I’m getting really tired of hearing the complaints from Bengals fans.

We get it. You lost.

You think the Steelers cheated, the Steelers played dirty and that your players, such as Vontaze Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones, walk around with halos over their heads.

But you know what? I can sympathize with the Bengals pain.

The Bengals have been a good team over the last 5 seasons, winning 2 division championships and earning 5 consecutive trips to the playoffs. Those 5 trips yielded 0 postseason victories. And if that isn’t enough, the Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since 1991.

It’s disappointing when you have tasted some success, but come away with nothing. Now, combine that with the anger of losing to a division opponent, one they consider a rival, and the sting starts to burn.

Add the frustrating, self-defeating way the Bengals lost: a fumble while leading with 2 minutes remaining, plus 2 costly, bone-headed penalties, and I can really see their point.

However, that doesn’t mean the Pittsburgh Steelers are “dirty,” “cheaters” or any other things being thrown around the internet:

No one better than The Joker to provide Steeler Nation with a laugh… but for me, personally, I didn’t find this funny.

Honestly, it irritates me.

The hypocrisy coming out of Southern Ohio is a fine line between funny and sad. How can the Bengals and their fans possibly not own their share of what was the ugliest game I’ve ever seen in my life?

To separate truth from fiction, let’s start with Ryan Shazier‘s hit on Giovanni Bernard. Yes, it was vicious, but it was legal. Since the officials determined Bernard completed a catch, Bernard becomes a runner and not a defenseless player. Most reasonable Bengals fans have accepted that portion, but claim the crown of helmet rule.

However, the officials got this one right. Using the crown of the helmet doesn’t apply to bang-bang situations; the player using the crown of the helmet must line up their opponent. In other words, it is calculated and blatant: which is not what happened.

If you’d like to see a violation of the crown/helmet hit rule, here’s what “lining up” an opponent and delivering a hit with the crown of the helmet actually looks like, via Vontaze Burfict’s hit on Ravens TE Maxx Williams… one week earlier… that he was fined $50,000 for…

Bengals fans also don’t like that Burfict’s deliberate hit on Antonio Brown was a flag (despite Steelers being flagged for similar hits in the past.)

They don’t like that Joey Porter was on the field (despite their coaches being on the field as well, when, it wasn’t their player that was injured.)

They don’t like that Mike Munchak “pulled” Reggie Nelson‘s hair (despite Nelson going right at, and shoving Munch.)

How can these same fans not see both sides? Even I can admit when things get ugly. Maybe Joey shouldn’t have been out there. Maybe Munch didn’t do enough to stay out of the way. But I still didn’t see the Steelers get totally out of control.

I didn’t see any Steelers spit on Bengals, as Pittsburgh G David DeCastro stated Burfict did to him.

I missed any Steelers entering the field, while still wearing their overcoat, to shove an opponent, like Cincinatti’s DT Domata Peko did.

I also failed to witness Steelers players throw any punches, kicks or knee strikes at any Bengals.

 

(Above image courtesy TBL)

But apparently the Steelers are the ones who are dirty… And they’re also cheaters…  And the NFL is fixed too, because the officials threw flags.

If anything, the Bengals were the beneficiaries of several decisions and non-decisions by the officiating team. One of these situations included William Gay being flagged for excessive celebration, while Vontaze Burfict runs up the tunnel, with several teammates and gets no flag.

The Bengals were also a beneficiary of a 45-yard pass interference call, which lead to their first points of the game. I actually have no problem with that call, but I do take issue with Pacman Jones making illegal contact with Antonio Brown, in a similar downfield throw earlier in the game, which was not penalized.

And the kicker in making this fixed claim? The Steelers were penalized more than the Bengals. (10-142 to Cincy’s 8-79.)

The Steelers were also robbed of a certain touchdown by a quick whistle, to blow a play dead, following the Shazier hit on Bernard. If anything, taking points off the scoreboard fixes the game in Cincinnati’s favor.

So that’s where I agree with the Bengals fans: the game was not equitable, as it favored the Bengals!

Then, there’s Jeremy Hill: how does Hill’s fumble “fix” the game? (It doesn’t. Unless Hill is betting on games, like another Cincinnati favorite, Pete Rose.)

This is why the Bengals fans claims are preposterous. Everything seemed to be working in their favor, the quote “home field advantage.” Yet because they lost, because Burfict had a blatant dirty hit, and Pacman Jones ran into a group to shove a coach (and in the process hit a referee,) the Steelers “cheated.”

And of course, the Steelers cheat by filming other teams signals, deflating footballs, and pumping fake crowd noise into their stadium. (Sarcasm intended.)

The most you can blame the Steelers for is playing hard, and hitting hard. That should never be confused with being dirty… or cheating.

That’s why all of these claims from the Bengals fan base come off as… well, this image sums it up.

https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/686051112097558528