How the Bengals used dirty play to tie the Redskins and stay alive in 2016

[Benton]

Quote:Anyway, all this drives opponents crazy. CRAZY. And if you're a highly combustible player prone to outbursts, then you, Josh Norman, play right into Cincinnati's hands. The All-Pro corner was flagged for five illegal hands to the face penalties on Sunday, most against A.J. Green, both because Green was burning him and because, I believe, Norman's chippiness increased as his opponent's did. But his looked more out of place on a defense more prone to fouls of the stupid, not dirty, nature. (Any by "opponent's" I mean the Bengals defense. Another beautiful part of this "plan" is that Dalton and Green are crystal clean players who become even more righteous by comparison.)

...

As long as no one is getting hurt, I don't mind that Pacman is going to take advantage of a helmet-to-helmet situation that he knows is (or gets lucky because it is) legal.

And that sums up why the writer dumb.

Norman, like most corners who can't compete with their assignment, was all hands. With the rule changes the last couple years, we've seen this more and more. Especially if a corner can't match the receiver in speed. Dismissing Norman's penalties because his opponent's "chippiness" increased as the Bengals defense made "dirty" plays... dumber.

And following that up with "hey, I like Pacman for all his legal dirty hits" makes the guy sound even dumberer.