Ben Roethlisberger Comments on Vontaze Burfict, Bengals and More

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict delivered a low hit on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during Week 14, and Big Ben has taken serious issue with it.

Roethlisberger spoke about the issue Tuesday on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, and he's skeptical of what Burfict said regarding the play, which the Steelers star escaped without major injury, per CBS Pittsburgh:

"

[Burfict] said, "I got pushed into you, my bad." and the official just kind of nodded like, "Yeah, ok." So, I just went about my day, didn't think anything of it...I turned my phone on afterwards and one of the texts I got from a former player and a friend of mine says, "How is this not a fine or a penalty by Burfict?" And he showed me the clip of it. And since then, I have seen the clip, and I don't buy that he was pushed. You know, I think that he definitely was diving in low and going for my legs.

"

Burfict's agent, Audie Attar, said the linebacker was fined for the hit, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

ESPN's Ed Werder reported what a Steelers team source had to say on Burfict, which was, "Dirty play, dirty player." Werder added relevant context to support the claim:

The AFC North rivalry between these two teams boiled over into a scuffle before Sunday's game at Paul Brown Stadium even began. It was Cincinnati that actually lost its stud signal-caller in Andy Dalton to a right thumb fracture on top of suffering a 33-20 home defeat.

When asked whether he believed the Bengals were retaliating after seeing Dalton go down, Roethlisberger said, "I'm not going to say that, but I won't disagree with you."

In addition to the ugly skirmish prior to kickoff, the contest itself was a chippy affair. What Roethlisberger said about it was most interesting:

"

I made the point as I talked to the team and said, "You know guys, from every level of sports that I've ever been a part of, if the other team tried to start a fight, it was usually because they were either scared or they didn't think they could hang with you." And so, throughout that game as they were trying to pick fights and do extracurricular stuff, it kind of let us all know that, you know what, we just got to play our game, don't get caught up in the extra stuff, don't get yourself in trouble.

"

It's as though the Steelers used the frustration and intimidation tactics the Bengals were trying to exact on them and turned it against the hosts. As Cincinnati tries to assert its superiority atop the AFC North, it is suddenly clinging to a two-game lead sans Dalton with three weeks left on the schedule.

Peter King of the MMQB referred to how dangerous the Steelers have become:

Even though Roethlisberger has missed multiple games this year, Pittsburgh has remained steady and looks like one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL. The Steelers are outside of the AFC playoff picture at the moment, but they could well be a hot wild-card team that makes a deep postseason run.

As long as Pittsburgh can harness its energy off a huge division win properly and keep Big Ben healthy, it should secure a playoff berth down the stretch.

With Dalton out and four consecutive one-and-done postseason appearances weighing on them, the Bengals have gone from apparent Super Bowl contender to dealing with unforeseen adversity.