By Paul Daugherty
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/columnists/paul-daugherty/2018/10/11/paul-daugherty-column-pittsburgh-steelers-cincinnati-bengals/1606914002/
October 11, 2018
(USA Today Sports)
The last time the Bengals played the Steelers was the first time I wondered if following the NFL was worth it. On Monday night, Dec. 4, 2017, in the national footlights, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh offered three hours of insanity between the Geico ads. Blood-letting for the masses has never looked better.
I felt like looking away. And that was before Ryan Shazier went down.
In the NFL, there is some indefinable line between good, clean mayhem and wanton violence, unchecked. The Bengals and Steelers crossed it that night. It’s not crazy to suggest the NFL’s thinking regarding its violent product was in some way influenced by what happened last Dec. 4.
The refs whistled 20 penalties for 239 yards in that game, nine of them unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness calls, and they still couldn’t control it. Initially, the league suspended two players, Pittsburgh wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster and Bengals safety George Iloka, though Iloka’s suspension was rescinded on appeal. Joe Mixon left with a concussion. Smith-Schuster’s blind-side block concussed Vontaze Burfict, an act the Steelers wideout celebrated the way Burfict himself might – by standing over the dazed Burfict in gladiatorial triumph.
Iloka retaliated with a head-shot to Antonio Brown in the end zone. Ironically, Shazier’s spine injury resulted not from violent contact, but from the Steelers linebacker tackling with his head.
It wasn’t football. It was men stretching and breaking the laws of the game, to perform acts for which they’d be arrested and jailed in real life.
It went beyond “competitors’’ playing “physical football.’’ It was football’s occasionally warped notion of “toughness’’ come to life. At times that night, winning the fight became more important than winning the game. That’s not football.
It was bad enough even Jon Gruden, a pigskin neanderthal, said from the Monday Night Football booth, “I don’t like seeing that kind of football.”
Players and coaches don’t see it that way. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Wednesday, “When these two teams come together, they represent what professional ball is about, from a competitive spirit standpoint.’’
Bengals corner Dre Kirkpatrick said, “Everything that happened in that game was football. I feel sorry for what happened to Shazier, but there wasn’t anything illegal about that play.’’
There would be now. Shazier’s tragic hit might have resulted in a penalty on Pittsburgh. Bengals players suggested the new, tighter rules might eliminate bloodbaths like the one last December.
As Vinny Rey put it, “The ones who adapt are going to be the ones that survive, so we have to adapt to the way the game’s played.’’ By Wednesday, Marvin Lewis already had showed the players the video of a Dolphins special-teamer drawing a 15-yard taunting penalty last week, after kick returner Alex Erickson was shoved out of bounds. The offender wasn’t even involved in the tackle.
“It affects field position, and field position affects our ability to win,’’ Lewis said. “It’s dumb. Don’t do it.’’
Easier said than done. Over the years, the Bengals have said they will not commit selfish penalties against Pittsburgh. And over the years, they have. Over and over. The Steelers don’t just want to visit the space between the Bengals’ ears. They want a lifetime lease.
“I’ve been a part of the antics,’’ Kirkpatrick said. “I’m going to try to stay away from it. I know I’m going to stay away from it. Not try. If it ain’t part of the game, you ain’t gonna see us in it.’’
That’d be good. For the Bengals and for the sport.
The refs will be on the lookout, but they can only do so much. Smith-Schuster will have his head on a swivel, bet that. Will Burfict tame his baser impulses for the good of the team?
The new rules should help. But in this rivalry, rules are made to be concussed. Regardless, the Steelers rely on shredding the Bengals poise. It has been part of their game plan for years.
Steelers guard Ramon Foster told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “We’ll feel it out and dip our toe in the water first before we make anything out of it. I don’t think those guys hold anything over us, or us them. It’s just a wait-and-see game more than anything.”
We’ll see your unsportsmanlike conduct, and raise you a personal foul…
“It’s a hump game for us. Gotta get over that hump.’’ Kirkpatrick said. “That’s not a secret. I just pray we stay focused and do what we need to do to win.’’
Try to keep the cheap blood-spilling to a minimum. Football isn’t a nice game, even when played by the rules. I don’t know what Bengals-Steelers was last December. It wasn’t football.
Related:
Burfict personal foul? Columnist says bet on it
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