Antonio Brown Saves Ben Roethlisberger Owners

Ben Roethlisberger was having a pretty average night on Thursday (Dec. 8) until Antonio Brown broke a short pass for a 79-yard touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter. Up to that point, Roethlisberger had just 201 yards and 1 touchdown to go along with 1 interception. After that touchdown pass though, Roethlisberger got bumped up to 280 yards and 2 touchdowns on the night. That last play might have saved a number of fantasy football owners counting on him to come up big in league playoffs during Week 14.

The Cleveland Browns really turned this into a great game, even if the offense could never quite get it going. Running back Peyton Hillis was disappointing yet again, confirming that he has been one of the biggest busts in fantasy football this year. It's also going to get people talking about that darn Madden curse all over again after he got placed on the cover this season. Those fantasy owners hoping Colt McCoy could put together a decent night were also let down by his 209 yards and 2 interceptions. He didn't get into the end zone either, compounding the frustrations.

The big winners in this game were fantasy owners who had Antonio Brown starting, because he turned in 151 yards and a touchdown on 5 catches. Mike Wallace finished with just 4 catches for 57 yards and no touchdowns, making the fantasy owners that decided to bench him this week look like geniuses. For those that started the Pittsburgh Steelers defense it was also a good night, as they gave up just 3 points and posted 2 interceptions and 3 sacks on McCoy.

For Roethlisberger , he finished with a very respectable 18.2 points on Thursday night, despite missing some snaps due to an injured ankle. That he was able to come back and post more statistics on his injured ankle in that second half is definitely going to generate even more respect for his toughness. Fantasy football owners also had to breathe a sigh of relief when he stepped back on the field, because when it comes to the fantasy football league playoffs, every single point a player can muster has value.