My venting thread

[Shake n Blake]

Saw a comment on PFT I thought I'd share. Of course, PFT is painting the Bengals in a bad light and saying nothing about the Steelers. They're going to post a story (really an opinion piece) on the Shazier hit soon. Of course I'm sure they'll come up with an angle that makes it not a dirty hirt.

Quote:As Cincy fan, I don’t think there was any way Brown was faking it. Looks like he got hit on the button by Burfict’s shoulder and was genuinely out. That said, if Brown plays this week, then I think it raises some questions.

I wonder how people would view Burfict’s hit if Nance had called Burfict’s shoulder hit “unfortunate” and Shazier’s helmet to helmet hit “disgraceful”. A lot of this narrative that Burfict was “out of control” is directly from the broadcast crew. If you go back and watch the broadcast, Burfict spent a lot of time pleading to the refs early in the game because he was getting knocked around after the whistle and knew he couldn’t retaliate (see DeCastro blocking him 20 yards into end zone after the whistle).

After the Shazier hit – the sideline reporter literally says something to the effect of “Burfict is losing it”. We don’t see it, we just hear it. Yet, somehow, he is the one Bengal maintaining composure and making plays the next series. He sacks Ben on a perfectly legal play (which turns out to be game changer) – and Nance spends 15 minutes asking Mike Carey repeatedly whether there was anything illegal about the tackle (they’ve quickly moved on from the “unfortunate” Shazier hit). Burfict does nothing for the remainder of the game other than make legal plays (including an incredible diving interception that should have sealed the game). Then the personal foul at the end. That’s it. That’s the one play in this game that made him an “out of control” monster. I understand he has an earned history (just as Mike Mitchell and Joey Porter do)…. but this idea that he was a ticking time bomb all game is a fiction. He and Shazier were probably the two best players on the field for the most of the game.

I think this commenter is right (not on Brown's acting job, but everything else). The more time I've had to sit back and think about it, the more I realize that Burfict wasn't as "out of control" as the media painted him. Even his 1 dirty play wasn't really dirty. Meanwhile they brushed off Shazier's far more brutal hit on Gio, as well as the thuggish behavior of Steelers coaches, DeCastro targeting Burfict, etc.