(12-06-2017, 02:05 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said there's more of a mutual respect in the Pittsburgh Steelers' rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens than the one with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Roethlisberger's comments in a conference call with Baltimore reporters come two days after two players were suspended in Monday night's game between the Steelers and Bengals for illegal hits.

"In that one [with the Bengals], it feels like almost just you're out there to hit people and we don't feel the same respect from them that Baltimore and we have," Roethlisberger said Wednesday. "I'm not really sure why."

In the Steelers' 23-20 win over the Bengals, Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was suspended for one game for a vicious fourth-quarter block on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who who was in a defenseless posture, according to the NFL's ruling. Smith-Schuster then stood over Burfict as he lay motionless.

Bengals safety George Iloka also received a one-game suspension for a hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in the end zone in the fourth quarter when Brown was deemed to be a defenseless receiver.

After the game, Roethlisberger said it was just "AFC North football."

On Wednesday, he explained there is a difference in playing the Ravens compared to the Bengals.

The difference between this game and the Cincinnati game is these two teams -- us and Baltimore. There's always a respect involved in it," Roethlisberger said. "You're going to get hit really hard or you're going to hit somebody really hard, but you're going help them up and say, 'Man, nice job.

"At the end of it, you're going to shake hands and give the other guy a hug and say that was a lot of fun and can't wait to do it next year. It's a fun rivalry in the sense that there's a lot of respect and there are two good football teams."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21689839/ben-roethlisberger-says-pittsburgh-steelers-respect-baltimore-ravens-more-cincinnati-bengals
The Steelers (10-2) can clinch their third AFC North title in four seasons if they beat the Ravens (7-5) on Sunday night.

(12-06-2017, 02:36 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Someone should tell Ben respect is EARNED and is usually a 2-way street; if he wants the Bengals to respect the Steelers, it would help if the Steelers respected the Bengals.

Quote:"I'm not really sure why."

(12-06-2017, 02:52 PM)ElkValleyBengal Wrote: Painful as it is to admit, it's somewhat difficult to respect an opponent when you own them. Since 2004, Ben's rookie year, the Steelers are 23-7 against the Bengals overall.  They are 14-2 at Paul Brown Stadium during that span.

Quote:I guess the Ravens would feel differently if the Steelers had cheap shotted multiple players into injuries. Imagine if the Steelers had shredded Flacco's knee ala Carson Palmer? Or broken Suggs jaw ala Keith Rivers or Kevin Huber. Not to mention spearing Gio Bernard, Tyler Eifert and Vontaze Burfict, causing concussions for each with helmet to face hits.

(12-06-2017, 03:45 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: We took several cheap shots from the steelers for over a decade, the ESPN crew did a nice little segment on that showing all the rules put in place after all the cheap hits that injured our players. The steelers didn't even start to whine until we got a player that started smacking them back. Burfict's mere presence turns them into whiny little bitches. Now they piss and moan about shaw and iloka? They can't take us standing up to them.

You want to talk about karma, Pittsburgh? Burfict is just a small dose of what we got from the likes of Joey Porter, James Harrison and Hines Ward over the years. Typically bully mentality: dish it out and act like an invincible tough guy, but cower like a ***** when someone hits back (all stemming from mental weakness and low self-esteem). We hit back now, Ben. And it's been a long time coming. You want respect, you damn well better try to earn it. Because respect is the last thing those thugs in Pittsburgh deserve