May 9, 2017 3 min read

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The Tweet from the NFL Network was innocent enough. And it came from former Raiders legend Tim Brown, so it was a bit biased.

“172 catches & 2,156 receiving yards between the two in 2016.

“They are a tough duo to stop.”

Brown was, of course, referencing Oakland’s wide receiver duo of Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.

He just as easily could have been speaking about the Steelers’ Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant.

While Cooper and Crabtree’s numbers from last season were excellent, they pale in comparison to those posted by Brown and Bryant in 2015, the last season in which they played together.

Pittsburgh’s duo had 186 receptions for 2,599 yards and 16 touchdown catches in 2015. And Bryant missed the first five games of the regular season.

The year before, with Bryant only appearing in 10 games as a rookie, the two combined for 165 catches for 2,257 yards and 21 touchdowns.

There is not a more dangerous receiving duo in the NFL. Period. End of conversation.

That secondary receiving option was something the Steelers often were missing in 2016. It is – assuming Bryant has his head screwed on correctly – something the Steelers, and most notably quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, will take advantage of in 2017.

Add in running back Le’Veon Bell, perhaps the league’s best all-around running back, an offensive line that is as good as any, and there won’t be a more dangerous offense in the NFL this season.

I was asked today on ESPN Pittsburgh by David Todd what the response will be by Bryant’s teammates once he’s back in the locker room. They’re upset with him.

But they’re upset because he made himself unavailable last season.

The players will get over their hurt feelings as soon as Bryant starts catching bombs again in practice.

Remember, the last time we saw him on a football field during a playoff game at Denver, he might very well have been the best player on the field.

With Brown sitting that game out because of a concussion suffered in a postseason win at Cincinnati, Bryant caught nine passes for 154 yards and also had two rushing attempts for 40 yards.

Against Denver’s top-rated defense.

With Fitzgerald Toussaint carrying the football 16 times because both Bell and backup running back DeAngelo Williams were injured.

He was a man playing with boys.

So with all apologies to Brown, while it might be true that Oakland’s duo of Cooper and Crabtree is very good, it pales in comparison to Brown and Bryant.