Game Balls & Goats (Steelers vs. Bengals)

GAME BALLS

Antonio Brown. The BEST receiver in the NFL. Yeah, I said it. I honestly believe that most Steelers fans hopped on the Brown bandwagon too early because of their hatred for Wallace. At the time, Brown showed promise as a young receiver, but he hadn't proven anything yet. Fans' hatred for Wallace made them love Brown more than they should have at the time. But over the past few seasons, he has proven himself as not only a viable No. 1 receiver for the Steelers, but also the best receiver in the league. Hines Ward is my all-time favorite Steelers player. But I have no problem saying that Antonio is already a much better receiver than Hines.

O-Line. WOW! Much love to Munchak and the players. This line is really starting to come together. They're still not great, but they're really good. Ben wasn't at his best tonight because of health issues, but if he had been 100 percent, the way the line played ... our offense would have rolled.

The secondary. We've given them crap for a long time, and deservedly so. But this makeshift secondary is actually playing relatively well. Not great, but good enough. I'm not giving McCain an individual game ball because both of his INTs were a result of being in the right place at the right time rather than making a great play, but being in the right place at the right time only happens when everything else is clicking. This secondary is better without Ike and Troy. That's the sad reality.

GOATS

Antonio Brown for his flip into the end zone on the punt return. Seriously ... STOP IT!! If you watch it in slow motion, he was a few inches from landing on his head and jamming his neck into the ground. We've all seen players get hurt on celebrations. There is NO excuse for that. Walk into the end zone and hand the ball to the ref. Or do a silly dance. Whatever. But DO NOT do a flip and land on your back. That's just stupid. Going into the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl is the goal ... not celebrating a regular-season touchdown. Especially if you accidentally get hurt in the process, as some players have. I love A. Brown, but someone really needs to break him of that kind of nonsense.

Due to an outage all I got to see was part of the 3rd and the 4th quarter. With that said :

Game ball:

Brown
Oline
Secondary

Goats:

Only one I saw was a rookie (Bryant) trying to tackle A.Brown on the touchdown catch. It would not be so funny if we didn't score.

Game Balls:

BR7 - (for anyone that has ever suffered a stomach virus, they know that crawling out of bed is almost impossible, let alone playing a football game.  He gets a game ball for toughing it out)

AB - the only word that comes to mind to describe him is awesome.  Just awesome.

O-line - they gave Ben enough time to  grocery shop, make dinner, and serve dessert.

D - As a whole, they played really good.  Even Deion and Co on NFL Game Day said they played like the Steeler's D of the past.  McCain for his two interceptions

Bryant - continues to score TD's.  Eight this year -- not too shabby for a rookie  Also Josh Harris for his 59 yard run, even though it didn't count due to the penalty.

Goats:

The Bungel that injured Bell.  Even though it wasn't intentional, and it was legal, I wanted to kill him..

None really.

Wallace108 wrote:

Antonio Brown. The BEST receiver in the NFL. Yeah, I said it. I honestly believe that most Steelers fans hopped on the Brown bandwagon too early because of their hatred for Wallace. At the time, Brown showed promise as a young receiver, but he hadn't proven anything yet. Fans' hatred for Wallace made them love Brown more than they should have at the time. But over the past few seasons, he has proven himself as not only a viable No. 1 receiver for the Steelers, but also the best receiver in the league. Hines Ward is my all-time favorite Steelers player. But I have no problem saying that Antonio is already a much better receiver than Hines

Not me.  I liked AB from day one because of his work ethic.  I remember many fans (including the press) being skeptical of his big contract and how some believed it was basically an "f.u." to Wallace that was holding out at the time.  I've always said talent is only part of the whole, the rest is dedication and heart, which AB has plenty of.

Hines is my favorite Steeler too, but AB is certainly catching up and may end up in a tie

As far as his Mary Lou Retton imitation, well, Brown will be Brown. I remember when Hines did a back flip off the stage during a practice on Dancing With The Stars. I think Brown is an emotional player, and sometimes allows emotions to override logic. I worry far more about a Ratbird or Bungel injuring him than Brown injuring himself.

Game Ball:
Antonio Brown
Ben
Bell
O-line (zero sacks, how many times has that happened in Ben's career)

Goats:
Brown for his leap
Reggie Nelson, although the hit was legal, it could have been career ending

I may have mentioned this before, but in the preseason I was trying to write an article about our "other AB" Antwon Blake, but had very little source material, other than being a part-time starter in Jacksonville, before he was cut a season removed. I always thought he was going to be more than just a special teams ace.

It's a shame he's short, because with a few more inches this guy wouldn't be in mismatches... granted he's had some bad penalties or beaten a few times early in the year, but has been lights out IMO since.

Brice McCain is another guy who had starting experience before the Texans (loaded with DBs) released him. You have to give him more credit than saying he's in the right place, because Ike Taylor would've NEVER caught those balls!!! (McCain has had a several picks this season too, something Ike could never say.)

Will Gay, what else you can you say about his play? I used to HATE watching him, but he's matured into a very solid corner, one we can't let get away.

How about Will Allen playing in Troy's spot too. And for as much as people rip on Mike Mitchell, guy has been a sure tackler recently, and his/Blake's play on AJ Green late in the game is what they brought MM in to do.

But above all, someone please give this game ball, not to the secondary, but to Carnell Lake. He's brought this band of misfits together and morphed them into a respectable unit. It's their play that's helping Heyward and Tuitt get a push up front, which is helping those LBs make plays like the Steelers of old.

I do believe they've found the right mix of talent and it's interesting to see if Ike, or even Troy, see the field again this season.

Forgot to mention: defense didn't give up a pass of 20+ yards last night. Another reason Lake gets the game ball.

Quote :

But above all, someone please give this game ball, not to the secondary, but to Carnell Lake. He's brought this band of misfits together and morphed them into a respectable unit. It's their play that's helping Heyward and Tuitt get a push up front, which is helping those LBs make plays like the Steelers of old

Absolutely!