They came. They saw. They conquered. But mostly, the Steelers were just fun to watch. That has always been the case with Ben Roethlisberger, a master improviser with a flair for the dramatic. But now this is Antonio Brown’s team, his league, his world. And it all came together on Monday night.
I don’t mean to oversell what Brown accomplished in Week 1. If Brown’s career were a Greatest Hits CD, Monday wouldn’t even be on it. But for a normal NFL wide receiver, eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns would constitute a career night. Brown has set the bar so high that anything short of spectacular is viewed as a disappointment.
Fortunately, Brown pulled out all the stops in Pittsburgh’s opening week win over Washington. The scoreboard showed zeros for Pittsburgh after one quarter of play, but Antonio changed that in a hurry by roasting Redskins corner Bashaud Breeland for a 29-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
Nothing about the play was conventional. Chris Boswell was positioned for a makeable 47-yard field goal but instead coach Mike Tomlin, a risk-taker if there ever was one, opted to let the Steelers go for it on fourth down. The standard procedure for fourth-and-one is to either run it up the gut or try to draw the other team offside. Obviously the Steelers did neither. Roethlisberger let it rip, lobbing up a prayer that could only be answered by Antonio.
Not satisfied with the one touchdown, Brown and Ben joined forces to produce a sequel in the third quarter. It was almost identical to the first and even had the same punchline with Breeland getting burned for a second time. If your fantasy team began the day with a comfortable lead, it was probably gone by the time Monday night’s Steelers/Redskins game wrapped up at FedEx Field. That’s unless you were clever (or lucky) enough to employ your own stack with Roethlisberger and Brown, which was my undoing this week. Playing against my father in the vaunted “Pantuosco League,” I watched a 46.8-point lead slip away on the strength of 21.8 points from Roethlisberger and another 28.6 from Brown (half-PPR). I’m hoping that will count as his Christmas present.
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As captivating as it was to watch Brown wreak havoc on Monday night, the Redskins’ lack of resistance raises an important question: where the heck was Josh Norman? The Redskins made the first-team All-Pro the highest-paid corner in NFL history this offseason. Yet it was Breeland who was tasked with shadowing Brown.
To be clear, Breeland isn’t a liability. In fact, he earned PFF’s 14th-highest grade out of 118 qualifiers at cornerback last season. But against the league’s toughest receiver, Breeland was outclassed. At least if Norman were on Antonio, it would have been a fairer fight. Or perhaps not. The only player who had any real success covering Brown last season was Seahawks corner Richard Sherman, who held him to six catches for 51 yards on 12 targets. Despite facing each other on only a handful of snaps, Brown and Norman exchanged jerseys after the game, which is unlikely to happen when Norman faces Odell Beckham in two weeks.
Pittsburgh entered the year with high expectations (they were sixth in my initial power rankings) but after embarrassing the Redskins on their home field Monday night, maybe it’s time to consider them a true contender. The Steelers won soundly and they did it without Martavis Bryant (suspension), Le’Veon Bell (suspension) and Markus Wheaton (shoulder). All three are major cogs in the Pittsburgh offense.
Brown’s presence can mask many shortcomings but the real reason Pittsburgh ran circles around the Redskins Monday night was DeAngelo Williams. Le’Veon Bell is a tough man to replace but Williams seems to be getting the hang of it. At 33, Williams is the oldest running back in football. But he looked like a much younger man on Monday night, punishing the Redskins by rushing 26 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also added six catches for 28 yards.
There weren’t any Beast Quakes or highlight reel runs but Williams consistently moved the chains through a combination of skill and brute strength, alternating between juking defenders and trucking right through them. Both of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as the Steelers burned clock by leaning heavily on Williams down the stretch. 113 of his 171 yards from scrimmage came in the second half. Backup Fitzgerald Toussaint logged eight snaps compared to 56 for Williams. Clearly the Steelers have supreme confidence in D-Will and you should too.
Though most people have already forgotten about it, Williams had one of his best seasons in 2015. He tied for the league-lead with 11 touchdowns, a feat made more impressive when you consider that Williams only started 10 of the Steelers’ 16 games. He also finished 10th in rushing yards (911) despite seeing only 200 carries. He even did his best to replicate Bell’s production in the passing game, absorbing a career-high 40 catches for 367 yards.
Bell only has two games remaining on his suspension, which means fantasy owners are running out of time to use Williams. His asking price was $7100 on FanDuel this week, making him a relative bargain. That might explain why his ownership level hovered around 25 percent. Even if his price goes up (it will), Williams will still be highly coveted for next week’s meeting with Cincinnati.
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Quick Hits: The 49ers and Rams also played on Monday night. The 49ers won 28-0 on the strength of two touchdowns from Carlos Hyde, who has a habit of playing well in Monday night season openers. Case Keenum struggled big time (17-for-35, 130 yards, two INT) and star defensive lineman Aaron Donald was ejected for making contact with an official. So all in all, not a great night for the Rams … Robert Griffin III was placed on injured reserve Monday after fracturing a bone in his non-throwing shoulder against the Eagles in Week 1. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says it will be “very tough” for Griffin to make it back before the end of the season … Buccaneers defensive end Jacquies Smith will miss the rest of 2016 after tearing his ACL against the Falcons in Week 1. Smith finished second on the team with seven sacks last season … C.J. Prosise broke his hand in Sunday’s season-opening win against the Dolphins. The rookie isn’t expected to miss any time … Seahawks coach Pete Carroll doesn’t think Russell Wilson’s sprained ankle is anything to worry about. He’ll try to practice on Wednesday but it’s too early to tell if he’ll be ready for Sunday’s game against the Rams … Carroll also said he’s ready to increase Thomas Rawls’ role after limiting him in Week 1. Rawls spent most of the offseason recovering from ankle surgery and split carries with Christine Michael Sunday against the Dolphins … The Chargers officially added Joey Bosa to their 53-man roster on Monday. Bosa was given a roster exemption for Week 1 after joining the team near the end of training camp. He’s questionable for Week 2 with a hamstring injury … To clear a spot for Bosa, the Chargers placed Keenan Allen on injured reserve with a torn ACL. With Allen done for the year, Travis Benjamin will serve as the Bolts’ No. 1 wide receiver … Zach Ertz is considered week to week after suffering a “rib displacement” against Cleveland in Week 1. Brent Celek would see a bigger role in his absence … Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory has completed his rehab stint, though he’s still serving a suspension and won’t be eligible to return until Week 5 at the earliest. He could be facing an additional 10-game suspension after failing another drug test this offseason … Reports of Sammy Watkins’ foot injury were all over the map on Monday. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that Watkins could be shut down for “several weeks,” though Watkins himself said he plans on playing Thursday against the Jets. Watkins snagged four catches for 43 yards in the Bills’ season-opening loss to Baltimore on Sunday … Julius Thomas and Jalen Ramsey both suffered sprained ankles in Sunday’s opener against the Packers. Their availability for Sunday against the Chargers will be determined at practice this week … Saints corner Delvin Breaux had surgery to repair a broken leg on Monday. He’s expected to miss about six weeks … Demaryius Thomas said he’s taking his hip injury “day by day” and wouldn’t disclose his status for Week 2 against Indianapolis. He secured four-of-six targets for 48 yards Thursday in a narrow win over the Panthers … NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Larry Fitzgerald had told “people close to him” that 2016 would be his final season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has since refuted his report. Fitzgerald looked great in Sunday’s opener, delivering eight catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to New England.
