Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Antonio Brown tantrum a distraction?

In the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-9 win over the rival Baltimore Ravens, Antonio Brown’s early game tantrum stole headlines.

It wasn’t about Le’Veon Bell running for 144 yards on 35 carries, or the team improving to 3-1.

It was about a third down play in the second quarter when Ben Roethlisberger, didn’t see a wide-open Brown after the receiver ran a terrific route.

Yesterday morning on 93.7 the fan, Roethlisberger talked about the incident. He said, “It’s unfortunate that it happened, and it’s unfortunate that he acted and reacted that way.”

Soon after Roethlisberger got off the air, Brown sent out a tweet in regards to the first class tantrum, that included throwing a Gatorade cooler.

Past incidents?

This wasn’t the first incident between a Pittsburgh pro athlete and a Gatorade cooler. Nearly two years ago, Sean Rodriguez showed his best boxing moves in the Pirates wildcard game loss to the Chicago Cubs.

All that being said, Roethlisberger as a leader must hold Brown accountable.

In this article on TribLive.com, Roethlisberger said, “I like to think as a leader of this team, it’s kind of my job.”

“You have to be able to talk to people, and you have to be able to communicate in different ways,” continued Roethlisberger. I’ve been doing this a long time, and so I feel that as a captain that’s one of the roles of being a captain.”

Moving On

Despite the distractions, the Steelers must turn their attention to the Jacksonville as they prepare to battle the improved Jaguars.

The Steelers former AFC Central rivals are 2-2 this year with wins over Houston and Baltimore but with losses to Tennessee and the New York Jets.

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Leonard Fournette and an improved defense have added new dimensions to a team with the third best scoring differential in the NFL.

Will Brown’s antics be a distraction heading into their Sunday showdown, or will Roethlisberger and company put the distraction to rest?