In the middle of the Cincinnati Bengals taking apart the Pittsburgh Steelers in what ended up as a 41-10 victory, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow got planted by T.J. Watt.
Given the history between these rivals, and just because of the way it looked, it fired up the Bengals fanbase.
The altercation happened after Burrow threw his only interception of the day. He attempted to get in a position to cut off the returner as an insurance policy and Watt locked up with him, then drove him to the ground. From a rules standpoint, Watt didn’t really do anything too wrong, but fans were right to express disbelief. And really, it was totally away from the play and there’s been a problem with Burrow not necessarily getting the same protection as other passers around the league in situations like this and otherwise.
Burrow? Not sweating it.
Asked about it after the game, Burrow said he threw out a one-liner, per ESPN’s Ben Baby:
Bengals QB Joe Burrow said he told T.J. Watt "Nice block" during their exchange after the block that caused a little brouhaha at the end of the second quarter.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) November 28, 2021
Kudos go to Burrow for not making a big deal out of it after having the scrappy attitude to get in the situation in the first place. The way he and the team no-sold the whole thing speaks to this new locker room’s mentality about not stooping to the antics of opponents.
The altercation, for those who missed it:
Credit to Joe Burrow. Not sure how many QBs would be willing to lock horns with Trent Jordan Watt like this. pic.twitter.com/lRMkTlOPOh
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 28, 2021
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