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Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is expected to receive league discipline for his vicious hit to the head that gave Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown a concussion. Burfict's status as a repeat offender could lead to a suspension.
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The Bengals lost their heads and the Steelers somehow pulled out an 18-16 victory in an AFC wild-card game Saturday night in Cincinnati.
Burfict, whose sack of Ben Roethlisberger sent the quarterback to the locker room during the third quarter, lowered his shoulder as Brown landed. Burfict was flagged for a personal foul and a subsequent 15-yard personal foul on Bengals cornerback Adam Jones moved the ball well into field-goal range for Chris Boswell's 35-yard winning kick with 14 seconds remaining.
The Bengals' penalties at the end cost them their first postseason win in 25 years.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, nearly $140,000 in fines were handed out, half of which were levied to Burfict.
Burfict was fined for three different penalties he committed the last time he played the Steelers, one low hit on Roethlisberger and two unnecessary roughness calls.
In 2014, Burfict was fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of Carolina Panthers players. In 2013, Burfict was fined $31,000 after one game and $21,000 after another for multiple violations, including two separate hits to the head and neck area of opposing players.
After the game, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis showed some support for Burfict.
"He's trying to go over and defend the play," Lewis told reporters about Burfict's hit on Brown. "There's a lot of balls out there, plays today, calls went different ways. ... (The officials) deemed that to be a hit to the head, and others not today.
"I'm not going to single out our guys. We had enough chances to win the football game. ... We destructed on ourselves -- offense and defense together. That's disappointing."
Pacman Jones left the locker room without talking to reporters and then lashed out on social media, positing a video on his Instagram account.
"The (expletive) ref did a horrible (expletive) job," Jones said in the video. "You got (Steelers linebacker coach) Joey Porter in the middle of the (expletive) field talking (expletive) to everybody and then when somebody says something to him ... he isn't even supposed to be on the (expletive) field."
Jones later deleted the video and posted a calmer second video.
"I'm good now, I've had my 10 minutes," Jones said. "But I still don't believe I should have got a flag for talking to a coach that's on the field behind the huddle."
