DEFENSIVE BACK B-
It is seldom good when three of your four top tacklers are defensive backs, as was the case Sunday. Safety Patrick Chung led with 10 tackles and was tough against the run. Cornerback Eric Rowe replaced Logan Ryan in the starting lineup and played 73 snaps to Ryan's 31. Rowe was all over Darrius Heyward-Bey when the latter was called for offensive pass interfer- ence for grabbing Rowe's jersey front as Rowe denied him room to catch an underthrown ball. But Rowe was badly beaten by Heyward-Bey for a 14-yard TD on a corner route and had the football gods smiling on him when another touchdown was called back because of a holding call. Cornerback Malcolm Butler battled Antonio Brown all day, winning some and losing some. It was better than the first time he faced him, but Brown finished with seven catches for 108 yards, including a 51-yard bomb on which he badly beat Butler on an up-and-out route by simply out-running him across the field. Butler did pick off a poorly underthrown ball that was supposed to be a fade but didn't fade. Earlier, he gave Brown a huge cushion, biting on an outside fake and giving up a deep hook for a 25-yard catch. He had a near interception when he tipped away a bad pass in the end zone intended for Heyward-Bey and later in the game began to play Brown tighter and more successfully. Of course, Brown had by then injured his quad. Ryan had some tight coverage several times that were still converted into completions by Cobi Hamilton, and he knocked one pass away from him while getting away with holding Hamilton's arm.