Bengals C Ted Karras fell victim to dirty cheap shot from Titans defensive lineman
By the time the fourth quarter began on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals were already beaten by the Tennessee Titans. A quick look at the scoreboard could tell you that. One member of the Titans decided that wasn't enough in the waning moments of the contest. Tennessee defensive tackle Teair Tart dropped his knee on Cincinnati […]
By the time the fourth quarter began on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals were already beaten by the Tennessee Titans. A quick look at the scoreboard could tell you that. One member of the Titans decided that wasn't enough in the waning moments of the contest.
Tennessee defensive tackle Teair Tart dropped his knee on Cincinnati offensive lineman Ted Karras late in the fourth quarter following a Joe Mixon run. NFL analyst Brandon Thorn pointed out the obvious on X/Twitter: That's not legal.
Now, the first thing folks will say in defense of Tart is that he was pushed from behind. No. 67 Cordell Volson was in on the combo block with Karras to push Tart out of the gap on the play. Volson ended up behind Tart as Karras fell to the ground.
Upon further review, while Volson did extend his arms at Tart, the motion of his extension was to push Tart to the side and away from the pile where Karras laid, as seen from his right arm extending to the left. His left arm barely pushes off Tart at all.
This "push" would hardly make a 300+ pound defensive tackle fall to the ground, and even if it could, Tart absolutely did not have to fall on one knee and aim for Karras' neck. The benefit of the doubt is hard to bestow here, especially with recent history factoring into the equation.
Last year, Tart's teammate Jeffrey Simmons was fined $11K for punching Karras at the end of the Bengals' 20-16 victory in Nashville. The altercation sparked an emotional reaction from Karras, who screamed expletives towards the Titans crowd when walking off the field. Karras
A year later, Karras says he has no regrets about the incident and becomes the recipient of a cheap shot to his neck WWE style? That's suspicious to say the least.
As someone who's spent years watching the Pittsburgh Steelers get "creative" with showing their toughness towards the Bengals (I'm using coded language here), it's unbecoming to glorify these things instead of just calling them out for what they are: Dirty.
Hey, Vontaze Burfict had his dirty moments as well, and he deserved the criticism he received. These things go both ways. Just because the aggressor ends up winning does not make it right.
What Tart did was reckless, and it deserves to be called out.
Why a Titans defender took a financial hit after loss to Bengals
Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has a little less cash in his bank account this week after playing the Cincinnati Bengals last weekend. According to The Athletic's Jay Morrison, Simmons was fined $11,139 for hitting/shoving Bengals offensive lineman Ted Karras at the end of the Titans' 20-16 loss to the Bengals. Here's video of […]
