But re: the Bengals reprehensible behavior last night against the Steelers, that was perhaps the most astonishing combination of sheer stupidity and thuggishness I've ever witnessed in sports with so much on the line. They literally threw away their first playoff win in forever. It would be as if the 2004 Boston Red Sox had, in their decisive World Series game, taken the lead and then proceeded to thow beanballs until the umps were forced to declare the game a forfeit.
Edited to add:
I must admit that despite the utterly stupid play by the Bengals at the end of the game, I can't help but hearken back to the 2005 Super Bowl when we witnessed referees, with obviously uneven enforcement of penalties, to the point of making up a critical holding penalty out of thin air, simply hand a game to Pittsburgh a game the Seahawks would otherwise have won. I missed the third quarter and part of the fourth, and from what I've read it was the Steelers who started the vicious head-hunting hits and put Cincinnati's RB out of the game. I did see Munchack's ridiculous cheap shot hair-pulling in the first half-- at least he was penalized. And why the refs didn't flag the Steelers' coach Porter for his on-the-field behavior that triggered Jones' penalized behavior I'll never know. One could certainly relate to Bengals' fans feeling like the fix was in. No matter what, Burfict's behavior was WAY out of line.
The thing is, NONE of this would have happened but for the silly running play and fumble after Burfict's interception. Why the guy, Hill was it (?), kept fighting for more yardage when all that was needed was to keep possession, I'll never understand.