It’s Bengals week (again) and I continue to get quite annoyed with the claims from those “Northern Kentucky” fans who keep saying the Steelers are dirty, cheaters, and other all sorts of other crybaby baloney.

Usually I dismiss this sort of stuff for what it looks and smells like (bull crap) and move on with my life, but for some reason, the comments keep boomeranging back, and finally I’ve had enough!

Mike Mitchell is NOT a dirty player!

However… Vontaze Burfict is!

Let’s start with the Bengals, and their false claims. First, Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth had this to say in October:

“There are a lot of guys that play nasty. Nobody talks about (Steelers safety) Mike Mitchell vaulting (Bengals wide receiver) A.J. Green in our first game trying to take his helmet off on an incomplete pass.

Why wasn’t he judged to be a monster?

He’s got a lot of helmet-to-helmet hits.

We all keep playing into the narrative. My point is just don’t even talk about it. It’s stupid. Let them talk about it.”

Not that I should joke about dirty hits and concussions, but Whitworth must’ve been hit in the head a few times, because his recall of Green’s game in September (2 catches on 8 targets) didn’t include any dirty hits.

Or perhaps this is what Whitworth considered “dirty”?

This is the only play I could find where Mitchell covered and/or had an attempt to “hit” Green on his eight targets. As you can see, Mitchell goes out of his way to make sure he doesn’t hit Green.

You could call that sportsmanship, being smart (as to not get penalized for a hit) or both.

Incidentally, I also looked at the other 7 targets toward Green, where he was covered by Sean Davis, Ross Cockrell and Robert Golden. None of those were out of the ordinary either.

Hmm… well… maybe, just maybe, Whitworth was talking about some other hits which occurred in previous Steelers/Bengals matchups. Like this hit on former Bengals WR Marvin Jones Jr., where Mitchell comes in shoulder-first, to do his job: stop the catch.

There’s even a compilation from Cincinatti’s local ESPN Radio station, citing reasons they “hate Mike Mitchell.” Among those clips, the Marvin Jones hit above, and a lame flag from another shoulder-first tackle attempt by the Steelers safety:

Yet another play that looks like a whole lot of nothin’.

But let’s examine some hits that do look vicious, like this one on Thanksgiving night against the Colts T.Y. Hilton:

Oh hey, a hard hit, but a legal play… but wait for it… Mitchell checks on Hilton afterward!

That’s not the only time Mitchell laid out an opponent, nor the only time he went out of his way to make sure they were okay.

Have we ever seen this type of compassion from the Bengals?

Not that I can think of.

In fact, after Steelers WR Antonio Brown was the victim of a dirty hit by Burfict, and concussed by the play, Burfict’s teammate Adam “Pacman” Jones took to social media, telling anyone who would listen that AB was “faking” his injury.

Burfict is also known to stomp, spit, twist, and do whatever he feels like after the play, or hit defenseless players away from the ball.

That’s standard protocol for the Bengals, who seemling take the victim approach to playing football, despite being the perpetrators in many instances themselves.

Defensive coodinator Paul Guenther has repeatedly defended his players’ actions, as has head coach Marvin Lewis.

Actions such as this low hit on Patriot’s TE Martellus Bennett away from the play:

During the same game, Burfict decides to stomp on Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount:

Video: From coaches film (courtesy NFL), watch Vontaze Burfict (55) deliberately step on Blount's leg after TD. pic.twitter.com/wtTPqy3XHP

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 17, 2016

Burfict was fined for the stomp, but Coach Lewis (in the same article as Whitworth’s quote above) didn’t see anything wrong with the play:

“I don’t think he did anything wrong. We were not in the wrong here, in my opinion. It’s unfortunate. That’s what I’ve told people, stood on, and will continue to stand on.

I’ve been through it back and forth. I see him trying to step through and going to help the teammate who has a hand of another player on his facemask, pushing him in the face. That’s what he’s trying to get to.”

Unsurprisingly, “Pacman” Jones, also thinks that Burfict gets a bad rap:

“Quite frankly, I think we need more guys with some more emotions. Do we need to control them at certain times? Yeah. But the man is being paid to be a hired hitman. There’s only a couple linebackers that play with that type of aggression. Those are the great ones. Go back and look at it.

So Burfict is being paid to hit defenseless players before, during, and after plays?

I mean, I could go on for days mentioning all of the dirty plays Burfict has been involved with, and his fines read like a resume of a hitman, rather than a pro football player.

Here is a breakdown of those infractions, courtesy of FOX Sports:

• 2015, Week 17 — Fined $50,000 for illegal hit on Ravens tight end Maxx Williams
• 2015, Week 14 — Fined nearly $70,000 for three different infractions against the Steelers: roughing the passer, facemask and unnecessary roughness
• 2014, Week 16 — Fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and tight end Greg Olsen
• 2013 Week 8 — Fined $21,000 for hitting Jets receiver Stephen Hill with the crown of his helmet
• 2013 Week 6 — Fined nearly $8,000 for facemask against Bills running back Fred Jackson
• 2013 Week 3 — Fined $31,000 for two incidents against the Green Bay Packers: hitting defenseless receiver James Jones and striking tight end Ryan Taylor in the groin

But if you’re still convinced that Vontaze Burfict is a misunderstood, delicate flower, then this video is all you need to see a pattern of a ill-advised behavior by the Bengals linebacker:

Missing in the “highlight” reel are low hits which took out Le’Veon Bell not once, but twice, the previous two seasons. Bell would be placed on Injured Reserve following the plays, one of which Burfict openly celebrated the strike.

So what do you think? Is Mike Mitchell the dirty player with zero compassion for his fellow brotherhood of football players? And Vontaze Burfict, the poor misunderstood angel that’s just trying to “play football”?

I believe the video evidence shows otherwise.