The Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals played to a 37-37 tie after both teams played a hard fought 75-minute game but there’s some controversy that emerged following the game that involved Cincinnati Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict and Carolina Panthers’ QB Cam Newton and TE Greg Olsen.
Late in the third quarter, Newton ran for an impressive 12-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 24-17 but at the end of the play, there seemed to be some extracurricular activity, Burfict was caught on camera, twisting Newton’s surgically repaired ankle after the play. Even though the tape doesn’t really show if Burfict is intentionally trying to hurt Newton, he has some explaining to do.
The second ankle twist was more of an obvious one, this time on Greg Olsen. After Greg Olsen caught a 12-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter, you clearly see Burfict twisting his ankle, the same ankle that Olsen had injured against the Chicago Bears. Olsen was very vocal after the game, said that Burfict needed to be suspended after the game. Panthers coach Ron Rivera said he would send video footage to the league offices, “There’s no room for that in this league” said Rivera.
Panthers kicker, Graham Gano took to twitter to voice his frustration with Burfict:
