Vontaze Burfict played well and had plenty of scraps with Steelers, but couldn’t lead Bengals to win

Vontaze Burfict was the most dominant defender on the field for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it wasn’t quite enough for the team to hold on to a 20-9 halftime lead, and the Bengals instead lost, 24-20.

Burfict has a complicated history with the Steelers after he essentially ruined the team’s season in 2015. In the regular season he delivered a hit to Le’Veon Bell that caused the running back to require knee surgery, and in the playoffs he delivered a brutal hit to Antonio Brown that knocked the receiver out of the team’s next postseason game.

“We’re cool. No hard feelings,” Burfict told Bengals.com prior to the game, when asked about Bell. “Last year was last year. People say what they say. I hit him perfectly. He tried to keep his feet going. He got hurt. I talked to him since his injury. I told him I’m happy to see him back running. I told him he’s going to come back strong.”

But Burfict certainly seemed to be playing the role of instigator Sunday. He looked to be attempting to agitate both Bell and Brown, who didn’t lash out in return.

Still, on the field there was no denying Burfict’s impact. He made plays all over the field and nearly forced an interception in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Burfict left the game after taking a hit from David DeCastro that sent him to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion:

Burfict returned in the second half and got in a scrap with DeCastro right away, although it was spurred by a shove from Marcus Gilbert, who has had some choice words about Burfict in the past.

But despite Burfict’s good game, the Bengals offense failed to score points in the second half and were outscored by the Steelers, 15-0.

Defensively, the Bengals struggled with penalties in the fourth quarter, although they were mostly on cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, who racked up holding penalties late. Burfict did pick up a big 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer after he tossed Ben Roethlisberger to the turf late.

The Bengals were already eliminated from the race, but now sit at 5-8-1 and are guaranteed a losing season for the first time since 2010. The Steelers improved to 9-5 and are alone at the top of the AFC North.