Last week, the top storyline following the hard-hitting Wild Card matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals was all of the bad blood that spilled over onto the field. Though the Steelers don't have quite the same kind of history with the Denver Broncos, a similar scene could unfold at Mile High Stadium Sunday in their Divisional round matchup.
Broncos are out for revenge against the Steelers, but the Bengals serve as a warning
Though the Broncos may still be upset about center Cody Wallace’s hit on safety David Bruton last month, they’d be wise to not follow the Bengals’ example and let it get out of hand.
When these two teams met last month, Steelers center Cody Wallace dove headfirst into Broncos safety David Bruton. Wallace was penalized for unnecessary roughness and fined $23,152 for the hit. After the fine was handed down, Wallace expressed contrition for his actions.
“It was dangerous what I did,” Wallace said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You can’t do stuff like that out there. I fully expected it. It’s part of the game.”
"That's just what [the #Steelers] do. They're dirty, and he left his feet trying to take me out." - @D_Brut30 https://t.co/QNY9pozzFG
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 22, 2015 Despite Wallace’s apparent remorse, Bruton said after the hit the center should’ve faced more punishment from the league than just a fine.
“I’m pretty sure my head was down, the play was over, whistle was blown,” Bruton said, via the Denver Post. “Heck, I didn’t go in there and shoot at his guy. That’s just what they do. They’re dirty. He left his feet trying to take me out.”
The Steelers scored 21 unanswered points to rally back from a 27-13 halftime deficit and defeat the Broncos when these two teams clashed Dec. 20. The primary reason for the Broncos' downfall in that game was Brock Osweiler, who only completed six passes in the second half and threw an interception.
But if safety Darian Stewart’s comments are any indication about how resentful the Broncos still feel towards Wallace, they may have to worry about their tempers leading to a collapse Sunday.
“It’s not going to be anything as far as cheap or anything,” Stewart said. “We’re going to get him between the lines, between the whistles. He’s going to be sore after the game, that’s how I see it. He come out on a screen, he better not come at 2-6. I’m cutting him. That’s where I am at with it because the (expletive) really (expletive) me off last time. You got me mad right now just thinking about it.”
As the Steelers and Bengals demonstrated last weekend, the line between "clean" and "dirty" is very narrow in today's NFL. Pittsburgh linebacker Ryan Shazier plowed Cincinnati running back Gio Bernard with a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the fourth quarter, but wasn't flagged for a penalty because Bernard was considered a runner.
But then later on the fourth quarter, linebacker Vontaze Burfict was flagged for unnecessary roughness after he leveled wideout Antonio Brown with a shoulder-to-helmet tackle shortly after a play was over. Burfict was penalized because Brown was considered a defenseless receiver. That violation combined with Adam Jones' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty cost the Bengals 30 yards and the game.
Even if Stewart intends to go after Wallace “between the lines,” there remains a chance he could try to get even at the wrong time. But last week should serve as a warning. All they have to do is ask the Bengals how that usually turns out.
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