Nothing quiet about Burfict
CINCINNATI 无毛视频� Vontaze Burfict and James Harrison led their respective defenses with nine tackles. But while Harrison did his the quiet way, there was nothing quiet about Burfict.
The man who ended the 2015 seasons of Antonio Brown and Le无毛视频橵eon Bell, and could无毛视频檝e ended Ben Roethlisberger无毛视频檚 with a cheap shot, all in three different games, was the game within the game on Sunday.
From the start:
n On Antonio Brown无毛视频檚 first catch, he and Burfict exchanged pats on the helmet that increased in intensity with each smack. It was followed by a facemask-to-facemask scene.
n On the second Steelers possession, Burfict and Maurkice Pouncey went facemask to facemask after a play, followed by a hard Burfict hit on Bell with an overzealous help-up. On the next play, Burfict blew up Eli Rogers and the deflected pass was nearly intercepted.
n On the third Steelers possession, Burfict and David DeCastro met on a pull like two rhinos. Both left the field woozy.
n Burfict missed the fourth possession, but on the fifth he angered DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert into a 15-yard penalty, but three plays later was himself flagged for 15 for a late hit on Roethlisberger. That was a play after Gilbert had shot out and dove at Burfict无毛视频檚 knees.
That fifth possession, early in the third quarter, caused officials to speak to both sides and appeared to end the skirmishes.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 not going to go down that road and give you guys a bunch of ammo,无毛视频� DeCastro told reporters. 无毛视频淗e is who he is and you know who he is. Luckily we got the win.无毛视频�
DeCastro did admit that the officials were sympathetic to the Steelers无毛视频� complaints about Burfict.
无毛视频淭hey understand,无毛视频� DeCastro said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e got a tough job to do to control it. Emotions run high. It无毛视频檚 a physical game. He无毛视频檚 an emotional guy. He plays football hard, plays with emotions. You just have to fight through it and I thought for the most part down the stretch we kept pretty calm.无毛视频�
After the game, Burfict had a message for the Cincinnati media: 无毛视频淚 ain无毛视频檛 got (expletive) to say. (Expletive) all of you.无毛视频�
Tuitt injured
The Steelers suffered a critical blow when defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt injured his right knee on the game无毛视频檚 third snap. Tuitt missed the rest of the game and Mike Tomlin didn无毛视频檛 know the extent, saying only that Tuitt was being evaluated.
Tuitt, of course, is the mainstay of a line that lost Cameron Heyward for the season with a torn pectoral muscle against the Dallas Cowboys.
无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 a huge loss,无毛视频� linebacker Ryan Shazier said of Tuitt. 无毛视频淎nd Cam was a huge loss. But Coach Mitch (John Mitchell) has those guys ready at any moment and they无毛视频檙e going to be ready and in shape whenever we need them to.无毛视频�
L.T. Walton started his second consecutive game in place of Heyward. Tuitt was replaced by Ricardo Mathews, who was in and out of the game with an injured ankle.
The other Steelers injury was tight end Ladarius Green, who was being evaluated for a concussion.
Boswell ties mark
Chris Boswell无毛视频檚 six field goals tied Jeff Reed (2002) and Gary Anderson (1988) for the franchise record.
Boswell made kicks of 45, 49, 49, 40, 49 and 30 yards to score the Steelers无毛视频� first 18 points.
无毛视频淪ix-for-six. He needs no endorsement from me,无毛视频� said Tomlin. 无毛视频淪hoot, I just gave him the game ball.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭hose weren无毛视频檛 just chip shots,无毛视频� said Roethlisberger. 无毛视频淭hose were some bombs he hit into the wind. He also had a tackle. He deserves the game ball and he got it.无毛视频�
Boswell dove and barely tripped Alex Erickson to save a touchdown during Erickson无毛视频檚 72-yard return with 5:25 left in the second quarter. The Steelers held the Bengals to a field goal and a 20-6 lead.
Timmons was open
Lawrence Timmons无毛视频� 12th career interception was much easier than his other interception this season.
Against the New York Giants, Timmons extended fully to snare Eli Manning无毛视频檚 pass near the goal line. On Sunday, Timmons was patrolling his zone as Bengals center Russell Bodine mistakenly (and illegally) ran down the field. Dalton saw Bodine and threw to him, but the center knew he couldn无毛视频檛 touch the ball so he ducked, and it went right to Timmons.
无毛视频淚 was looking at him and he threw it right to me,无毛视频� said Timmons. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l take it.无毛视频�
During the return, Timmons took a forearm to the throat and went down as if he had been shot.
无毛视频淚 kind of blacked out there for a little bit,无毛视频� Timmons said. 无毛视频淚 remember I was running, and then I无毛视频檓 on the ground saying 无毛视频榃hat无毛视频檚 going on?无毛视频� That was a big guy.无毛视频�
Bell crosses 100 again
Bell rushed for 93 yards (23 carries, 4.0 ypc.) and caught five passes for 38 yards to cross 100 total yards (131) for the sixth consecutive game and 10th time in his 11 games this season.
The running was obviously a little more difficult than the previous week when Bell rushed for 236 yards on 38 carries (6.2 ypc.) in Buffalo.
无毛视频淭hose guys came prepared to take away the run,无毛视频� Bell said of the Bengals. 无毛视频淭hey had a lot of guys committed to the box. They were ready for a lot of our plays. They无毛视频檙e used to us. They无毛视频檙e used to the things we run. We play them so many times. We knew it would come down to execution at the end of the day. We didn无毛视频檛 bust a 20-plus-yard run today. We just had a lot of chunks, 8, 10, 6, just kind of chunked them away and kind of wore them out at the end of the game.无毛视频�
Did Burfict affect Bell无毛视频檚 game?
无毛视频淗e trash talked all game but he无毛视频檚 a good player,无毛视频� Bell said. 无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檝e got to respect him. He makes plays. After the game we shook hands, we gave each other respect and kept moving.无毛视频�
Ben无毛视频檚 jungle
The win was Roethlisberger无毛视频檚 12th in 14 games played at Paul Brown Stadium, which is 39 miles from his alma mater, Miami University.
When the statistic was relayed to Pouncey, the Steelers center said, 无毛视频淢an. We need to play my whole career here then.无毛视频�
Showdown looms
Next Sunday the Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens with a chance to clinch the AFC North championship. A Steelers loss would give both teams 9-6 records with one game remaining but the Ravens would have a 2-0 head-to-head tiebreaker.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going to evaluate this tape, which I don无毛视频檛 really want to,无毛视频� said tackle Marcus Gilbert, 无毛视频渁nd then move on to play the No. 1 defense in the NFL. We无毛视频檝e got to come ball, man.
无毛视频淲hatever we did today, whatever we did in the past five weeks, whatever that is, finishing strong, running the ball well, we无毛视频檝e got to do that. Typically the team that runs the ball well in these games comes out on top.无毛视频�
Aren无毛视频檛 the Ravens impossible to run on?
无毛视频淚mpossible? Who says anybody无毛视频檚 impossible to run on?无毛视频� asked Gilbert. 无毛视频淲e see it. They play the game of chess. That无毛视频檚 what we无毛视频檙e going to come out and do. We lost the first game. This game is going to be at our field. We have to come out and dominate. I无毛视频檓 looking forward to it. They have good players on both sides of the ball and we do too.无毛视频�