Calvin Johnson’s ankle injury has left the NFL without the player generally believed to be the best wide receiver in the league for most of this season.
That’s left an opening for others to make their case for the top spot and Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has made the most of it. He’s leading the league in catches and second in receiving yards thanks to strong performances every week despite the focus that opposing defenses devote to stopping him.
On Tuesday, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the fact that Brown continues to produce at a high level even though those opponents put forth that kind of effort is one of the reasons why he’d put Brown up against any other receiver.
“He’s one of the best in the world at what he does,” Tomlin said, via the team’s website. "[Antonio] is physically and mentally on top of his game, and when you have somebody who’s playing like that, you step into a stadium and he’s a known issue but still he performs. We say similar things about guys like J.J. Watt. We knew what he was capable of when we were getting ready to play the Houston Texans, but it still doesn’t stop the storm from coming. Antonio is playing at that type of a level from a wide receiver standpoint, a J.J. Watt discussion kind of a level. I’m glad that he’s on our team.”
The last two weeks have seen rookie Martavis Bryant step into a big offensive role, catching seven passes and three touchdowns that Tomlin credited to defenses paying so much attention to Brown. If Bryant continues to find the end zone, defenses will have to keep both in mind and keeping Brown in check will be even more difficult over the second half of the season.
