Steelers' Former AFC North Rival Now Lobbying For A Federal Investigation Looking Into Pittsburgh's 2016 Playoff Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season. It has been a while since the fan base has been able to truly enjoy any kind of postseason success. Dating back to the 2011 campaign, the organization has only been victorious in the tournament three times. This has led to plenty of criticism in the direction of Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The hope is that the ugly drought is overcome sooner rather than later, but the team still has work to do if it wants to win the AFC North and host a meaningful playoff contest in January.

The Steelers have played in countless postseason matchups over the course of the franchise's impressive history. A lot are looked back on because Pittsburgh ended up winning one of its six Super Bowls at the end of an impressive run, but other moments stick out as well. One of the more recent unforgettable battles was against the Cincinnati Bengals in January of 2016.

The game appeared to be over as Ben Roethlisberger attempted to engineer a game-winning drive. That's when the infamous Vontaze Burfict hit on Antonio Brown occurred. It led to a 15-yard penalty, but then another was called after a major scuffle on the field. Adam "Pacman" Jones was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, leading to a relatively easy 35-yard field goal for Chris Boswell. 

It was a wild turn of events in a chippy AFC North playoff showdown. Jones recently joined the Glory Daze w/Johnny Manziel podcast and went off on what occurred that day in Cincinnati.

"This is when I found out gambling was going on in the NFL, bro," Jones said. "The FBI needs to go back and look at that game and that fuc*ing ref that called that fuc*ing play, which we found out later, was some kin to these motherf**kers on the other side. The other part about this is the coaches coming on the field. Coaches are not allowed on the field to go over here and participate [in] whatever the f*ck is going on. Get your *bit*h*ss out from over here."

While it may seem just based on Jones' words that he was kidding, it did not appear as if he was on the episode. It's always going to be wondered throughout the sports world if officials are in on fixing games. The NFL has not had any serious issues with referees and gambling, but Jones appears to believe that it has been going on for a while, including during the 2015 playoffs.

A decade later, it still is evident that Jones is salty about the loss to the Steelers. One of the coaches he is referring to is Joey Porter Sr., who infamously was in the middle of the altercation on the field that eventually led to Jones being flagged.

Pittsburgh would go on to lose in the Divisional Round, but the game against Cincinnati will always go down as one of the craziest in the rivalry, particularly because of the hit on Brown and what occurred after. Now, Jones is still hoping someone takes a deeper dive into the referees, as he noted that some kind of "kin" on the officiating crew was rooting for the Steelers. He has no proof to back that up, but it certainly is a wild accusation 10 years after.

Steelers Won't Have To Worry About The Bengals Anymore In 2025

Pittsburgh has a clear path to winning the AFC North, but a playoff rematch against Cincinnati will not occur come January as the Bengals have already been eliminated from contention. It would have added another layer to the serious rivalry that truly seemed to have been born when Burfict hit Brown. Overall, it's pretty much irrelevant for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.

Do you think the Steelers should have won the Wild Card game versus the Bengals in 2016? Let us know in the comments below!

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