One of the biggest criticisms of the Washington ********’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night was the decision not to have cornerback Josh Norman follow wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown is widely regarded as the top wide receiver in the NFL, so in theory it would make sense for Washington to have prized free agent acquisition Josh Norman shadow him wherever he lined up. But instead, the ******** decided keep Norman as the left cornerback regardless of where Brown lined up.
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.
[Outsider, from April: How Norman fits with the ********]
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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