Bengals player blames playoff meltdown on refs in crazed rant

BENGALS player “Pacman” Jones can expect a hefty fine after this outrageous attack on the NFL referees. WARNING: Explicit content.

CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 09: Adam Jones #24 of the Cincinnati Bengals argues a call with referee John Parry #132 in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium on January 9, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

AFTER drawing what turned out to be a season-ending penalty during a wild finish to the Bengals’ 18-16 loss to the Steelers in the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs, Adam “Pacman” Jones took to Instagram to express his frustrations with a profane rant.

The Bengals cornerback was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after teammate Vontaze Burfict was called for unnecessary roughness on Antonio Brown that set the Steelers up for the game-winning field goal in the game’s waning moments.

In the rant, Jones ripped the officials for allowing Steelers assistant Joey Porter on the field as Brown was being attended to by trainers.

“F***ing refs did a horrible f***ing job,” Jones ranted. “You got f***ing (Joey) Porter in the middle of the f***ing field talking s*** to everybody and then when somebody say something to him, he isn’t supposed to be on the f***ing field.”

from Pacman Jones's Instagram... (NSFW) pic.twitter.com/Wx0ykWw2eq

— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) January 10, 2016

After the video was online for about a half-hour, Jones deleted the post.

Then a much calmer Jones posted another video, saying, “All right, I’m good now. I’ve had my 10 minutes. But, I still don’t think I should have got a flag for talking to a coach that’s on the field, but that’s my own thing.”

The Bengals’ latest playoff meltdown was one for the books, in many ways the worst of them all. And it will shake the franchise for a long time.

Jeremy Hill fumbled away a chance to close out the game, and personal fouls on Vontaze Burfict and Jones moved the Steelers in range for the winning field goal. Chris Boswell’s 35-yard kick with 14 seconds left gave Pittsburgh an unlikely victory — another blow-to-the-gut moment to the Bengals’ horrid playoff history.

“Got back and went ahead, and then we destructed on ourselves, offence and defence together,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “That’s disappointing.”

And so familiar.

The Bengals rallied from a 15-0 deficit in the fourth quarter behind AJ McCarron, who threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green for a 16-15 lead with only 1:50 to go. The Bengals appeared to seal it when a diving Burfict picked off Landry Jones’ pass with 1:36 left. Burfict celebrated the play by running all the way to the other end of the field and into the tunnel — with the ball — followed closely by an entourage of teammates.

But, then, the self-destruction began.

“We have to be smart in situations throughout the game and make smart decisions,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said.

— with AP

Originally published as Bengals player blames playoff meltdown on refs in crazed rant