If Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict isn’t currently the most-hated player in the city of Pittsburgh right now, I don’t know who is.
Even though Burfict only played in a total of 11 games this year, including the post-season, three of them came against the Pittsburgh Steelers and he certainly made his mark in all three, especially when it comes to hurting three members of the Steelers Killer B’s.
In the first meeting against the Bengals back in Week 10, which just so happened to be Burfict’s first game of the season, the Cincinnati linebacker put Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell out for the remainder of the year with a torn MCL as a result of a tackle along the sideline in the second quarter. Thankfully for the Steelers, veteran running back DeAngelo Williams picked right up where Bell left off until he injured his right foot in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns.
In the Week 14 game between the Steelers and Bengals, Burfict attempted to hit Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger below the knee early in the game but thankfully that play ended without serious injury. While Burfict was fined for his actions in that game, he was not suspended.
This past Saturday night in the third meeting between the Steelers and Bengals, Burfict really left his mark on two of the Steelers Killer Bs as not only did he knock Roethlisberger out of the game with a right shoulder injury late in the third quarter via a sack, he also concussed wide receiver Antonio Brown late in the contest with a vicious hit to the head. While Roethlisberger currently looks primed to play in Sunday’s playoff game against the Denver Broncos, he won’t be 100% if he does. Brown, on the other hand, won’t be in uniform Sunday night for the Steelers in Denver as he was ruled out by the team on Friday after failing to overcome the aforementioned concussion.
While Burfict has since been suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season pending an appeal for his illegal hit on Brown Saturday night, I’m sure he gets some comfort in the fact that he severely crippled the Steelers offense this season all by himself as the Cincinnati Killer B did a lot of damage to the Steelers Killer B’s and that in turn might wind up killing their hopes at a seventh Lombardi Trophy.
