Ben Roethlisberger let the ball go before Antonio Brown broke

out of his route and turned toward the pylon. It was throw that required anticipation and trust Youth Alejandro Villanueva Jersey , the kind the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and All-Pro wide receiver have connected on countless times during their near-decade together.But not all years, or throws, are created equal.Following a turbulent opening month in which the two stars struggled to develop anything resembling their usual rhythm, Roethlisberger's perfectly timed 9-yard touchdown flip to Brown early in the second half of Sunday's 41-17 romp over reeling Atlanta felt cathartic.Brown dropped to his knees and raised his arms to the sky. Roethlisberger eschewed his usually understated celebration for an emphatic fist pump. When the two hooked up again early in the fourth quarter 鈥?a 47-yard strike down the left sideline that sealed Pittsburgh's most complete performance of the season 鈥?all the frustration that appeared to be bubbling near the surface dissipated."We know we got to stay together regardless of what's being said," Brown said. "All of my catches, all of my touchdowns are from him, and that's my guy. I live and die with him and the Wi-Fi was lit."No buffering. No squabbling. No temper tantrums. The Steelers (2-2-1) hope all of that is behind them after a week when Brown said his "Wi-Fi" connection with Roethlisberger was a bit shaky."Obviously, we got some things rolling," Brown said after finishing with six receptions for 101 yards and the two touchdowns. "Everyone uplifted each other, believed in each other and the energy was great."And necessary. While head coach Mike Tomlin allowed that "it's going to be quite some time before we get that September stench off of us," his team responded with a dominant effort on both sides of the ball.Roethlisberger finished with 250 yards passing and three touchdowns. James Conner ran for 110 yards and two scores and added 75 yards receiving. The defense sacked Atlanta's Matt Ryan six times and held Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones without a catch until the fourth quarter."I don't know if it was a 'turnaround game,' but it's a game that we needed for sure because we know what we can do," Steelers cornerback Joe Haden said. "We know how talented we are."Even if Pittsburgh didn't exactly play like it over the opening four weeks Womens Artie Burns Jersey , a stretch in which the club couldn't seem to avoid distractions off the field 鈥?the continued absence of running back Le'Veon Bell and Brown's social media missteps chief among them 鈥?or make enough plays on it.A sense of normalcy returned against the Falcons (1-4). Conner, tasked with filling in for Bell while Bell waits ... and waits ... to sign his franchise tender, piled up 99 total yards in the first quarter alone. Conner soared for a 1-yard touchdown on Pittsburgh's opening drive and raced in from 2 yards out in the third quarter as the Steelers turned a 13-10 halftime lead into a blowout."I was trying to set the tone early and we just had to start fast," Conner said.And finish even faster.Pittsburgh had been shut out in the second half each of the last two weeks but scored four touchdowns in the final 23 minutes, the last coming when linebacker LJ Fort fell on a fumble by Ryan in the end zone with 3:35 to play."Hopefully this performance can catapult us in the right direction," Fort said.FALCONS FIZZLEThe expected shootout between two of the NFL's best offenses 鈥?and worst defenses 鈥?never materialized. Atlanta trailed by 13 points by the end of the first quarter, scrambled to get back into it by halftime but never threatened after the break.Ryan completed 26 of 38 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown but also spent a significant portion of the afternoon under duress and couldn't get the ball to Jones when it mattered. Jones, who entered the game leading the NFL in yards receiving, caught five passes for a season-low 62 yards, all of them coming with the outcome basically decided."Obviously we want to get him involved," Ryan said of Jones. "They made a pretty concerted effort to take him out and that created opportunities elsewhere."Mohamed Sanu caught four passes for 73 yards and a touchdown for Atlanta, but Devonta Freeman ran just eight times for 32 yards after missing three games because of injury. The Falcons managed 62 yards rushing and Pittsburgh teed off.IT'S A ... FOOTBALLPittsburgh second-year wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster added a new routine to his ever-expanding touchdown celebration repertoire: The ebullient 21-year-old feigned giving birth after hauling in an 18-yard score from Roethlisberger in the first half. Conner served as the obstetrician, handing the ball to Smith-Schuster Cheap Cameron Heyward Jersey , who rocked it to sleep.TOMLIN ANGRYThe Steelers were called for a pair of unnecessary roughness penalties for hits on Ryan, one on linebacker Jon Bostic and the other on linebacker T.J. Watt, who tried but failed to pull his hands back in time when he went low on Ryan in the first half. While Tomlin stressed both calls were legitimate, he also expressed frustration in general."Some of the other stuff is a joke," Tomlin said. "We've got to get better in (the NFL). These penalties are costing people games and jobs."UP NEXTFalcons: Welcome Tampa Bay to Atlanta next Sunday. The Falcons have won the last three meetings with the Buccaneers.Steelers: Travel to AFC North rival Cincinnati next Sunday. Pittsburgh swept the season series from the Bengals last season.Using the past to predict the layout of the Steelers’ 53-man roster Now that the 2018 NFL Preseason is complete, the next step for the Steelers is cutting down the roster from 90 players to 53. When choosing the final few players to make the team, it’s important to get an idea of how crowded the roster is at various positions, as well as the team’s past of keeping any number of athletes at various spots on the field. Here are the numbers from 2015 to 2018 on how many players the Steelers kept at each position (and the average whole number during those three seasons):Initial Roster Positions by YearPosition2017201620153 Yr AvgPosition2017201620153 Yr Avg *Roster exemption for Le’Veon Bell not showing up to camp.**LeVeon Bell was suspended and did not count towards the 53.***LeVeon Bell and Martavis Bryant were both suspended and did not count toward the 53.The best place to start predicting the 2018 roster by position is the three-year average. Unfortunately, that approach yields a 54-man roster. Even though the Steelers will probably receive a roster exemption for Le’Veon Bell once again, that extra player is likely to be cut by Week 1, so one roster spot needs to go in order to be prepared for Week 1.The best place to cut down to 53 would be reducing the number of corners or safeties on the roster. After taking into account that seven CB’s were kept in 2017 in order to put Cam Sutton on the IR (he was replaced by ILB Steven Johnson, with Johnson being released days later when Bell was moved to the active roster), the Steelers have only kept 10 defensive backs in two of the last three years. Most likely they will keep 10 in 2018 and either go with six corners and four safeties Youth Artie Burns Jersey , or make an even split with five at each position. That puts the roster at 53.As for positions where the Steelers might possibly keep an extra player, it’ll have to be at the expense of cutting a player from somewhere else. The positions that have the longest shot of changing in their roster numbers would be the specialties (PK, P, and LS), along with the DL, TE, and FB positions (2015 being the outlier when Will Johnson and Roosevelt Nix both earned a spot before Nix took over the full-time fullback duties the following season).Numerically, QB would also fall into the category of no flexibility, but with the unique situation this season, it’s become a popular discussion whether to keep a fourth player. To do that, another position group would have to lose a spot, and the most likely candidates would be along the OL or at WR. Trimming from any other position would leave the team dangerously thin. Plus, with one receiver spot going to the newly acquired return specialist Ryan Switzer http://www.steelerscheapauthenticstore.com/jesse-james-jersey-cheap , it would be difficult to drop the number of receivers to five.Quarterback isn’t the only position where there’s talk of keeping an extra player. Both RB and ILB also could benefit from having another player in the rotation, with the greater priority going to inside linebacker. One cannot forget the importance of special teams, so either position could add value, depending on the player who’s kept.After reviewing the numbers, it would be very difficult for the Steelers to keep a fourth quarterback, or even a fourth running back on their initial 53-man roster. If they’re willing to go with eight offensive linemen, that one spot might be used to add depth to the inside linebacker position, where there are still concerns due to the loss of Ryan Shazier. Other than that, the Steelers will most likely stick to the formula that has brought them success over the last several years when it comes to trimming the roster. NFL Outlet