CINCINNATI (AP) — One of the NFL’s nastiest rivalries set new lows in prime time, forcing fans to avert their eyes.
Players, fans and the NFL are considering what to do in the aftermath of a Steelers-Bengals game so brutal that it made announcers and viewers cringe.
Pittsburgh rallied for a 23-20 victory at Paul Brown Stadium on Monday night but a day later, one player from each team was suspended for a game, and many fines are expected.
Steelers rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and Bengals cornerback George Iloka have been suspended one game each by the NFL for violating league safety rules.
Smith-Schuster was flagged for unnecessary roughness and taunting after a blindside hit on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict in the fourth quarter.
Iloka was penalized for unnecessary roughness for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Jon Runyan, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, ruled that Smith-Schuster “delivered a violent and unnecessary blindside shot to (Burfict’s) head and neck area.” Burfict left the game on a stretcher and did not return.
Runyan suspended Iloka for striking a defenseless receiver in the head and neck area. Brown, who caught the game-tying pass on the play, remained in the game.
Meanwhile, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier remains in a Cincinnati hospital with a back injury. The former Buckeye standout left on a stretcher in the first quarter after making a tackle.
He underwent a CT scan and an MRI, and the team says Shazier will not require surgery “at this time.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin said he would wait until hearing from the medical team attending to Shazier before releasing more information.
Tomlin says he spoke to Shazier before leaving Cincinnati and that Shazier was in good spirits. Tomlin says Shazier challenged his teammates to “move on.”
The first-place Steelers host division rival Baltimore on Sunday night.