Vontaze Burfict doesn’t think he deserves responsibility for the Cincinnati Bengals’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers a couple of months ago in the wild card round.
The inside linebacker had as much to do with the loss as anyone else after his dirty hit on Antonio Brown (watch here) moved the Steelers into scoring range late in the fourth quarter. Pretty much everyone who watched the game would agree with this statement. Well, everyone but Burfict.
In an interview with Josina Anderson of ESPN, Burfict said he does not blame himself for the loss.
Right after the interview was over, he put the blame on another player who he did not name, but the target of his comment was obvious.
“There was only a minute left in the game,” Burfict said about the time remaining after he recorded what seemed to be the game-winning interception. “Coach always says, ‘Trust a teammate to pack your parachute,’ and I trusted my teammate. I don’t want to say any names, but I trusted my teammates to execute and finish the game.”
Clearly, Burfict blames running back Jeremy Hill for the loss. Hill fumbled the ball on the drive right before Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers drove down the field, aided by Burfict’s hit on Brown and another 15-yard penalty by Adam Jones.
One wonders how Hill feels about Burfict throwing him under the bus. Also, it seems apparent that Burfict doesn’t know how to pack a parachute for his own teammates, given the fact that his dirty hit on Brown had everything to do with Pittsburgh getting into position for the win.
Already suspended three games by the NFL for his hit on Brown and another hit on Maxx Williams of the Baltimore Ravens a week before, Burfict continues to prove he doesn’t understand where the line of propriety is in the NFL — both on and off the field.