Ben Roethlisberger carted off, debris thrown at him on cart

Everything was looking great for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night, until Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict landed with all his weight on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

And with that, any hopes the Steelers had of making a playoff run might have died.

Roethlisberger stayed down grabbing near his right shoulder. As he came off the field, he undid the snaps on his helmet with his left hand, leaving his right arm at his side as the Steelers’ athletic trainers led him off. Then after a few moments, Roethlisberger was taken back to the locker room on a cart.

That’s when things got ugly. A few fans threw things at the cart Roethlisberger was on. On CBS, Jim Nantz said some fans cheered Roethlisberger leaving on a cart, though it’s at least possible that the many Steelers fans there were cheering as encouragement to Roethlisberger (Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it was Bengals fans cheering the injury). Either way, the few bottles being thrown at Roethlisberger was not a good look.

Roethlisberger came back on the sideline with a little more than five minutes left, with his helmet on, but did not go back in the game.

The game had gotten out of hand in the second half, as the teams’ dislike for each other boiled over with a near brawl at midfield in the third quarter. After that, some bottles were thrown on the field and an announcement was made in the stadium. Burfict was involved in that near fight, and on CBS, sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said Burfict was out of control and the coaches were trying to calm him down.

Burfict’s hit didn’t appear to be dirty, but Roethlisberger did say he thought Burfict tried to hurt him earlier this season when the teams met on Dec. 13. Burfict was fined $34,000 for a low hit on Roethlisberger and $70,000 for three infractions in that game.

The Steelers led 15-0 at the time of Roethlisberger’s injury, but they have not been the same team without Roethlisberger this season. Mike Vick didn’t work out when he took over for a stretch that Roethlisberger missed earlier this season, and Landry Jones wasn’t too much better. Jones replaced Roethlisberger in Saturday’s game.

The Steelers immediately announced Roethlisberger had a shoulder injury and was questionable to return.

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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