LANDOVER — Afterward, there was at least a hint of reconsideration from Redskins coach Jay Gruden.
Maybe, next time, the Redskins will choose to put all-pro cornerback Josh Norman on a receiver that is taking apart Norman’s young, talented counterpart, Bashaud Breeland. Perhaps Norman can track someone like the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown, a shifty, charismatic four-time Pro-Bowler. Next time.
It was too late around 10:30 p.m. Monday night when Gruden delivered his words. Brown had scored twice, caught eight passes for 126 yards, broke off his routes short with acute angles and went long up the sideline. He was stopped twice. Once when Norman spent a rare possession opposing him. Once when Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw low and behind him. Breeland was in on that play, popping Brown enough to deny another catch.
“[Breeland is] a good corner and he got beat by a great player today and some great passes that I don’t know what corner can defend,” Gruden said. “I’m not going to lose faith in Breeland, but there could be merit to [having Norman follow a receiver] later on down the road.”
Norman stayed home on his left side throughout the game — not an uncommon tactic in the NFL. His biggest interaction with Brown was during a brief slap of hands and helmet-pat hello during a break in the game. Meanwhile, Breeland was on the other side, lamenting what to do with Brown.
“I jammed him, they go over the top,” Breeland said. “I play high, they throw to the back shoulder. They were playing the guessing game. It’s like either I’m going to make the play or he makes the play.”
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Brown made the plays. His 29-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter was indefensible. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who said two other players were “wide open” but that Brown is “my guy,” dropped a precise pass where only Brown could grab it. He, of course, did, pulling it away from Breeland whose tardiness could be measured more in tenths of a second than a complete click of the watch hand.
There was more. Brown came hard out of breaks to convert third downs against Breeland. A 26-yard third-quarter touchdown pass arrived with much the same precision of the one in the second quarter. Brown thrusted his hips in the end zone afterward, drawing an unsportsmanlike penalty for the celebration. Were it a film, a PG-13 rating could well have been applied. Brown was pleased with the display, choosing to be succinct in his description of it.
“Boomin’.”
The tussle between Norman and Brown that never existed Monday night was not enough to bump Norman off a generous, non-finger-pointing postgame discussion. He has full faith in Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry, he said. He’s there to lift up his teammates in the secondary. Simply put, they were beaten badly. Time to recognize and live with that. There would be no fresh headlines from Norman’s mouth.
“Sit back here, ’What if this, what if that,’ nah, man,” Norman said. “None of that. I have total, 110 percent faith in coach Joe B and everything he want us to do. One-hundred-ten percent. If you’re looking for something, you ain’t getting it from me.”
Everyone was looking for something from Norman on Monday night: him covering Brown. No one got that, either.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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