The two most prolific wide receivers of the past decade were on the field when the Falcons played the Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday.
The Steelers got the ball to Antonio Brown, while Julio Jones didn’t get his first catch until the Falcons were down 17 points and there was just 13:34 remaining. The Steelers took Jones away from the Falcons’ offense on their way to a convincing 41-17 victory.
“That is definitely not by design,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We’ll make sure that he’ll get as many touches as we can in the game. He’s one of our best and most explosive players. Every game we want him involved.”
It was the first time Brown and Jones played in an NFL game together. In the previous meeting between the teams in 2014, Jones did not play.
Jones finished with five catches for 62 yards. Brown had six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
“They had a good game plan for me today,” Jones said. “A lot of two-man discouraged Matt (Ryan) early on in that game. (He knew) that two guys were going to be on me throughout the whole game.”
Ryan and Jones didn’t connect on the first four passes that went his way. He finished with nine targets.
“Obviously, we want to get him involved,” Ryan said. “I missed one for him earlier in the game on his back hip, then one was tipped when we had a shallow cross. Yeah, I mean obviously we want to get him involved.”
Ryan was under duress for most of the game. He was sacked six times and hit 11 other times.
“I don’t know,” Jones said when asked if the pass rush hurt his output. “My back was turned. I was running routes. I mean that’s something I’ll have to see Monday.”
The Falcons trailed 13-10 at the half. They had the ball to start the second half and had a chance to take control of the game.
The offense picked up a first down, but stalled on their 43-yard line and was forced to punt.
In the key drive, Jones was not targeted and did not receive the ball. Ryan was forced to run on third-and-8 and may have looked for Jones.
Ryan, not known for running, gained 10 yards to pick up the first down.
“Our plan is like any other week, as far as the offense, we have the ball, we are going out there and looking to score,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t score.”
The Steelers kept a safety over the top of Jones at all times. The main beneficiary was tight end Austin Hooper, who finished with 12 targets and made nine catches for 77 yards.
Mohamed Sanu had four catches for 73 yards and 43-yard touchdown.
The Falcons offense, which had averaged 35 points in the previous three games, was stymied. Jones entered the game leading the league in receiving yards with 502.
“Everybody has to do their job,” Jones said about getting the offense back on track. “We’ll get in there tomorrow and watch film and see where we are lacking.”
Jones wants the ball, but wasn’t distraught about being taken away by the Steelers.
“For me, it doesn’t matter,” Jones said. “I’m the type of guy that doesn’t look at the scoreboard and things like that. Until it’s 0:00 on the clock, I’m going to play. That’s what happened today. They had a good scheme.”
Jones didn’t believe the Steelers took him out of his rhythm.
“I’ve been doing this ... this is my eighth year now,” Jones said. “I’ve been doing it since college and high school. There is no rhythm for me.
“They just had a scheme put together. It wasn’t nothing where they were taking me out of my game. ... I’m not a rhythm player.”
The Falcons passing attack normally flows off the ground game but it was stymied. The return of running back Devonta Freeman didn’t help much. Freeman rushed eight times for 32 yards, including a 20-yard gain. He caught two passes for nine yards. Freeman missed the previous three games with a knee contusion.
“Yeah, It’s always tough but sticking with it slows down the pass rush which is important,” Ryan said. “We always have that mindset too that the next one is going to break out.”
