Monday NFL game too violent: coaches

Bengals safety George Iloka had his one-game suspension overturned Wednesday, leaving him with a US$36,000-plus fine for his hit to Antonio Brown’s head.

Iloka and Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster each got a onegame suspension from the NFL after Pittsburgh’s penalty-filled 23-20 victory at Paul Brown Stadium Monday. Iloka hit Brown in the head while trying to break up his game-tying touchdown catch.

Smith-Schuster was suspended for levelling linebacker Vontaze Burfict with a blindside hit and taunting him by standing over him.

Smith-Schuster has apologized for the taunting. He’ll sit out when the AFC North-leading Steelers (10-2) host second-place Baltimore (7-5) on Sunday night.

The nastiness that has escalated in the Steelers-Bengals rivalry boiled over Monday night. There were four penalties for unnecessary roughness, one for unsportsmanlike conduct, one for taunting, one for roughing the passer and two 15-yard penalties for grabbing the face mask.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin addressed it with their teams.

“We don’t want any of that stuff,” Lewis said Wednesday. “I don’t think anybody wants that, coach Tomlin or myself or the clubs. We understand that and I think both of us made that clear to the players. That’s not the look we want in the National Football League.”

Tomlin met with reporters Tuesday in Pittsburgh and said, “I’ll acknowledge there were some unfortunate things in that game that we don’t need in our game — by both sides.”

When the Bengals played in Pittsburgh Oct. 22, Burfict went out for the coin flip and refused to shake the Steelers’ hands. He kicked running back Roosevelt Nix during the game, drawing a $12,154 fine.