Antonio Brown is a great player. What he’s been doing these last few years is as impressive as anything I’ve seen from a wide receiver. He’s piling up a ton of catches, yards and touchdowns. He’s creating big plays and he’s making difficult catches – on contested balls.
But like the rest of his team, he hasn’t been as effective away from Heinz Field. I’ve mentioned this a couple of times with Ben Roethlisberger, who I believe has thrown 50 touchdown passes in his last 16 games at how but just 17 touchdowns in his last 16 games on the road. With Roethlisberger throwing only a third as many touchdowns in his road games, it’s reasonable that Brown’s numbers will also be down.
So I ran the numbers for Brown. In his last 16 games at home, he’s caught 134 passes for a patriotic 1,776 yards and 16 TDs. You could hardly ask for more, and the Steelers have gone 11-5 in those games.
Brown doesn’t turn into a mediocre nobody on the road. He’s caught 129 passes in his last 16 games away from Heinz Field. Nobody’s complaining with that. But he’s averaged almost a yard less per catch (fewer big plays) and has caught only 6 TDs. And the Steelers are only 8-8 in those games.
| ANTONIO BROWN; LAST 16 GAMES AT HOME | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Score | No | Yards | TD |
| 2014 | N.O. | L 32-35 | 8 | 97 | 2 |
| 2014 | K.C. | W 20-12 | 7 | 72 | 1 |
| 2014 | Cin. | W 27-17 | 7 | 128 | 1 |
| 2015 | S.F. | W 43-18 | 9 | 195 | 1 |
| 2015 | Balt. | L 20-23 | 5 | 42 | 0 |
| 2015 | Ariz. | W 25-13 | 3 | 24 | 0 |
| 2015 | Cin. | L 10-16 | 6 | 47 | 1 |
| 2015 | Oak. | W 38-35 | 17 | 284 | 0 |
| 2015 | Clev. | W 30-9 | 10 | 139 | 2 |
| 2015 | Ind. | W 45-10 | 8 | 118 | 2 |
| 2015 | Den. | W 34-27 | 16 | 189 | 2 |
| 2016 | Cin. | W 24-16 | 4 | 39 | 0 |
| 2016 | K.C. | W 43-14 | 4 | 64 | 2 |
| 2016 | NYJ | W 31-13 | 9 | 78 | 1 |
| 2016 | N.E. | L 16-27 | 7 | 106 | 0 |
| 2016 | Dall. | L 30-35 | 14 | 154 | 1 |
| Total | -- | 11-5 | 134 | 1,776 | 16 |
| ANTONIO BROWN; LAST 16 GAMES ON THE ROAD | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Score | No | Yards | TD |
| 2014 | NYJ | L 13-20 | 8 | 74 | 0 |
| 2014 | Tenn. | W 27-24 | 9 | 91 | 1 |
| 2014 | Cin. | W 42-21 | 9 | 117 | 0 |
| 2014 | Atl. | W 27-20 | 10 | 123 | 0 |
| 2015 | N.E. | L 21-28 | 9 | 133 | 1 |
| 2015 | St.L. | W 12-6 | 11 | 108 | 0 |
| 2015 | S.D. | W 24-20 | 3 | 45 | 0 |
| 2015 | K.C. | L 13-23 | 6 | 124 | 0 |
| 2015 | Sea. | L 30-39 | 6 | 51 | 0 |
| 2015 | Cin. | W 33-20 | 7 | 87 | 0 |
| 2015 | Balt. | L 17-20 | 7 | 61 | 0 |
| 2015 | Clev. | W 28-12 | 13 | 187 | 1 |
| 2016 | Wash. | W 38-16 | 8 | 126 | 2 |
| 2016 | Phil. | L 3-34 | 12 | 140 | 0 |
| 2016 | Mia. | L 15-30 | 4 | 39 | 0 |
| 2016 | Balt. | L 14-21 | 7 | 85 | 1 |
| Total | -- | 8-8 | 129 | 1,591 | 6 |
Steelers are playing against 0-10 Cleveland today. Nobody’s suggesting that Brown should be left out of fantasy lineups. But numbers suggest he’s more likely to be just a good receiver this week, rather than putting up one of his great games.
Brown had one of his best road games at Cleveland last December, catching 13 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. In each of his previous two games at that stadium, he caught plenty of passes but no touchdowns – 9 for 87 and7 for 118.
—Ian Allan