At least one Bengals legend was aghast at what happened, stopping just short of calling for the firing of head coach Marvin Lewis.
“”I’m a former Bengal. I’m embarrassed by the way that this game ended and by the way these guys carried themselves on the football field today,” Boomer Esiason said during the CBS postgame show. “I feel bad for Marvin Lewis. I’ll tell you one thing, if Lewis can’t control his players, then maybe Marvin Lewis shouldn’t be on the sideline coaching that drek.”
Two 15-yard penalties within seconds of each other, one a personal foul on linebacker Vontaze Burfict, the next on cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones for unsportsmanlike conduct, helped shove the Steelers into position for Chris Boswell’s 35-yard, game-winning field goal with 14 seconds left at soggy Paul Brown Stadium.
“This was a disgraceful performance by the Cincinnati Bengals,” Esiason said. “An ugly performance by one, Vontaze Burfict.”
Here's a good blunder-by-blunder package from CBSSports.com that tells the story of the crazy ending.
Burfict, almost a hero after knocking Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger out of the game and intercepting a late pass, teetered on the brink of being out of control for much of the night.
Then he delivered a vicious head shot to Steelers receiver Antonio Brown on an incompletion over the middle.
CBS analyst Bill Cowher, the former Steelers coach, echoed Esiason, saying, “And that goes on the head coach, in my opinion.”
And, of course, everyone from John Legend to ESPN analyst Louis Riddick registered their disgust on Twitter as it played out for all to see.
The good news? At least Bengals fans can’t pin this one on Andy Dalton.
Browns — no surprise — won’t get their first choice
Here’s what you need to know about the Cleveland Browns’ search for a head coach:
Someone, eventually, will take their millions.
But it won't be Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who on Saturday became coach of the Miami Dolphins.
No surprise Gase took somebody else’s millions. In Miami he saw warm weather, a real quarterback (Ryan Tannehill) and control of the roster. In Cleveland he saw cold weather, a quarterback (Johnny “Billy” Manziel) who’s a mess and some former baseball executive in the front office telling him what to do.
So … who’s next?
My pick, if we’re talking assistants, would be Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. He’s tough, relates to players and has been a head coach before in a dysfunctional setting (Oakland). Hard to believe he would be OK with Sashi Brown and the baseball guy deciding who makes the team, though. Guess it will depend on how badly Jackson wants to be a head coach again; he was scheduled to interview with the Dolphins before they settled on Gase.
As college coaches go, I would advocate for Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, but he’s too strong a personality to play second fiddle to the Harvard elite populating the Browns’ front office.
As I suspected, it looks like the Browns once again will be stuck with someone who has few other options. All the more reason they should have kept Mike Petttine.
A troubling setback for the Flyers in Philly
A few conference road losses are inevitable, even against mediocre opponents. But what happened to the Dayton Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday should worry coach Archie Miller somewhat.
The Flyers, who lost 61-57 at La Salle in their personal house of horrors known as Tom Gola Arena, were baffled by the Explorers' slow-down tactics, unable to dictate the fast pace they prefer.
Good teams usually don’t fall into that trap. Good teams take what they want against inferior opponents.
Also interesting was that Miller used the loss as an opportunity to call out veteran point guard Scoochie Smith, questioning his leadership.
“A guy like Scooch, we need him to get up on his horse and lead us a little bit,” Miller told Flyers beat writer David Jablonski.
That’s about as blunt as it gets from a coach after a tough loss.
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