Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams thought his team was Super Bowl bound, and he blames one person in particular for stopping it from happening.
Williams believed that Vontaze Burfict’s hit that knocked Antonio Brown out for the remainder of the playoffs was what kept Pittsburgh from reaching the big game.
“For me, my rival throughout my year will be the Cincinnati Bengals,” Williams told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “I don’t think there was any doubt in my mind if AB was not interfered on or hit the way he was hit, however you want to label it — there’s no doubt we go on and give the Broncos hell.”
You can see the hit that Williams is referring to by clicking here. Brown is Pittsburgh’s best receiver, and the hit concussed him and ensured that he couldn’t play the following week when the Steelers lost at Denver.
There’s just one problem with Williams’s line of thinking: the Steelers were losing to Cincinnati when that hit took place, and the penalty on Burfict that stemmed from it was vital in ensuring that Pittsburgh could move into field goal range and kick the game winner. Without the hit, Brown doesn’t get hurt, but the Steelers quite possibly don’t get past Cincinnati.
Of course, these two teams are always going to take shots at each other. Pacman Jones had some wild accusations for Brown at the time, and Brown fired back in his own way. There’s no love lost, so you can understand why the Steelers find it so easy to hold Burfict and the Bengals responsible.
