Pittsburgh Steelers

Bengals' Dunlap hoping Gilbert's Christmas wish backfires

Published Jan. 6, 2016 4:07 p.m. ET

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Christmas came late for Steelers offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert, and in the form of a postseason rematch with the Cincinnati Bengals.

After Pittsburgh's heated victory in Cincinnati in Week 14, Gilbert said that all he wanted for Christmas was the Bengals, adding he "would love to see them in the playoffs where they choke," in a quickly deleted tweet. 

Count Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap, Gilbert's former teammate at the University of Florida, among those who are hoping to make Gilbert regret his Christmas wish via ESPN.com's Coley Harvey.

Lots of bad blood has flowed between the two teams this season. They exchanged pleasantries at midfield before the ball was even kicked off last December, and it continued on social media between Gilbert and Adam "Pacman" Jones the next day. Ben Roethlisberger didn't like a low hit from Vontaze Burfict, who was fined for three separate infractions in the game.

Much of the tension this season can also be traced back to Burfict, whose tackle on Le'Veon Bell in Week 8 ended the running back's season with a knee injury. Steelers players accused Burfict of celebrating Bell's injury while Burfict countered that he was just excited to make a play. Things escalated further when Williams threatened Burfict on social media before later apologizing. 

The apology didn't seem to carry too much weight since it was Burfict who was jawing in the Steelers' direction during the last pregame melee. Oh yeah, Bengals receiver Marvin Jones and Steelers safety Mike Mitchell have had a beef as well this season.

All of the hatred adds another layer of intrigue for what should be a intense showdown on Saturday night in Cincinnati.

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