During the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-7 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, Antonio Brown was not happy about Ben Roethlisberger missing a chance for a huge gain. Call it par for the course, since the quarterback isn’t pleased with his star receiver’s response.
Roethlisberger appeared on 97.3 The Fan for his weekly radio hit and said the way Brown handled the mistake was unfortunate, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who noted Big Ben said he would have preferred Brown talk to him about what happened on the missed play.
And Roethlisberger was rather pointed in his final comment:
“That goes a lot further than throwing a temper tantrum.”
Before anyone gets carried away and declares a rift in the Pittsburgh locker room, that’s not the takeaway here. Roethlisberger and Brown have established a lethal connection on the field, so it’s reasonable for the quarterback to be disappointed in how his main target reacted.
Conversely, we can understand why Brown was heated. Roethlisberger usually sees the downfield shot, and he absolutely missed this one.
Since Brown had 10 yards between him and the nearest Ravens defender, it would’ve been a touchdown for the Steelers. The star receiver’s frustration then boiled over on the sideline, where he flipped a cooler and yelled at offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
Nevertheless, you can be sure this won’t affect Roethlisberger and Brown on the field moving forward. As long as Big Ben stays healthy, he’ll be looking Brown’s way 10-15 times per game.
And once the duo connects on a deep pass for a score, all will be forgiven.