Antonio Brown was benched Sunday, but will start this week

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Posted by Josh Alper on November 5, 2013, 12:34 PM EST

There have been no shortage of things that have gone wrong for the Steelers this season, but wide receiver Antonio Brown had been able to stay pretty much above the fray as he racked up catches as the top receiver on the offense.


Even Brown hasn’t been able to remain totally immune from the misery that’s settled in around the team, however. Coach Mike Tomlin said, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday that he benched Brown late in the loss to the Patriots last Sunday because they didn’t feel that Brown was providing “quality execution” of his assignments.


Whatever frustration there was with Brown on Sunday, however, it won’t wind up affecting his status for the Week 10 game against the Bills. Tomlin said that Brown will start and play his regular role.


Tomlin has said that players who are lacking effort will be benched and there’s no better way to illustrate that point than by benching a player as important to the Steelers’ chances of winning a few games this season as Brown, but the flip side of that is that Tomlin will have to extend the same treatment to every player on the team. That will make it difficult to field a defense since it was hard to find a single player who was providing quality execution of his assignments in the second half of the New England loss.



[url]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/05/antonio-brown-was-benched-sunday-but-will-start-this-week/[/url]

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I noticed Brown not on the field near the end, but it was at a time that I figured that they were sitting some starters in light of the blowout score at the time. When was he benched?

[flippy]

Tomlin and the coaches should just stay in the locker room for a quarter to start the next game. Seriously, is there a way to bench coaches?

[feltdizz]

Tomlin and the coaches should just stay in the locker room for a quarter to start the next game. Seriously, is there a way to bench coaches?

This is getting ridiculous... Tomlin definitely needs to bench his fake benchings and hollow threats.

[Shoe]

Shouldn't Polamalu be benched for seemingly blowing off multiple coverage assignments too?

[flippy]

Shouldn't Polamalu be benched for seemingly blowing off multiple coverage assignments too?

With Troy, I think it was a case of Tom Brady baiting him out of position a la Drew Brees a few years back. I think Troy is playing a lot like Ben right now. A couple great plays mixed in with a lot of trash because he's trying to do too much. I think he's guessing more to try and make something happen because our D is in complete disarray.

I think the poor performance by most of our players is making some of our better players look worse because they're trying to do more than their assignment to make up for everyone else. I still think there's a core of quality players out there on the field. And we still might only be a few tweaks from turning things around and getting back on track.

[squidkid]

even the tomlin nuthuggers cant believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore...................can they?
the guy is a complete joke. threatens to bench the lazy players and then says brown will start.

anyone other than me see how tomlin is more worried about his W/L record then actually hold players accountable or himself for that matter?

[flippy]

even the tomlin nuthuggers cant believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore...................can they?
the guy is a complete joke. threatens to bench the lazy players and then says brown will start.

anyone other than me see how tomlin is more worried about his W/L record then actually hold players accountable or himself for that matter?

i honestly go back and forth on tomlin. is he good? is he bad? sometimes he's both and for the same reasons. there have been times where his calm demeanor/patient approach have worked out and instilled confidence in guys. Then there are other times like now, where Tomlin being calm in this mess makes him look clueless.

his rhetoric sounds cool when we're winning. it's grating when we're losing. and i do kinda like that his approach hasn't changed since we're losing and his approach has worked in the past. at the same time it drives me crazy that he's not doing anything to fix this.

it's almost like he's caught in this andy reid type of dilemma where he's lost the team and maybe we have to make a change just like philly did as a result? and like reid, tomlin would probably end up leaving and having major success somewhere else. and then all we'll hear is we wish we had him back once he's gone.

it's tough being rational as a fan of this team

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Tomlin and the coaches should just stay in the locker room for a quarter to start the next game. Seriously, is there a way to bench coaches?

I like your idea of letting the players call the plays for the first quarter. Let Ben call the offensive plays, and Timmons the defensive plays, for the first quarter, and see what happens.

[Shoe]

even the tomlin nuthuggers cant believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore...................can they?
the guy is a complete joke. threatens to bench the lazy players and then says brown will start.

anyone other than me see how tomlin is more worried about his W/L record then actually hold players accountable or himself for that matter?

The Brown hate frankly dumbfounds me. How is he lazy?

I do agree that Tomlin is all talk, but this doesn't really prove it. I mean, he can't really justify benching our team MVP this season.

[NJ-STEELER]

lack of effort? even after he got paid??

hmm, where are the ones that bashed wallace for the same thing which was before he even got paid

[grotonsteel]

One good thing Tomlin did. Running wrong routes should put you on bench.

Ben was going to blast AB84 but Tomlin said "Let it go". Well Tomlin finally did put AB84 on bench. Maybe next game he might play like a #1 WR.

[squidkid]

One good thing Tomlin did. Running wrong routes should put you on bench.

Ben was going to blast AB84 but Tomlin said "Let it go". Well Tomlin finally did put AB84 on bench. Maybe next game he might play like a #1 WR.

down by 3 tds without the ball with 3 minutes to go in the game and tomlin shows what a tough guy he is and benches AB. only to eat his words and let him start the next week...................i am embarrassed for him.
he should just stfu and stand there looking stupid instead of looking stupid and sounding stupid

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

lack of effort? even after he got paid??

hmm, where are the ones that bashed wallace for the same thing which was before he even got paid

I don't think that the two situations are similar at all. Wallace dogged it the entire year last season after coming in late. The lack of effort was visible every game, and it was only on the rare occasion that you saw any effort, and that would usually only occur when he had a chance to run free - like with his catch in Tenn. Wallace came out and told everybody that he routinely checks out in games where he is not being fed the ball.

AB leads the league in receptions this year and is 12th in YPG. He has played good football. If he isn't earning his paycheck this year, he is at least in the same neighborhood. He ran the wrong route with three and a half minutes to go in a 17 point game. This is not a good thing, but can't be compared to playing with nothing for an entire season, if not longer as many were suggesting prior to last year.

But when it comes to a Wallace/Brown comparison since they both got paid, take a look at this...

Player Rec yards Avg YPG long TD

Brown 61 701 11.5 87.6 45 3
Wallace 36 480 13.3 60.0 49 1

Pretty one sided, we might be better of comparing Wallace to our number 2, who most people wanted in New England in return for a third rounder...

Sanders 37 494 13.4 61.8 55T 2

Wallace's numbers are strikingly similar to a guy who is an afterthought here. Wallace has already complained about not getting the ball enough this year. A headache that we just don't need.

[flippy]

I don't think that the two situations are similar at all. Wallace dogged it the entire year last season after coming in late. The lack of effort was visible every game, and it was only on the rare occasion that you saw any effort, and that would usually only occur when he had a chance to run free - like with his catch in Tenn. Wallace came out and told everybody that he routinely checks out in games where he is not being fed the ball.

AB leads the league in receptions this year and is 12th in YPG. He has played good football. If he isn't earning his paycheck this year, he is at least in the same neighborhood. He ran the wrong route with three and a half minutes to go in a 17 point game. This is not a good thing, but can't be compared to playing with nothing for an entire season, if not longer as many were suggesting prior to last year.

But when it comes to a Wallace/Brown comparison since they both got paid, take a look at this...

Player Rec yards Avg YPG long TD

Brown 61 701 11.5 87.6 45 3
Wallace 36 480 13.3 60.0 49 1

Pretty one sided, we might be better of comparing Wallace to our number 2, who most people wanted in New England in return for a third rounder...

Sanders 37 494 13.4 61.8 55T 2

Wallace's numbers are strikingly similar to a guy who is an afterthought here. Wallace has already complained about not getting the ball enough this year. A headache that we just don't need.

Wow. I never thought Manny would have better numbers than Wally. That part's crazy when you think about it.