Burfict Blames Teammate For Loss

[BFritz21]

Burfict blames teammate for playoff loss, which, aside from his penalty, you also have to remember that he made a hell of an interception on the play before the fumble should have been the end of the game.

Quote:Although a lot of people blamed Burfict for the Bengals' loss, Burfict apparently doesn't feel the same way. During an interview with ESPN's Josina Anderson, the Bengals linebacker said that the loss wasn't his fault.

Burfict was asked directly if he blamed himself for the loss against the Steelers.

"No, I don't," Burfict said.

According to Burfict, most of the blame for the loss should fall on a teammate, who he didn't name.

"There was only a minute left in the game," Burfict said. "Coach always says, 'Trust a teammate to pack your parachute,' and I trusted my teammate. I don't want to say any names, but I trusted my teammates to execute and finish the game."

Burfict is almost certainly referring to running back Jeremy Hill, who lost a fumble to the Steelers in Pittsburgh territory -- after the Bengals got the ball on a Burfict interception -- with just 1:23 left in the game. Unlike Burfict, Hill was willing to take responsibility for the loss.

He was almost for sure blaming Hill, which Hill definitely deserves the blame, even though I'm sure he's killing himself over it. It shows Hill's Tweet saying that "this one's on me.........."

Quote:"I tried to pull up at the last second, but it was obviously too late -- it's a bang-bang play," Burfict said.

The linebacker also talked about his meeting with Roger Goodell. Burfict flew to New York in February to appeal the three-game suspension he was handed for his hit on Brown.

"One question that [Goodell] asked me, 'How do you feel about your opponents when they get hurt?'" Burfict said. "And I said, 'In the moment, you can't care about your opponent because if you care about them you're going to mess up your assignment.' His point was, I have to care about my opponent. I understand where he's coming from because if you care about your opponent, you'll probably play cleaner."

Burfict also added that Goodell told him to play cleaner.

"They were just telling me, 'I don't want this to happen again. I hope this is the last time we have to meet,'" Burfict said.

Despite his troubles, Burfict is still beloved by the Bengals' coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther recently said that he's going to hire Burfict as a coach when the linebacker retires.

I understand them wanting to play cleaner, especially with his record, but, in this instance, it was bang-bang, he tried to miss him, and, if he had just let him catch it, we might lose.

I've been thinking about it and considered that he could have just stood still and waited to blow-up into Brown if he caught it, but it still would have had to have been a split-second decision and tough to miss hitting Brown's head with his shoulder since he probably would have had to have that sticking out.

I also think it's huge, both for his future on the field and for his confidence, that Guenther supports him.

Still heartbreaking, but this article gave me a bit of comfort for some reason.

Also, maybe Hill will wrap-up next time.