Steelers/NFL
The Big Ben – Antonio Brown Debate It’s no secret that Ben Roethlisberger is under appreciated by his teammates but Roethlisberger’s teammates got it right today in voting wide receiver Antonio Brown the Steelers Most Valuable Player.
This marks the second time in Brown’s four-year career that he has received the honor. He becomes the 11th player in team history to be named Steelers’ Most Valuable Player on multiple occasions.
Brown is having a truly special season with 101 receptions, 1,412 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. He has recorded at least 5 receptions and 50 receiving yards in 15 straight games, a team record. Brown has also been a dynamic punt returner, averaging 13.4 yards per punt return.
Despite Brown’s special season, there are surely some, especially in the media, who feel the award should have gone to Roethlisberger who has won the award just once in his career.
Statistically Roethlisberger is having one of his best seasons of his career, throwing for 4,082 yards 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. However, Roethlisberger’s played very poor in the first four games of the season which can’t be overlooked as that is a significant portion of the NFL season. During that span where the Steelers went 0-4, Roethlisberger turned the ball over 8 times (5 interceptions, 3 lost fumbles).
Overall there just hasn’t been many games where Roethlisberger carried the Steelers on his back to a victory. In five of the Steelers seven wins this season, Roethlisberger has thrown for under 220 yards.
From a consistency standpoint, this was Antonio Brown’s award to win.
