The TRUTH about the Bengals-Steelers game

[StrictlyBiz]

(01-12-2016, 07:16 PM)PhilHos Wrote: First and foremost, the refs OVERALL called a decent game. With that said, they DID decide the outcome of the game by calling a penalty on Pacman and NOT calling one on Porter. Jones penalty was FAR from egregious and what should have happened were offsetting penalties (the penalty on Burfict was the right call and should stand). Had they done that, the kicker has to make a challenging 50 yard FG in the rain. Not a given, but if he makes it, there'd be a lot less drama.

Also, Shazier deserved a penalty for his hit on Gio and the fact that the league hasn't addressed it means, among other things, they truly do NOT care about player safety. Honestly, this crap is the only thing that still pisses me off. I don't like the no call on Porter, but Shazier not receiving a fine and, worse, idiots in the media DEFENDING the hit ...

Wheaton's TD should not have counted. He bobbled the ball between his 2 steps. The replay want super obvious so I can understand why it wasn't overturned but still, the bobble is there.

Lastly, there's no one person that's at fault for the Bengals losing (I fall into the blame Hill group, FYI), but the thing to remember is that the Steelers didn't win the game, the Bengals lost it. . They "bungled" the game. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as the late Stuart Scott used to say.

If you're going to insist that the Shazier hit was illegal despite that Mike Carey and various media outlets have explained otherwise, then you have to accept that Joey Porter was allowed to be on the field....despite what Around the Horn and various other media outlets have said.

You (Bengal fans) point to the rule that says that you are not allowed to lower your head and hit with your helmet. And I agree with you that it was a called that they missed. But you're ignoring the part rule regarding coaches being on the field during stoppage in play that says that the other coaches are allowed on the field with the referee's permission. Given that Porter had been out there and the ref's did not make him leave, then it is implicit that he was allowed. 

What is conveniently glossed over is that Jones was flagged for running into the referee while trying to get to Porter, not because he was talking smack to Porter (like Jones has said).

All of that being said, for arguments sake I will give you that they missed flaging Porter and they should have been offsetting penalties. But you must also acknowledge that Gillberry, Burfict, and Jones all physically laid hands on Porter during the melee and at least one of them should've received a personal foul penalty for that. You must also acknowledge that the referee's missed a penalty on the Bengals on for excessive celebration on the Burfict interception when he and three other Bengals all celebrated by running across the field, into the tunnel, and to the locker room, and that the Bengals last drive should have started 15 yards further back than it did. 

The overall point is that there were numerous missed calls during the game and you're focusing the one missed call that you feel cost you the game. (giving you that it was a missed call, I think that it was not). 

So really it boils down to the simple facts are that Burfict hit a defenseless receiver (I don't think that it was malicious, he was simply going for the big hit) and Jones lost his cool and bumped the referee resulting the chip shot field goal. All of the rest is just background noise. 

Bottom line is that if the Bengals would've just kept their cool (especially Jones) they win the game. And yes you are correct, the Bengals lost it more than the Steelers won it. 

Also regarding Jones, I haven't seen any Bengal fans mention him running the kick off out of the endzone. He gained 4 yards but lost 8 seconds doing so. IMO that is either pure selfishness, a lack of awareness, or a lack of coaching. 16 seconds from the 20 allows for the possibility of two plays...one to gain a chunk of yards, and one for the hail mary to reach the EZ.