Hey, give Vontaze Burfict credit. The man who has been fined more than $805,000 in his five-year NFL career decided it's more advantageous to his teammates -- and his wallet -- to be on the other end of a penalty flag, even if it means flopping around the field like a fish out of water.
Which brings us to the Ravens' second drive of Sunday's game against the Bengals. A Joe Flacco sack set up a fourth-and-long that became fourth-and-longer after the officials flagged Baltimore wide receiver Steve Smith for ... well, we have no earthly idea. Not surprisingly, it started with some Burfict hijinks, but Smith, it appears, was flagged for retaliation -- if you can even bring yourself to call it that.
Behold:
Steve Smith got flagged for pulling a Zidane on Vontaze Burfict pic.twitter.com/2laK1hjqMB
— Mike Tunison (@xmasape) November 27, 2016
Good heavens, Burfict should be embarrassed. Not as embarrassed as former Bengal, Jerome Simpson, but embarrassed enough:
Hahaha.... at least the #Bengals know how to do one thing good @LanceMcAlisterpic.twitter.com/cgpzqC1O28
— HumKen (@HumKen) November 27, 2016
But the joke's on Burfict; Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is impervious to terrible acting and long-range inaccuracy. Which explains why, despite Smith's 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness that left Baltimore facing a fourth-and-30, Tucker calmly striped a 52-yarder to make it 10-0 with just under six minutes to go in the first quarter.
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