Vontaze Burfict controversial Bengals linebacker has been fined for an unnecessary hit to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Burfict was also fined a little under $70,000 for two other plays in which he showed unnecessary roughness. The play in question shows Burfict hitting Roethlisberger low (Roethlisberger has had a lot of lower body injuries this season) but no flag was thrown.
Burfict claims he was pushed into Roethlisberger's legs by another player and as you watch the play you can see several defenders pushing Burfict as he went in for the sack. The sheer animosity between these two teams makes this hit a lot harder to swallow than it actually is. Roethlisberger has also stated he believes Burfict hit him low intentionally stating,
"I don't buy that he was pushed, he definitely was diving in low and going for my legs. It's tough. I am just glad I didn't get hurt."
Burfict is appealing the fines but for a player who has a reputation for playing a bit dirty he should have had the awareness to know the NFL would respond. The game itself was pretty chippy well before the first snap, the Steelers and Bengals saw a large portion of players get into a melee in the center of the field. At the center of the scrum was Burfict who was targeted by the Steelers after the Bengals linebacker injured running back Le'Veon Bell by tackling him incredibly low.
The Steelers thought that Burfict looked too gleeful after the play in week 8 which resulted in one of the league's best running backs being out for the season. The Steelers and Bengals rivalry has reached a fever pitch this year and as long as both teams have a playoff chance does not look to be dying down anytime soon.
