‘I’m irritated’ – Andrew Whithworth slams the Bengals for obvious reason and he’s exactly right
Former Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth is not over how his old team lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday. Whitworth expressed his frustration to his co-host Ryan Fitzpatrick, another former Bengal, during the latest episode of the “FITZ & WHIT.”
Former Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth is not over how his old team lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday.
Whitworth expressed his frustration to his co-host Ryan Fitzpatrick, another former Bengal, during the latest episode of the “FITZ & WHIT.” It all centers around Cincinnati making two critical special teams errors which led to 10 extra points for the Steelers, and how the first miscue, a roughing the punter penalty, denied quarterback Joe Burrow a needed possession.
“Here’s my philosophy: Give the ball back to Joe Burrow,” Whitworth said. “I don’t care if it’s on the 40. I don’t care if we’re on our own 10. Okay, Joe Burrow, get that offense on the field. I feel pretty good with a lead. Like they’re going to find a way to get some points. That moment there drove me crazy. Trying to do too much. We don’t need to steal a possession, we don’t need to block the punt and get short field. We drove up and down the field all day. Just get the ball back to Burrow and get off the grass. Get off the grass, get the possession, let’s go play.”
Andrew Whitworth is exactly right to call out Bengals
The decision to go for a blocked punt was wildly risky in the moment, and it cost the Bengals dearly when defensive end Cedric Johnson ran into the plant leg of Pittsburgh punter Cameron Johnston. The Steelers scored a touchdown with the added possession, and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons couldn’t even properly explain why he decided that was the time to be aggressive.
“I don’t know when a good moment is,” Simmons said. “When is a good moment to rush the punter? We’re ahead. We’re behind. I mean, when is the best opportunity? I think it was the first punt of the game, first time they punted. It’s something that we felt, I felt very confident in that we could get a lot of pressure on them, and we did. Ced [Johnson] just got too close to him. But in terms of the situation of when, I don’t know when the right and when the wrong situation is.”
It was just the first unforced error of the quarter. Pittsburgh had to punt after its next possession, and the ball hit off Ke’Shawn Williams’ helmet, resulting in a lost fumble.
“Then what do we do? You get the lead again, we muff the punt,” Whitworth said. “We muff the punt in Pittsburgh. We spot them 10 points, and that’s what I’m not making excuses for. Stop spotting people points. Dominate. Be you. I’m irritated. We had the game. I’m up here riding the Super Bowl train, and we’re spotting teams 10 points. Dad-gummit!”
Whitworth has high expectations for the Bengals, and watching them lose games they easily could’ve won with two fewer mistakes hurt him.
But his frustration rings true. If they can get out of their own way, they’ll be right back on track.
