold the inevitable.

* unless they had a double pass set up in which case it was doubly stupid.

[tishaLA]

64. well, they also had excessive celebrating or

Taunting at their disposal. And it wasn't just him: there were, I think, 4 members of the defense who ran all the way to the fucking locker room. I was watching, happy for the Bengals at that point, and thought to myself, "oh he'll. Here comes a penalty." And then nothing came.

Until 30 seconds later, that is.

[KamaAina]

63. Can he skate?

Every team in the NHL has a designated goon.

[alcibiades_mystery]

81. The designated goon goes after the cheap shot artist

That's how the NHL tends to work. This *was* the cheap shot.

[SCantiGOP]

14. Rare to see announcers

call one of the teams "a disgrace."

Just glad I'm not a fan leaving there cold, wet and pissed about how much time and money I had just spent to watch that.

[Hoyt]

15. Hardly watched any football this year. Turn on that with 7 minutes, cheer for Bengals, then remember

why I haven't watched much. That was an unnecessary, brutal head shot. Glad Steeler got up.

[truebrit71]

16. And yet nothing about the helmet to helmet contact NOT called...

... by the fucking blind refs against the Bengals...??

An atrocious game all around, players, coaches and officials included....

[yourout]

23. If your talking about the one that resulted in a Bengal fumble it was actually correct going by.....

current rule set.
When he turned and faced the defender with the ball he was no longer a defenseless player.

Considering the ugly nature of the game I thought the refs were actually pretty good.

And I have no dog in the fight so to speak.

[napi21]

19. Boy do I second THAT OPINION! I'm a Steeler fan, and I can't describe how angry I was at all the

personal fouls. They were deliberately were trying to hurt other players. When Big Ben got hurt and the Cinci FANS were cheering, I about lost it. Thank God there were no kids here, my language screaming at the TV wasn't fit to hear.

You are absolutely correct that #55 GAVE that game to the Steelers, and from what I heard he will be fined, most likely suspended, and who knows what else. He deserves all he gets. I honestly wish the fans would realize that it doesn't pay to play dirty because payback is a bitch!

[GummyBearz]

40. It was a rough game

Steelers had one bad helmet spear to the face mask that wasn't called.

But the Last hit by Burfict (55) was sickening. I could tell instantly it was the type of hit that would draw a penalty and possibly break that Steeler WR's neck. When they showed it in reply and I saw his arms and body go limp right after his head got smashed like that, I was sick. They kept showing it multiple times due to the injury time out and I couldn't watch after the third one. I went to make a drink and said a little prayer that the WR wasn't paralyzed because I had this sick feeling he just had his neck broken. It was disgusting.

edit: Also it was completely unnecessary as the throw was uncatchable, the ball was already on the ground, receiver was defenseless, play was over... uhg

[geek tragedy]

20. The real winners were the Broncos, who now get Pitt

likely without Brown and with Rapistberger severely limited.

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. Rapistberger LOL Ive never heard that one. +10

[LittleBlue]

26. Was cheering for the Bungles just because that rapist is QB of Pittsburgh

Afterward it wasn't so bad. Bungles out and Steelers crippled.

[KamaAina]

65. It's usually "Rapelisberger".

[bigwillq]

25. Terrible.

Glad they lost. Trash.

[KeepItReal]

27. The Bengals players and their fans got instant Karma

Serves them right.

Shameful behavior.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

32. A J - had a great playoff comeback victory stolen by his own team

sad - and unnecessary

[Greybnk48]

33. I have been an avid football fan for decades

beginning in the mid 60's, and I never saw anything as disgusting as tonight's Bengals v Pittsburgh game. The men on the field during pregame warmups acting as guards? Come on! What are they trying to do, make the NFL like WWE? What a turnoff.

I also was pulling for the Bengals until they completely out-thugged the Steelers. I think the player who almost took the Steeler players head off should be banned at least a year if not for good. That was horrid.

[underpants]

35. Agreed. Are these grown men? They should fine Burfict his whole playoff paycheck

Making his whole embarassing day for free. Not sure if the CBA allows that but that would actually be just.

[lovemydog]

34. One of the strangest games I've ever seen.

Lots of cheap shots, violent plays, assistant coaches running onto the field. Yes, that shot by Bengals #55 Vontaze Burfict was brutal. Then Pacman Jones caused another penalty (though he says he was penalized for saying something to a Pittsburgh coach who was not even supposed to be on the field). I think Marvin Lewis should have had better control of his team.

Steelers had some ugly shots too but overall the Bengals had more of them. Bengals' penalties were disgraceful. Could have done serious injury. Also cost them the game. Thank goodness Antonio Brown isn't seriously injured, though he did suffer a concussion. I hope he and Ben are healthy next week.

We're talking about the playoffs in the Sports: Football group if anyone cares to join us there.

[Baclava]

38. The dirty Bengals and their bottle throwing fans - they deserve each other

'I'm a former Bengal and I'm embarrassed by the way this game ended and by the way these guys acted on the field today' -- @7BoomerEsiason

[cherokeeprogressive]

42. I saw that lady crying after the game and felt bad for her.

I couldn't help it.

[rockfordfile]

45. I don't. I wonder if this woman was cheering when the Steeler's QB was injured?

[Lizzie Poppet]

51. Not gonna judge 'em all for the bottle throwers.

As a huge fan of that other kind of football, I just witnessed some bottle-throwing on the part of Columbus Crew supporters at the MLS Cup final. But even as a hardcore Timbers supporter, I understood that those assholes were an aberration.

Or maybe I'm wrong and this is an Ohio thing!

[rockfordfile]

44. I wasn't pulling for any of the teams

But the Cincinnati Bengals fans are a classless bunch.

In another game #24 of the Bengals took the helmet off a Raider player and slammed his into it. The Bengal player should've been gone for the year.

[hfojvt]

46. I am not seeing it

maybe because I hate the Steelers, or it's a small screen.

The hit on the Bengal was helmet to helmet. That one looked pretty bad, but the Steelers get no penalty and get a fumble for it.

Okay in this play the guy was going for a hit to cause a fumble or an incompletion. That's part of the game. I am old enough to remember a Vikings vs. Raiders superbowl, where the Vikings kinda got the crap beaten out of them. At one point in the 4th quarter, Tarkenton finally completed a pass and Sammy White got just drilled and his helmet came off and flew like 15 yards down the field.

Anyway, so the ball flew by uncatchable. Still, that does not give the linebacker a heck of a lot of time to react and pull up from what he was intending to do. And the contact just seemed to be shoulder to shoulder. (Okay it was shoulder to helmet from the other angle but shoulder to helmet is illegal but helmet to helmet is not? And Brown was moving at the time of the hit, so are we sure that Burfict was even aiming for that moving target?)

And then the 2nd penalty? Really? You are going to let the plays decide the game? You call unsportsmanlike when nobody even threw a punch? To basically decide a play off game?

To me it kinda looks like the refs were just looking for a reason to give the win to Pittsburgh.

Yeah, Brown got hurt. That's kind of why you don't do passes like that in the middle of the field.

I quit watching football anyway, because the violence is kinda sickening even for legal plays and it always seemed like the most brutal teams win and the teams I hate keep winning and winning and winning. Pittsburgh vs. Denver? I'd like to see them both lose.

[cherokeeprogressive]

59. A very detailed post for someone who quit watching football. nt

[brush]

76. Good analysist

The refs did hand the game to the Steelers with that second 15 yard penalty on #24.

That put them in field goal range.

The second penalty was unfair IMO as a Steelers coach came onto the field, allegedly to see about the injury player, but it was reported that he started talking trash to the Bengal players, which is why #24 reacted. It should be noted that he didn't through a punch.

IMO the coach should have been called for a penalty for instigation just as #24 was and the two penalties would have nullified each other.

Seems unfair to tack on that second penalty and just give the game to the Steelers.

[Dont call me Shirley]

58. The refs incited the violence. Not saying what #55 did was right by any means, but refs would not

call even worse hits by the steelers.

[cherokeeprogressive]

62. You say "would not call" and I say "did not call".

I hate the notion of refereeing with the intent of equalizing prior non-calls. Is it remotely possible no ref saw the "would not call" instances you write about? There are 22 men to be watched simultaneously after all.

[Dont call me Shirley]

67. Then either nfl needs more refs or instant recall on ref calls and no-calls. That concussion causing

hit by steeler #50 should have been a foul call and he should have been ejected from the game. Helmet to helmet hits must lead to instant ejection for this shit to stop.

I think the owners want to see more violence and blood in these games. They paid big bucks for that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

68. I agree 100% with 60% of your post.

I don't want to see officials second-guessed by instant recall. You think there are non-calls now? Why call something and possibly be wrong when an instant replay official can call it for you? It's easier to say "I didn't see it" than it is to say "I saw it and got it wrong".

Helmet to helmet hits should lead to instant ejections. Further than that the NFL should make it clear to every football organization below its level that helmet to helmet contact and "tackling with your helmet" should CEASE to be taught.

Saying the owners want more violence and blood is like saying NASCAR owners and sponsors love wrecked cars. That being their source of revenue, I hesitate to say owners want people to get hurt. If your instant reaction to that is "they want the OTHER players hurt", following a philosophy like that puts your own players at risk as well.

[Dont call me Shirley]

70. All ref calls and non-calls should be subject to instant recall. That's the only fair way to monitor

the refs.

When it comes to the owners wanting more violence I got 2 words: Sean Payton.

[cherokeeprogressive]

71. What team does Sean Payton own?

[Dont call me Shirley]

72. He's not an owner, but the owner's tool. He started this whole mess of "take out your opponent"

which has only gotten much much worse.

[cherokeeprogressive]

73. You DO realize that football's been a violent sport since its inception, right?

Two words: Dick Butkus
Two more: Conrad Dobler

[Dont call me Shirley]

74. It is, but the intentional hits to remove other players from the game is beyond the line. Then the

arbitrary ref calls/non-calls are game changers and all for the benefit of the big money makers, the owners and their bookies.

[brush]

77. In defense of Butkus, he wasn't a dirty player

Dobler had that rep though.

Butkus, along with Ray Nitschke and Willie Lanier were the best middle linebacker in the history of pro football.

[cherokeeprogressive]

78. You're right. Butkus wasn't "dirty". Violent though? Hell yes.

I saw him give an interview once and he said something to the effect of "When I hit people, I time and aim the hit so as to prevent them from getting up after the play."

[brush]

80. He was something to behold all right.

He couldn't make those hits now as the rules are so different, but somehow I think he'd still be a stand out player.

[stopbush]

69. It's a violent game at its core.

Let's not forget that these illegal hits were legal for 98% of the NFL's history.

Not to defend headhunters, but the NFL is causing a lot of these problems itself wth their rules which put a lot of onus on defensive players. They do that to get more scoring in the games because that's what fans want.

Examples: long passes - you may as well bomb it downfield, because even if your player doesn't catch it, he's got a 50-50 chance that they'll call pass interference. That makes the defensive player's job a lot harder than that of the receiver they're covering.

Short passes across the middle were relatively infrequent back in the days when your life was in danger if you were the target of such passes. Now, defensive players need to play back, allowing the receiver not only to catch the ball, but time to turn their head so they become a runner, rather than a defenseless player. Coaches cynically exploit this, comfortable in the knowledge that their offensive players have an edge, and that the defense often draws a penalty when they try to time a hit on such a receiver. If their receiver gets concussed, well, he made the catch plus 15 yards on the penalty. It's a price they're willing to pay with their players' health to win.

[tabasco]

75. Screwed his coach harder than anyone else.

Marvin Lewis failed to get these guys under control and likely will be fired.

[alcibiades_mystery]

79. ...