One of the dumbest and most costly penalties in recent NFL history resulted in receiver Antonio Brown suffering a concussion.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin announced after the Steelers' wild-card victory over Cincinnati that Brown was concussed on a late hit by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Burfict was called for a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness with 22 seconds left after taking a late shot to Brown's head. The ball had clearly gone by Brown before the hit. Bengals cornerback Adam Jones was called for a subsequent unsportsmanlike penalty that set up the Steelers' game-winning field goal.
If Burfict hadn't committed the penalty, the Bengals were in great shape to win the game. The Steelers were at midfield with only 18 seconds left, trailing by one. Instead, the Steelerswill be moving on to the Divisional Round in Denver.
Brown's availability for that game, not to mention Ben Roethlisberger's health, will be a dominant story line in the coming week.