The Bad Rep of Pittsburgh

No review this week. Last night's NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will be one to remember, but for the wrong reasons. First was early in the game when Steeler linebacker Ryan Shazier was injured tackling and wound up in a hospital with a back injury. Whether this is a paralyzing one, I don't know. That will be talked a lot along with what receiver Juju Smith-Schuster did.

Late in the game, Smith-Schuster hit a defenseless Vontaze Burfict, a Bengal linebacker who had his share of controversy against Pittsburgh in this rivalry. Burfict went down to the ground and the receiver stood over him, resulting in a taunting penalty to go with the unnecessary roughness penalty. With ESPN broadcasting the game, both their main guys, Sean McDonough and Jon Gruden were disturbed by the hit. Watching it, Gruden was surprised that there wasn't an ejection. There was another bad one but it was the Bengals George Iloka delivering a hit to the head at Steeler Antonio Brown, who later said it was karma regarding the Burfict hit. Brown was hit viciously a few seasons ago in the playoffs by him and some might say that cost them a Super Bowl run in 2015, losing to the Broncos.

Steeler fans wonder what they get such a bad rep. Last night's game is a very good indication. Especially in the wake of Sunday where Patriot tight end Rob Gronkowski was suspended a game for a cheap shot on a Buffalo Bill, this should be an easy suspension to put on Smith-Schuster. It's the kind of thing the league does not want to see. This simply adds fuel to the fire that Steeler players are dirty. Shazier himself had a rule named after him following a helmet to helmet hit on Bengal Giovanni Bernard that was legal in the playoffs a few years ago. Not to mention some of the other players involved in the rivalry since 2005.

This is a huge black eye for the league. You have to hope Shazier's injury isn't a paralyzing one, but your guess is as good as mine. With stuff like Schuster, however, that crap needs to stop. Refs can't keep giving teams like the Steelers and Seahawks a break. Not much else to say other than Steeler fans can cry all they want, but the rep they have, even with being one of the older franchises in the NFL, will only get worse if they keep doing things like this.