No fights: Officials stand at midfield before Bengals-Steelers
The Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers don’t like each other. There were Twitter threats, and that spilled over into some pregame pushing and shoving when the two teams played in December.
With the AFC North division rivals coming together again for a wild-card playoff game, the officials made sure there would be no pregame fracases to be replayed on the highlight shows.
In an unusual move, officials stood at midfield during pregame warmups, forming a bit of a wall between the teams to keep the peace. The league had already warned both teams during the week about pregame fights, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report said.
It didn’t take too long after kickoff until tempers flared. Bengals safety Reggie Nelson shoved Steelers running back Jordan Todman out of bounds by the Steelers bench late in the first quarter. Offensive line coach Mike Munchak, a Pro Football Hall of Fame guard, shoved Nelson a bit when Nelson barreled into him. Munchak yanked Nelson’s arm and pulled Nelson’s long hair. Probably due to the officials keeping a close eye on any fights, Munchak was hit with a 15-yard penalty. You don’t see that often from an assistant coach on the bench.
This feud is more than just the typical dislike of two divisional rivals. Steelers linebacker Vince Williams made threats toward Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict on Twitter during this season. That happened after the Steelers weren’t thrilled with Burfict’s reaction after a tackle that injured Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell, knocking him out for the season. Burfict and Williams were in the middle of the pregame drama back on Dec. 13.
There would be no pregame issues this time. The NFL smartly had the officials in a position to keep the sides away from each other. That worked well, but at some point the teams had to do battle on the field. Even Munchak, on the sideline, got caught up in the rivalry.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
