It's Super Bowl Week! What better time to recap the Bengals getting ousted in the wild card round than now? Better late than never I guess. I've been chipping away at this. It is stale enough now that I would normally just can this post like I have most of what I've wanted to write about the past few years, but I have a few things I need to get off my chest. Enjoy the Super Bowl. Amazingly, my prediction from September is still alive!
"Peyton Manning has a key scramble in the second half where he rolls out right and dives for a first down, helicoptering in the air as he bounces off a defender. The T.V. cameras show John Elway 17,000 times in the press box between the time of the play and the end of the game."
Yes, I just quoted my blog, on my own blog. Who was my pick for the other Super Bowl team? Never mind that. Let's just say I bought into the preseason hype a little too hard and that team's coach recently got hired to coach San Francisco. And if you were wondering, I picked Carolina to go 8-8. Oh well. Hats off to the Panthers. Regardless, I'm sticking with my pick of the Broncos. This feels a little bit like the Seattle vs. Denver matchup a couple of years ago with Denver playing the Seattle role. I don't think it will be a blowout, but I think once again the number 1 defense takes down the number 1 offense. Here's my reaction to the Bengals/Steelers slobber knocker from a few weeks ago...
Disgrace?
From the weather, to the play, to the personal conduct on the field, the whole night a few weeks ago at Paul Brown Stadium was an ugly ball of slop. There has been some back and forth to the reaction from the game, but it feels like Cincinnati has taken the brunt of the public scorn (particularly on the T.V. broadcast) while outside of Joey Porter, Pittsburgh is being given a little bit of a free pass. Let's recalibrate. The ugliest moment of the night came after the Ryan Shazier hit on Giovanni Bernard. No, not the hit itself. It was viscious. But after going back and rewatching it, Shazier didn't really launch at Bernard as much as I originally thought. He did lower the crown of his helmet and drive through Bernard's face in what should have been a penalty, but on my second look the hit simply looked like a dangerous tackle with sloppy technique rather than an intentionally dirty hit. Then again was it a penalty? Mike Carey said no. Mike Pereira said no. It certainly looked scary. The thing is, the rule is too complex right now. The officials have to think too much. If the receiver catches the ball and takes 1.75 steps, he establishes himself as a runner and THEN he can get speared in the face legally.. but only if he's outside the tackle box. I don't know and I'm not sure anyone else does either. Even the Bengals defensive coordinator who used to be a linebackers coach was quoted that he didn't know what was a penalty any more. Anyway, penalty or not the real ugliness came in the moments after the hit. If you remember, there was a sequence while Bernard was getting attended to when the camera cut back to a fracas between Jeremy Hill and about four Steeler players shoving each other. More players inevitably gathered in a minor skirmish that was broken up shortly after it began. Simms and Nance, journalistic sleuths that they are, got their feathers all ruffled that Hill had lost his composure and that the game was getting out of hand, but they conveniently neglected to point out what Hill was so upset about. Watch the sequence again. As the camera pans to the players shoving each other you can see Shazier slink off with one of his goon buddies. Then they decide while Bernard is still lying on the field it's a good time to walk out to the 50 yard line and do their little crab walk celebration dance. I'm not sure why a linebacker needs to celebrate a tackle, let alone to celebrate a tackle that endangered another player's life and endangered the sport as we know it. I'm not sure what to say about it other than, I guess at least now we know what Ryan Shazier is.
Here's a screen shot of the scrum after the hit on Bernard. Click on the picture to see the full width of the screen shot.
Zoom in on the top right corner. There's number 50, Shazier, with his character on full display. From the footage it looks like Kevin Huber takes exception to their little dance and another fine member of the Steelers' staff starts shouting back at him.
As for the Steelers, I was at the playoff game in 2005 when Carson Palmer got von Oelhoffened. I saw the Pittsburgh bench clapping and pumping their fists while Palmer writhed around on the field in pain. I had a terrible towel waved in my face by some congenial Pittsburgh fan while it all went down. Ten years later. Different coaches. Different players. Same franchise. Call Cincinnati "disgraceful" all you want Jim Nance, but don't forget what Pittsburgh really is. And if you forget, ask Tyler Eifert. And if Eifert forgets, ask Kevin Huber. And if Huber forgets ask Keith Rivers. And if Rivers forgets ask Carson Palmer.
No, the Bengals aren't perfect, but at least they're not Pittsburgh. Here are some quick hits from the rest of the night.
Losers of the Night:
Vontaze Burfict
There has been public outcry that Burfict is out of control. "He has to be stopped!" Apparently the NFL agrees as they decided to suspend him for 3 games next season. Slow down. Go back and look at the hit again. (In my biased opinion) I don't think it was a dirty hit. Sure watching it on T.V. in slow motion, it is obvious the ball was well past the point of being catchable and Burfict appears to lunge in for a head shot. Watch the angle from down field. He is a linebacker in coverage. He is sprinting back and across the field trying intercept a receiver running a slant pattern in the opposite direction. He's not tracking the ball. He just knows he has to break up the pass and he lunges when he gets to the catch point to potentially break up the pass. It happens all the time. The pass comes. It is off target. The defender follows through and makes contact with his shoulder to make sure. Brown happened to extend and his head got clipped. It was definitely a penalty. Burfict sloppily lunged because he was half a step late to the play, but like the Shazier hit it was just a football play. I can't vilify Burfict for it.
My issue was more with the activity throughout the night after the whistle. Yes, he has to play with an edge. Yes, he has to be aggressive. But you have to channel it. Every little thing that happened, these guys have to puff out their chest, stick their nose in the other guy's face and run their mouth. Burfict, c'mon man. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Make plays. Win games. Make money. That's what you are trying to do. All of the extra crap just gets in the way. It's time to grow up. Focus whistle to whistle and then move on.
Adam Jones:
Ditto on that one with Adam Jones. Something's got to give. He turned in the best season of his career. He's on the verge of a fat contract in free agency and now people are whispering maybe even the Bengals wouldn't want him back (for the record, I think they'll absolutely re-sign him, but still). "He wears his emotions on his sleeve." That's a cop out. You can be emotional and still not out of control. Then Jones decided to double down and rant post game about "Jerry Porter" and Antonio Brown deserving a "Grammy" (Oh Adam Jones. Buddy. Almost any other awards show would have worked). Although somewhat comical (like the Oscars), it was the last thing anyone needed (or the Emmy's). The Instagram post after the game maybe you could condone as an emotional reaction (how about the Tony's?), but then he went on the radio the next day and kept after it (the Golden Globes literally JUST happened). Shout it in the mirror or do whatever you have to do. Just walk away from the microphone (SAG awards, People's Choice...).
Domata Peko:
Peko was a guy I thought at the beginning of the year was on the outer fringe of his useful playing career, but it seemed like it was beneficial to keep him around for his leadership. He had a bit of a resurgence on the field this year, but for me it all went up in smoke in the second quarter. It was 2nd and 10. The defense made a nice play with coverage holding up long enough for Atkins to get to Roethlisberger for a sack. Next thing you know Peko comes sprinting onto the field for no apparent reason with his coat on. It wasn't really clear what he was doing, but he had some kind of exchange with a Steeler and the Bengals got slapped with a 15 yard penalty. On a night when they needed every last bit of composure they could muster, one of their captains pulling a stunt like that was pretty unacceptable.
Winners of the Night:
Andrew Whitworth:
Whitworth on the other hand acted like a captain should. He competed hard, he didn't lose his cool during the game, and he said the right things after the game. Thank you Andrew Whitworth for representing our team well. I don't know how the next couple of years will shake out. Here's to hoping you finish up wearing orange and black.
Andre Smith:
The beginning of his career was riddled with injuries, and his healthy seasons have been marked with some inconsistencies. Overall, he has been a solid player, but previous to this last game I felt indifferent about whether they should let him walk or try to keep him around for another contract. That said, he won a few brownie points in my book (as if that counts for anything) in what might have been his last game as a Bengal. The main sequence I appreciated came right after the Shazier hit. Hill started the scrum with a third of the Steelers defense and it wasn't long before a handful of Bengals joined the fray. Not surprisingly, Burfict ran off the sideline and inserted himself right up to the front of the shoving match. After a few moments it was unclear if the refs were going to get control of the situation or if it was going to get messy. Next thing you know, you see a couple of Bengals offensive lineman trotting over, one of which was Smith. Smith calmly slipped his helmet on, reached into the mass of players, grabbed Burfict by the collar, yanked him back, and shuttled him back to the sideline. Then the whole thing defused from there. With hot-heads running amuck all night, it was a refreshing sight to see. As of right now, it looks like resigning Smith in free agency is a luxury the team can't afford, but at least he went out on a positive note. Best of luck with the rest of your career Smith.
The Bengals Coaching Staff
I thought it was an all around professional performance by the Bengals coaching staff. They managed to navigate the whole night without hair pulling/hip tossing any opposing players. They had no unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. They weren't caught on the field shouting expletives at opposing players. There were no crab dances performed by any member of the staff. Novel concept right?
The Steelers Organization
As evidenced by the photos above, the Steelers really proved they have an excellent staff in place capable of molding their young players into fine professionals. Now I'm laying it on too thick. But the point is, this game was bad. In an NFL season that overall seemed to have a stench to it that it couldn't shake, this game was the moldy icing on top. Both teams contributed. Both teams have to do better. And the league has to do better. It was a hard season to watch. Seemingly every recap of every game was saddled with the disclaimer, "XXXX YYYYY player had a great game, but he went out with an injury in the second half. He's out for the year." With every massive collision, there was a little voice ringing in the back of my head, "how much did that hit take off that guy's life? Minutes? Days? Years?" The players are too big. The protective equipment isn't good enough. The rules aren't aggressive enough at modifying behavior. I feel like I'm less of a football fan from watching this wild card game. Yes, I'll come back. So will everyone else. For now. But you can see the cracks in the foundation. Sooner or later there is going to be a trickle down effect that is going to lead to financial impact on the league. I don't know if it will be next year or five years from now, but it is going to happen. Ramp up drug testing. Aggressively develop better protective gear. Simplify the rules and legislate crown of the helmet hits out of the game. The league has to move and they have to move fast. If not, I don't know where we'll be in 10 years. More than likely everything will have changed. The NHL seems to be doing a better job at evolving towards safer play. Maybe we'll turn to hockey. Maybe this blog will change. NHL Tinted Blue. Check back in next week and I'll give you my take on who the Blue Jackets will take with their second round pick in the draft. I hope it doesn't come to that. Nothing against hockey. I think it might be the most underrated sport. But football is our sport. It is ingrained in our culture now. I just hope we get to keep it.
