First Call: Antonio Brown rips another NFL star, Steelers rise in offseason power rankings, Ravens sign familiar name
Here’s the covid-19 shut-in response we’ve all been waiting for from former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown.
Plus, the Steelers are on the rise when it comes to NFL offseason rankings. A former Steeler is wallowing in days gone by. And “Tiger vs. Phil: Part II” may give us a little enjoyment.
Too quiet, too long
Well, we’ve been expecting Antonio Brown to pop off for a few days now.
I just thought it would be at Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians for slapping away the notion of A.B. following Tom Brady to the Buccaneers.
It turns out Brown wanted to voice his ire at Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones instead.
Brown does have more touchdowns over the past five years (47) than Jones (31). But Jones has 7,795 yards receiving as opposed to Brown’s 6,004.
It’s not clear what precipitated this volley from “Mr. Big Chest.” Maybe he’s been holding a grudge since Jones failed to endorse the idea of Brown going to the Falcons last offseason.
Or, perhaps Brown caught wind of this Pro Football Focus post about Jones this week.
Julio Jones: 94.7 career PFF grade
Best among all WRs since 2006 pic.twitter.com/P8Fznp13Yn
— PFF (@PFF) March 26, 2020
Regardless, Brown has a new target. For once, it’s not someone who is connected to the Steelers in one way, shape, or form.
On the uptick
On the surface it doesn’t appear that the Steelers did a ton to better themselves in free agency, aside from adding a low-risk, high-reward flyer on tight end Eric Ebron.
I suppose they did a good job staying close to maintaining. Stefen Wisniewski offsets the loss of B.J. Finney and maybe Ramon Foster. Derek Watt may be an upgrade from often-injured and under-used Roosevelt Nix. And Chris Wormley isn’t a bad band-aid for Javon Hargrave after his departure for Philadelphia.
Yet, NFL.com is even more bullish on the Steelers offseason, bumping them up from 16th after Super Bowl weekend to 10th in their current NFL power rankings.
Writer Dan Hanzus also seems optimistic about Ben Roethlisberger’s return and says, “The Steelers acted quickly to address the loss (of Hargrave) by trading with the Ravens for defensive lineman Chris Wormley. On offense, Roethlisberger gets a new red-zone weapon in tight end Eric Ebron, who is one season removed from a 13-touchdown campaign with Andrew Luck and the Colts. Ebron is a flawed player, but the former first-round pick has a chance to put up numbers in Pittsburgh’s two tight end offense.”
That’s all nice. Up six spots from where Hanzus had them before just based on Ebron and Wormley, though? That seems a little optimistic to me.
Big picture, however, Hanzus has the Black and Gold fifth in the AFC.
Out of the potential seven AFC playoff teams this year? With a healthy Roethlisberger?
That’s not too crazy, I guess.
Speaking of that Wormley trade
As you may have seen, the Baltimore Ravens’ deal with Michael Brockers fell through late last week, and Brockers wound up going back to the Los Angeles Rams.
That left a hole to fill on the Ravens defensive front since Wormley was dealt to the Steelers. So Baltimore signed former Broncos defensive lineman Derek Wolfe.
Wolfe — who attended Beaver Local High School in East Liverpool, Ohio — signed a one-year contract with Baltimore over the weekend.
He had seven sacks last season with the Broncos, ending an eight-year run in Denver.
#Ravens DE @Derek_Wolfe95 on leaving #Broncos, "Denver is always going to be home. This is where I am going to raise my family. My wife loved living here. I will always be a part of the Broncos one way or the other. I have no hard feelings. I get it." Loved covering him. #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/DmQN6b7xfu
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) March 28, 2020
The Patriots were also reportedly interested in his services.
Super Sunday
The NFL Network’s YouTube channel streamed Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday.
That’s the one where the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
Defensive end Brett Keisel must’ve been watching because he recreated his game-sealing fumble recovery in the fourth quarter with his kids.
WE’VE JUST WON THE SUPER BOWL‼️
P.S. Wonder who’s going to end up keeping this game ball? ??@LaMarrWoodley | @bkeisel99 | #SBXLIIIRewind pic.twitter.com/iIq5DwfgG4
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) March 30, 2020
In case you forgot how it looked in real life, here you go.
I’ll take it
I’m no golf fan, but in this desert of sports broadcasting thanks to the coronavirus, I’d probably watch this.
According to Bleacher Report, there may be a Tiger Woods versus Phil Mickelson one-on-one match to distract us during our shut-in time.
Based on some tweets with fans, Mickelson makes it sound like he and Woods have already discussed the idea and plans may be in the works.
Working on it
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020
I don’t tease. I’m kinda a sure thing
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 30, 2020
These two competed in a one-on-one pay-per-view competition called “The Match.” That was at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas back in 2018. Mickelson won and got the $9 million prize.
Hey, any covid-free port in a storm, right?
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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