Steelers wide receivers win war of words with Jaguars corners
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars boasted the NFL’s top-ranked pass defense, and they let the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers hear about it all game.
“There was a lot of talking with them, in my ear talking a lot of stuff,” Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said, self-censoring their comments by making a beeping sound. “But that’s what they do. I give it up to them. They played really great.”
Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown played even better in the Steelers’ 20-16 victory Sunday over the Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field, as both eclipsed the 100-yard mark and made catches that propelled a comeback.
Brown finished with five receptions for 117 yards, none bigger than his 78-yard touchdown catch on a broken play late in the third quarter to put the Steelers on the scoreboard. Ben Roethlisberger’s pass appeared to be intended for Smith-Schuster, who drew a pass-interference penalty on free safety Jarrod Wilson, but Brown was all alone and ran under it.
Brown wouldn’t divulge what happened on the play.
“I’ve got to go back,” Brown said, smiling. “It’s a long day. I kind of don’t remember.”
Smith-Schuster had a game-high eight catches for 104 yards, and made some memorable plays to spark the second scoring drive. He caught three consecutive passes, for gains of 9, 21 and 9 yards, to set up tight end Vance McDonald’s touchdown catch that cut it to 16-13.
Smith-Schuster’s first two catches came against Pro Bowl cornerback A.J. Bouye; the next two came on back-shoulder throws against All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey, who had two interceptions.
Bouye warned Ramsey not to take the fourth-quarter letdown personally despite their sixth consecutive loss.
“I told him it’s more of a mental thing,” Bouye said. “We threw our egos to the side and we knew that we weren’t doing what we needed to do as a defense, especially in the back end where we’re the No. 1 pass defense. But we’re busting plays, but we play as a group. We did a lot of good things out there but we can’t just let that last drive hurt our confidence.”
That the Jaguars gave up 314 passing yards against the Steelers after allowing an average of 200.6 through the first nine games had to be a blow to their trash-talking cornerbacks. What’s more, Brown beat Ramsey for a 25-yard catch to the Jacksonville 2 with 50 seconds remaining to set up Roethlisberger’s game-winning 1-yard touchdown.
“He’s a high competitor. He’s the best for a reason. He loves a challenge. He embraces the challenge,” Brown said of Ramsey. “Anytime you go against a competitor like that, you’re going to get a battle.”
The Steelers didn’t just win the battle. Their receivers won the war of words, by having the final say.
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Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
