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Cincinnati Bengals: Players Tweet After Steelers Lose To Denver — Pacman Apologizes To Antonio Brown

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 07:05 PST, Jan 18, 2016

It’s been an emotional two weeks for the Cincinnati Bengals. From preparing for their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to having a meltdown in said game to watching the Denver Broncos end their rivals’ NFL Playoff run, the Bengals had a lot to process before focusing on the road ahead. Once it was announced that Antonio Brown would be sitting out of Pittsburgh’s game against the No. 2 seed Broncos, Adam “Pacman” Jones apologized to the All-Pro receiver for accusing him of faking the injury. But in a completely different spirit, several of the Bengals players took to Twitter on Saturday after watching their AFC North rivals fall to Denver.

Of course, to understand why the Bengals are so upset and why Pacman Jones flew off the handle, you must be familiar with the Bengals’ playoff curse. As USA Today noted, despite Marvin Lewis leading his team to the playoffs for five straight years, the Cincinnati franchise hasn’t recorded a playoff win since Boomer Esiason was under center. To be exact, the last time they walked away from a playoff game with another one coming up was January 6, 1991.

The Bengals had a great regular season, ending up the AFC No. 3 seed for the playoffs. A victory over the Wildcard contenders would finally show the rest of the NFL that the Bengals had turned a new page. Late in the game, however, Vontaze Burfict hit Steelers receiver Antonio Brown after an incomplete pass, drawing a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. And maybe if it ended there, the Bengals would have been the ones travelling to Denver.

However, Pittsburgh linebackers coach Joey Porter was on the field when he wasn’t supposed to be, and an adrenaline-fueled Adam “Pacman” Jones had some unsportsmanlike words for Mr. Porter. It resulted in another penalty, moving the Steelers within field goal range and perpetuating the curse Marvin Lewis and the Bengals can’t seem to escape. Later, Adam Jones would appear on The Dan Patrick Show, claiming that Brown was faking the injury and that he even winked at Jones as he was leaving the field.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reported, Porter, Jones, and Burfict were among the seven players and coaches who received fines by the NFL after Saturday’s game.

Once it was announced, however, that Brown would be sitting out of the game against the Broncos, Pacman swallowed his pride and apologized to the injured receiver via Instagram.

That was on Friday. When the Steelers lost to the Broncos on Sunday, Pacman’s teammates shared some Tweets of a very different nature.

Bengals Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was clearly relieved that Denver won.

Safety George Iloka sent out a few Tweets about it himself.

Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu was all smiles.

And running back Jeremy Hill has some emojis of his own.

Now that the post-season has ended for the Cincinnati Bengals and their arch rivals, the Who-Dey nation can begin looking to next year. They’ll be looking to make just the right adjustments for a sixth consecutive playoff berth and their first NFL Playoff victory in nearly 30 years.

[Photo by Frank Victores/AP]

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