New England Patriots: Malcolm Butler Must Stop Antonio Brown
Malcolm Butler‘s big job will be covering Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown during the AFC Championship game on Sunday. If the Patriots look to win and advance to Super Bowl LI, Butler will need to give it his all.
Antonio Brown has been an explosive receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers all season long. He’s caught 106 passes for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns. New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler has shown that he can cover the best and stick with any receiver like glue. But can be do it against arguably the most unstoppable receiver in the NFL?
Luck may be on Butler’s side on Sunday. Throughout the season, he has faced off against receivers such as Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, AJ Green, Doug Baldwin and Steve Smith Sr. Against them and all receivers, he didn’t allow a single receiving touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, Brown has been able to burn all of the corners and safeties he has faced. In fact, his one-catch, 13-yard performance against Butler was the worst he had all season.
This game is a rematch of the matchup between the Steelers and Patriots from Week 6. In that game, Butler shut Brown down. Butler will need to have a repeat performance of that again Sunday.
There is a difference from that Week 6 game and the matchup to come Sunday, however. In that game, Landry Jones was at quarterback for the Steelers. Now, Ben Roethlisberger will be under center. He will be targeting Brown most of the game when he’s back to pass.
While Brown isn’t the only problem the Patriots face on Sunday, he is a big one. Butler has a big job on Sunday. He will need to shut Brown. If he does that, the Patriots will have a very good chance at advancing to their ninth Super Bowl.
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