Steelers try to avoid ‘foul play’
to win games.”
DeCastro is one of many Steelers players who has had beef with Burfict over the years. DeCastro accused Burfict of spitting on him in the 2016 AFC wild-card game in Cincinnati.
No matter when or where the game is played, there always seems to be some kind of drama involving the league’s leading antagonist and someone on the Steelers.
“Every time it’s a SteelersBengals game, it’s always something,” said Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd, a Clairton High School and Pitt product. “It’s a late hit or something that’s dirty. I’m not saying guys are out there intentionally doing that on either side. It just gets real intense because of the times we’ve played and I guess the pride each team has in beating each other.”
The rematch Monday night figures to be just as intense. There has been more conflict between the two teams off the field on social media in the past month than when they were on the field Oct. 22.
Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell accused Bengals running back Joe Mixon of trying to copy his style the next week when Mixon wore the same accessories Bell does in a game against the Colts.
Mixon said afterward he imitates Cardinals running back Adrian Peterson, not Bell. Bell didn’t buy that explanation.
“No, not at all,” Bell said. “We playedthem last time and he said certain things like he’s way better than me. Then the week after that he’s trying to wear everything I’m wearing? I’m kind of confused about the whole thing. It is what it is. He’s his own player.I’m my own player. We’re goingto go out there and play.”
A couple of weeks later, when the Steelers played the Indianapolis Colts, there was the touchdown celebration Bell and JuJu Smith-Schuster orchestrated that poked fun at the fight between Bengals receiver A.J. Green and Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey that had taken place the previous week.
“It’s a rivalry,” Bell said. “That’s the way the game is. You have teams that don’t like each other on the field. There are going to be little things that happen off the field, too. It kind of comes with it. It’s football. I don’t take things personally. What they say about me, I don’t care. I just go out there and play football. As long as we win the game, that’s all that matters to me.”
When the Steelers and Bengals played in previous years, there was almost always AFC North Division title implications on the line in these late-season matchups. In the past 10 seasons, either the Bengals or Steelers have won the AFC North. In 2014, in a winner-take-all game, the Steelers beat the Bengals in the regular-season finale at HeinzField to win the division.
That won’t be the case Monday night. The Bengals are 5-6 and one game behind in the race for the final wild-card spot in the AFC. The Steelers have a three-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
“It’s a rivalry,” Smith-Schuster said. “That’s motivation already. It’s the AFC. That’s more motivation. But for us, it’s an opportunity to get a win. It’s a very physical game. For me, I love it. I love the physicality.”