There have been a lot of stories written over the last week or so that discuss Antonio Brown and whether or not he can break a variety of records this season.
Will he catch 20 touchdown passes? Will he break the all-time receptions in a season record? Will he go over 2,000 yards receiving? Could he become one of the rare wide receivers to win the Most Valuable Player Award?
I’m not dissing these questions in any way. I think it would be great if he were to reach one or all of those achievements but would they come with any sacrifices? Would the team suffer at the expense of such gaudy numbers or would they mean even greater success for the team?
In my mind, the Steelers need to find balance on offense in 2016 and I just don’t mean the balance between passing the ball and running it. Yes, that’s always nice but it isn’t quite what I’m getting at it in this case. Brown will no doubt be the focal point of the passing attack, that’s no surprise at all, but with Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams along with a plethora of other receivers, will Brown see as many balls as many seem to think he will?
In order for proper balance to be achieved, Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates have to deliver. If they can’t get open when defenses double-cover Brown then that’s going to be a huge problem. Same goes for Ladarius Green as well and he might not even be 100% heading into camp as he recovers from ankle surgery.
I still believe the Steelers have to be a ‘pass-first’ offense because the running game can play so well off of that with arguably the best backfield in football. All in all it is a very symbiotic relationship. Should too much focus be on getting Brown records without them happening naturally then problems can ensue.
Certainly the biggest factor in not only Brown’s pursuit of greatness but also in the overall balance of the offense is the health of Ben Roethlisberger. Any time you take him off the field everyone suffers. The proof was in the pudding last season and no one suffered as much as Brown.
Brown securing any number of records is always good for business but how good would it actually be for the offense as a whole? This is something we’ll have to watch play out in 2016 but my gut tells me the offense needs a massive dose
of balance versus it just being AB all the time.
1 comment
At Brown’s career average for yards per reception (13.5), he would need 149 catches to break 2,000 yards. Assuming a 70% catch percentage (which is high but not out of the nrom for him), he will need 213 targets to catch 149 balls.
The Steelers have thrown an average of 596 passes during the past 3 seasons.
Putting Brown over 2,000 yards would require the team to devote over 1/3 of the total targets to AB. I don’t see it happening unless the majority of the offense somehow collapses, aside from Ben, and leaves Brown as the only viable offensive threat.
If that happens, we aren’t going to win a ton of games.
I agree. What the situation demands is balance. There is only one ball. The Steelers aree stacked with offensive talent between AB, Bell, Green, Wheaton, Coates, James and let us not forget the guy who held everything together last year, DeAngelo Williams.