The Pittsburgh Steelers burned the Cincinnati Bengals for a game-winning touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the game that left Vontaze Burfict perplexed at the defensive playcall.
The Steelers had the ball at the Cincinnati 31 with 15 seconds left and took advantage of an empty middle of the field on a slant pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown that went for a touchdown.
The middle of the field was empty because the Bengals gambled with a zero blitz, trying to get some heat on Roethlisberger in hopes of knocking the Steelers out of field goal range with a sack. Instead, they got burned.
After the game, FOX 19 reporter Jeremy Rauch recorded video of Burfict complaining about the playcall as he walked into the locker room (the video does contain the S-word). He could be heard complaining about running a zero blitz.
Vontaze Burfict walks off saying the #Bengals called something they never call. Not even in practice. @fox19 #Bengals pic.twitter.com/zGHxAhJSJz
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) October 14, 2018
Bengals defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap acknowledged after the game that Pittsburgh caught them in the perfect formation and burned them.
"They caught us in the ideal thing (i.e. play call) for them to do it."
Dunlap said Steelers knew exactly what to do when they saw the #Bengals in zero blitz. https://t.co/zUi92nOSDa
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) October 14, 2018
Pittsburgh still had timeouts left and was already in field goal range. The Bengals didn’t have a lot of options at that point, which is why they tried the zero blitz. And now Burfict is part of headlines for not just his controversial hit, but also for his criticism of the playcall.
Here’s a breakdown of the play:
What went wrong on the @Bengals last defensive play?!?
Heres a breakdown!@JamesRapien @JoeGoodberry @pauldehnerjr pic.twitter.com/8SXGnnC10s
— Andrew Hawkins (@Hawk) October 14, 2018
