Antonio Brown was benched at the end of the Steelers' loss to the Patriots

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said wide receiver Antonio Brown was benched toward the end of the Steelers' 55-31 loss to the New England Patriots due to performance and execution issues.

Tomlin sez he pulled ABrown from the game late because of performance/execution issues.

— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) November 5, 2013

He said this at his press conference Tuesday, lending weight to the possibility Tomlin will be tweaking his lineup a bit moving ahead, as the 2-6 Steelers prepare to take on Buffalo in Week 10.

Brown was in on 66 of 75 snaps, so any benching he may have received was short-lived, and certainly not significant. The Steelers gave up 28 fourth-quarter points in the loss, allowing 55 points - the highest total ever scored against a Steelers team.

Tomlin took some heat following the game for leaving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in, despite the significant deficit on the scoreboard. Roethlisberger says he insisted on continuing to play, not having said whether the idea of sitting down was ever brought up.

Brown had five catches on nine targets in the game, finishing with 71 yards as well as a 27-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger in the second quarter. He leads the NFL with 61 catches, and his 701 yards are ninth in the league.

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