Fourth-and-1 usually means a run. “He is Antonio Brown, and he lived up to it tonight”.
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Wide Receivers: Even with the nearly fumble by Antonio Brown in the first quarter and the Rogers-Roethlisberger miscommunication, the Steelers’ wide receiving corps still get a high grade.
Starting in place of the suspended Le’Veon Bell, DeAngelo Williams ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Instead, his first-quarter interception became a footnote, as Brown won. What are you going to do without Heath Miller?’ My message was, ‘Well, we’ve got (Coates), we’ve got (Rogers), and all the tight ends, and DeAngelo Williams’.
“I’m sure he wanted to play me, but I don’t know if it was his coach’s scheme or what they thought”, Brown told the MNF crew.
“We knew we could kind of finish the job”, left guard Ramon Foster said. “He was like, “I’m gonna make the play” and he made the play”.
The Steelers offense got off to a slow start on Monday night, but once Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and company got into a rhythm the Redskins had no answers.
“We’re confident in that group”, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. And five came on third or fourth down, though only two of those were in obvious passing situations. Prior to the game, I said that if Brown totaled over 100 yards of receiving, the Steelers would win.
Brown caught eight passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns for Pittsburgh (1-0).
Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions on a disappointing night for the team at home. “We’ll just get back to work and be hard on ourselves, and then come back with a lot of energy tomorrow, practice and just get ready for the next week, as life in the National Football League tends to be”. Washington failed to stretch the field offensively, with DeSean Jackson’s 33-yard reception the Redskins’ only play of more than 20 yards all evening. Pittsburgh went on to score a touchdown on that drive, and took all the momentum from there.
Throughout the first half, the Pittsburgh Steelers frequently began plays with Brown in the backfield, behind or next to Ben Roethlisberger.
“It’s embarrassing because we’re a better football team than that”, Compton said. It’s too early to panic over the Redskins, but it’s not too early to be concerned. That wasn’t the only matchup the Redskins lost in, and Kirk Cousins was bad in his first game as a franchise tagged player, but the Norman-Brown spectacle, only due to the trash talking of the cornerback, grabbed the headlines.
The only thing keeping them in this game was Dustin Hopkins who was 3 for 3 in his field goal attempts. “We came away with a loss and it wasn’t good enough”. The Redskins’ opening possession looked promising until Cousins, with plenty of time, threw short to Jordan Reed, who fought his way for 13 yards.
Washington couldn’t stop the run at all. Against Washington, they allowed some big gains from Washington’s receivers, especially late in the third quarter. The pass was intended for Coates but cornerback Bashaud Breeland jumped the quick slant and the ball bounced directly to Rogers for the score.
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Right before halftime, Rothelisberger threw another touchdown pass to Eli Rogers from 3 yards out, to give Pittsburgh a 14 to 6 lead.
