Antonio Brown wants the ball and wants the Steelers to win games. Usually the first thing _ Brown catching a lot of balls _ is a big part of the second.
But the Steelers beat the Bengals on Sunday with Brown having only four receptions for 39 yards and no touchdowns.
During and immediately after the game, Brown let his frustrations boil over and admitted on his radio show Tuesday night that Ben Roethlisberger tells him to "shut up" when things like that happen on the field.
He also told the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette that winning is indeed the most important thing, though it was a little bit cryptic and not quite as convincing as one would like.
"I always want to have a great performance and give the fans what they came to see," Brown said. "Regardless of winning, I'm a competitor. I'm always going to maximize my opportunities on the football field and my playmaking abilities. I think about the plays when I go home and I take it seriously. It means a lot to me.
"But anytime you win, it's a positive, it's a great thing. That's our business _ winning."
Brown was frustrated because the Bengals didn't roll a lot of coverage to him or bracket him or double team him like a lot of teams do, and thus he believes he was open a lot more than his numbers would indicate.
It does seem like he isn't being a completely selfish player and winning is the most important thing to him, but he also said last week that he _ the king of end zone dances and celebration penalties _ doesn't like to bring attention to himself, so who knows what he actually means.
The reality is this: As much as Brown wanted more catches for more yards on Sunday, it isn't like he wasn't featured prominently in the game plan and couldn't have had a big day despite the conditions.
On the Steelers first drive, they faced a fourth-and-5 at the 37, and Brown ran a good route and beat Adam Jones to the inside of the field and would have had a great chance to score if he was thrown the ball in stride. But the ball was behind him, and Jones intercepted it at the 21.
Later in the first half, the Steelers faced a third-and-16 at their own 31, and Roethlisberger hit Brown down the field in stride for what would have been an easy first down. But Brown dropped it.
Brown, with one good move, may have scored on that play, too, but at the very least it would have went for about 25 yards.
So if you just add 37 yards and a touchdown for the first route _ a bad ball by Roethlisberger _ and, say, 25 yards for the second route, now all of the sudden Brown's day is six catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, and nobody (including him) is talking about him not being involved enough in the offense.
Obviously there is a contract is at stake for Brown, so perhaps there is a sense of urgency for him to make sure he achieves the big numbers we've come to expect from him.
But that is a short-sighted approach, as Brown just needs to help the Steelers win games, which he does just by being a presence on the field and a player who defenses need to account for.
He will get his big-money deal. That's especially true if the Steelers go on to win the Super Bowl as free agent players on Super Bowl teams tend to be overvalued on the market.
Brown is a great player, probably the best receiver in the business, so he will be taken care with his next deal, and he is also going to be taken care of by Roethlisberger on most days, too.
It is great that he wants the ball. It shows he is a competitor, but he also should understand that all he needs to do is help the Steelers win and make plays when his number is called and the rest of it will take care of itself.
Some days the Steelers will need him to go off for 10 catches and 150 yards; others he may just need to be a presence on the field that forces the defense to roll to him and opens things up for others.
That's what makes football the ultimate team game.
