Sep 22, 2018 6 min read

The Steelers gave up six touchdown passes in their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, tying a dubious team record set in 1991 against the Buffalo Bills.

There were communication issues, again, blamed for multiple breakdowns and receivers running free in the team’s secondary.

And yet talk this week surrounding the team centered on star receiver Antonio Brown.

Brown was caught by TV cameras late in last Sunday’s 42-37 loss to the Chiefs having an animated discussion with first-year offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.

Then, he left the locker room without speaking to reporters and was the first guy out of the locker room – an oddity for a player who is often the last guy in the room.

Next, he replied to a tweet from a former team employee who suggested he owed his career to Ben Roethlisberger, “Trade me let’s find out.”

Finally, Brown didn’t show up for a team meeting Monday, citing a personal issue that he had to attend.

Mike Tomlin met with the receiver Tuesday and said he had disciplined Brown. What that discipline was is anyone’s guess since the Steelers aren’t talking about it.

But we can assume Brown was fined. Again, for what exactly, we don’t know.

Was it the sideline dust-up? Was it the tweet? Was it not showing up for work? Was it all of the above?

Brown is a fabulous football player. He’s the best receiver in team history and in the conversation as one of the best to ever play.

But he also can be a distraction. Even he admitted that this week.

“Obviously, it is a distraction when you are writing guys on twitter and my teammates have to answer about it,” Brown said, perhaps giving some insight into why he was disciplined by Tomlin. “You guys making headlines that I want to be traded. I am nothing but grateful for this organization that took a chance on me, giving me an opportunity to live out my dream. So, any time I’m looked upon, or looked upon my teammates as I am a guy who doesn’t appreciate them or I’m a guy who is not trying to win. Or the guy in the media you guys make me out to be, then it is a distraction. Because our business is winning and playing football. And that is what I am here to do.”

Thing is, Brown’s “distraction” this week might be just what the Steelers needed.

It took some of the attention off a horrible defensive performance against the Chiefs.

• So, is the defense a problem? We’ll find out Monday night against the Buccaneers.

Kansas City’s offense is dynamic. Andy Reid might be the most talented play caller in the NFL and he has weapons all over with that team – two speedy receivers, an All-Pro tight end and a running back who led the league in rushing last season.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is off to a hot start for a good reason. He’s very good and there’s really no book on him yet in terms of what he can and can’t do – though there doesn’t appear to be a lot in the latter column.

Five or six weeks from now, we could look back at that game last week and see that it was just another big offensive performance for the Chiefs, who are doing similar things each week. After all, they’ve already gone on the road and put up big points against the Chargers and Steelers, two of the favorites in the AFC.

• One thing Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said this week is that he might have to simplify things a bit with his group to cut down on the miscommunication and blown coverages.

It’s probably a good idea.

While nobody was really talking about this in the offseason, the Steelers have had a lot of turnover and movement – at least for them – on their defense.

Morgan Burnett and Terrell Edmunds are newcomers at the strong safety position. Strong safety Sean Davis is playing free safety for the first time. Jon Bostic is a new starter at inside linebacker. And outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree have flipped spots on the field.

Because of injuries to Burnett, Davis and Watt, that group didn’t get to play a lot together at training camp or in the preseason.

Tampa Bay could offer a good test to see if that works.

• Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the definition of a journeyman, has thrown for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns in each of his first two games while subbing for suspended Jameis Winston. He joined Dan Marino (1984) and Billy Volek (2004) as the only quarterbacks to have back-to-back 400-yard, four-touchdown games.

Marino followed up those efforts with a 340-yard, four-touchdown performance with two interceptions for the Dolphins. Volek? He went 8 of 20 for 111 yards and two interceptions in his next game for the Titans.

Fitzpatrick, who owns a 50-70-1 career record with 181 touchdowns and 137 interceptions, is a lot closer to Volek than he is Marino. The clock could be close to striking midnight.

• The Picks

After posting a 2-3 record last week, we’ll try to bounce back in Week 3.

Steelers (minus 1 ½) over Tampa Bay: As mentioned above, Fitzpatrick has been hot, but the Steelers are unbeaten in their past 10 prime time games, including 5-0 on the road. Ben Roethlisberger has averaged 298.5 yards passing in those road wins. The Steelers will win this one, 31-28.

Carolina (minus 3) over Cincinnati: The Bengals will be playing without Joe Mixon in this game, which will put more on the plate of Andy Dalton. Cam Newton and the Panthers will win this game, 24-17, at home.

Denver (plus 5 ½) over Baltimore: The Broncos have played well on defense and have the offensive weapons to put up points against a depleted Baltimore secondary. Denver is an underdog, but will win this one, 23-20.

New England (minus 7) over Detroit: The Lions showed up and covered as expected last week at San Francisco. But the Patriots lost to Jacksonville and will be looking to bounce back. They’ll have no mercy against former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and the Lions in a 34-21 win.

Buffalo (plus 16 ½) over Minnesota: This has all the feeling of a trap game for the Vikings, who are coming off a tie against Green Bay and have a huge Thursday night game against the Rams next week. The Bills are terrible, but 16 ½ points is a lot in the NFL. Buffalo will cover the spread in a 31-17 loss.