There has been a lot of talk about all the cheap shots that were thrown in Monday night’s game between the Bengals and Steelers, and Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell believes he became a target as he was attempting a game-winning kick.
The Bengals were penalized five yards for offsides on Boswell’s first kick attempt with four seconds remaining in the game. During the pay, a Cincinnati player stuck his foot out and made contact with Boswell’s kicking leg.
Chris Boswell accuses Bengals of intentionally running into him. Hard to argue. #Steelers https://t.co/dDVdmAVQi0 pic.twitter.com/rRlmIX4ROu
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) December 6, 2017
As far as Boswell is concerned, a player would never jump that far offsides unless he is trying to injure the kicker.
“You’re not jumping offsides that bad without trying to run into the kicker,” Boswell said Monday morning, per Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s not an accident at all. If you look in the NFL for the last two years, multiple teams have done it just to try to … either if it’s running into, blocking the kick, doing something. But Seattle did it last year against the Bills, Ravens did it against us last year — and now Cincinnati.”
The penalty turned a 43-yard kick into a 38-yarder, and Boswell was able to convert. He said his foot “stung” after he was contacted by a Bengals player, but it did not affect his ability to make the kick.
It goes without saying that the Bengals would deny trying to injure Boswell intentionally, but no one is surprised to hear an accusation like that occur after a game in which multiple players were flagged for illegal hits. If you heard what Ben Roethlisberger said about the Bengals-Steelers rivalry earlier in the week, you know Boswell’s interpretation of Cincy’s late-game penalty is par for the course.
