Washington stayed true to its scheme. Norman made his name primarily as a fantastic zone corner in Carolina. There, he played as the left corner and rarely followed wide receivers in man coverage. Washington could have had him follow Brown all night in man coverage, but Norman is at his best in zone. It would be like signing an incredibly talented three-technique defensive tackle to $100 million contract and then forcing him to play as a two-gap nose tackle in a 3-4 system. Sure, he’s talented enough to do it, but he’s far better suited to the other role.

That meant the Steelers wisely kept Brown away from Norman most of the night, lining him up on the opposite side of the field against Bashaud Breeland. Brown finished the game with eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns, which on paper suggests he burned Breeland severely. But a closer look at the matchup reveals that there wasn’t a great deal more Breeland could have done on some of those catches.

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This is Brown’s first touchdown catch. It’s fourth and one, so the Steelers line up in a run-heavy look. They surprise Washington with a deep shot to Brown down the sideline. Breeland actually covers the route well, turning and running well with Brown down the sideline, positioning himself on the inside hip to secure the route before turning his head to locate the ball. Once he locates it in the air, Breeland plays the ball instead of the man. On a close-up look, he should have come away with the interception.



Breeland almost overextends his arms as the ball drops between his wrists instead of his hands before making its way to Brown. Breeland covered the route about as well as you can cover Brown on a go route, and should have had the interception. He just didn’t catch the ball, and that cost him the touchdown.

Over the course of the game, there were a number of catches by Brown that I’m not sure any corner could have covered.

Here, Breeland faces Brown again. He does well to apply a jam and force Brown towards the sideline. But then Brown makes an incredibly smooth transition to turn his body back towards the quarterback and make a catch on a perfectly placed back-shoulder throw. It happens so quickly and the ball couldn’t be timed or placed any better, I doubt any corner, Josh Norman included, could have stopped that throw.

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Later on, Ben Roethlisberger and Brown combined again on another back-shoulder throw.

Once again, Breeland faces Brown, this time on third and five. Brown takes an outside stem and Breeland reacts by quickly opening his hips and turning to run with Brown down the sideline. When Roethlisberger releases the pass, Breeland is well positioned over the top of Brown, protecting against his deep threat. The ball is placed perfectly on the back shoulder again and Brown makes the sudden adjustment to pull in the catch. Just like before, I’m not sure any corner can stop that throw.

On a key third down late in the game, the Steelers went back to their star wide receiver.

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This play is more about the quarterback than anything else. Roethlisberger wasn’t even looking to his left initially. He read to the right side of the field off the snap before pressure arrived, forcing him to step up in the pocket to avoid it. It’s only then that he spots Brown and makes an off-script throw that he trusts Brown to come back to get. The coverage from Breeland isn’t a problem. Breeland made a small mistake initially allowing Brown to get outside him, but he quickly made an adjustment and ran stride for stride with him down the field. Brown turns his head back to the quarterback and spots him scrambling. Brown stops suddenly and works back to make the catch thrown low and behind him. Breeland is a half step slower breaking back towards the ball and has no chance to stop the pass.

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The common theme in these plays is that Brown is a fantastic receiver who is perfectly in sync with his equally fantastic quarterback, and that not many corners in the NFL could have prevented most of those catches. All of that being said, Breeland did have one bad play in coverage and it cost him a second touchdown.

This time, Breeland is beaten off the snap and fails to open his hips to turn and run quickly enough. It’s odd he decided against trying to jam Brown at the line of scrimmage, given he was rolled up close in press coverage. But ultimately, he got beaten off the snap and couldn’t catch up with Brown.

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That was one play he definitely could have defended better, and he defended that route better earlier in the game on the first touchdown.

Overall, I think it’s somewhat harsh to be overly critical of Breeland in coverage against Brown. But what was uncharacteristic of him was missing tackles. Usually a sound tackler, Breeland missed a few, including one that led to a touchdown run for Pittsburgh.

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This is a power run from the shotgun. The Steelers pull right guard David DeCastro, who wraps around and seals off the interior of the defense and allows running back DeAngelo Williams a free run to the edge. The wide receiver on the outside comes in and blocks safety David Bruton Jr., leaving Breeland as the only defender on the edge. Breeland stops his feet as he breaks down to tackle, but that allows Williams to cut back inside of him. Breeland can only throw an arm tackle attempt that Williams easily breaks through on his way to the end zone.

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That is the type of play that concerns me. Breeland is typically a strong run defender and even has many people believing he could play safety because of that trait. But this was poor and not the only time he missed a tackle in the game.

Breeland will have to correct his mistakes quickly, with a matchup against Dez Bryant and the Cowboys looming. Breeland has enjoyed success against Bryant previously, but the Cowboys will certainly be looking to test him early and often on Sunday.

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Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.