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Brown wins the day for Steelers

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CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Browns are building around young players, acquiring as many draft picks as they can and using them on players they hope can help the team out of the doldrums.

This year, that included three first-round draft picks and quarterback Deshone Kizer, who was the first pick of the second round.

The one Brown Cleveland doesn’t have, however, is an Antonio Brown.

As good as some of their young players might someday be, they aren’t Brown, who was a one-man wrecking crew Sunday.

We didn’t get to see No. 1-overall draft pick Myles Garrett, a defensive end for Cleveland who sat out the 21-18 win by the Steelers because of an ankle sprain.

Maybe he can be a game-changing player.

The best player in this game was Brown, a former sixth-round draft pick. And it wasn’t close.

Eleven times Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger targeted Brown with a pass. And all 11 times Brown came down with the football.

And each one seemed to be better, and more important, than the last.

“Antonio Brown, with the number of critical plays he made, was big time,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in what could be considered an understatement.

On second-and-8 from the Pittsburgh 11-yard line just before the two-minute warningof the first half, the Steelers’ offense was having issues getting anything going.

Roethlisberger fired a pass over the middle that middle linebacker Joe Schobert got a hand on. The ball was deflected and Brown hauled it in while staying in stride, turning it into a 50-yard gain.

As if suddenly remembering Brown was on the field, Roethlisberger went to him again on the next two plays, picking up 30 more yards to set up a 4-yard TD pass to tight end Jesse James.

On Pittsburgh’s next touchdown drive, it was again Brown that was the difference, drawing a 41-yard pass interference penalty that set up another scoring pass to James.

Then, in the fourth quarter, with the Steelers clinging to the 21-18 lead and deep in their own territory, Roethlisberger went to Brown on second-and-12, basically throwing the ball up in the air into triple coverage.

The 5-10 Brown went up and caught the ball in the middle of those defenders for a 38-yard gain, allowing the Steelers to run out the clock.

“That guy is a hell of a player,” Cleveland cornerback Jason McCourty said. “I’ve heard guys say he works his butt off every single day. It shows up on Sunday. Down the stretch, you know the ball is going to him. Whether he is covered or not covered, he finds ways to make plays.”

That was Roethlisberger’s feeling, too.

When he needed a play, he went to his sure thing.

“I see AB going, I’m going to take that shot,” said Roethlisberger. “I’ve got all of the trust in the world in him and he’s got it in me. I don’t think there are two guys that work together like him and I do.”

How good was Brown?

He accounted for 182 of the Steelers’ 290 yards. While Roethlisberger often looked like he wasn’t on the same page as some of the Steelers’ other receivers and running backs, that most certainly wasn’t the case with Brown.

“It was the first game, so we knew we would come out a little rusty,” said Brown. “But we got the win. That’s all that matters.”

Some have questioned Brown’s motives. The critics think he’s all about padding his statistics.

And sure, he’s flashy. The multi-colored silk suit with ruby red bedazzled tennis shoes he wore as an ensemble at Sunday’s game scream to the world, “Look at me!” If he had tapped his feet together and said, “There’s no place like home,” he might have transported to Kansas.

But he’s also the best in the world at his craft. And he works ridiculously hard to make that the case.

That’s why the Steelers had no issue giving the 29-year-old a four-year, $68-million contract extension in the offseason.

While the rest of the offense spent the day looking like it was slogging through mud, drawing penalties and going nowhere, the former sixth-round draft pick saved the day.

Brown always wants the ball because he thinks he gives the Steelers the best chance to win.

That was absolutely the case.

Staff writer Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.

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