BALTIMORE -- Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown equated his Gatorade bucket-flipping sideline tantrum in Baltimore to "a kid being excited for Christmas."
Getting the ball after getting open deep downfield, Brown explained, was the gift he wanted to unwrap early in the second quarter.
"You work on it, you're expecting that play on that day," Brown told reporters after the Steelers' 26-9 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. "Sometimes, it doesn't work out and you move on."
Frustrations boiled over after Brown faked a crossing route, then went deep to a wide-open stretch of grass on third down with 12 minutes, 26 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't see Brown and threw an incompletion to running back Le'Veon Bell instead.
Brown threw his hands up after the play, then knocked the Gatorade can to the ground and shrugged off offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who tried to calm him.
Roethlisberger targeted Brown on the next play, an incompletion. Brown finished the game with 34 yards on four catches.
"I'm passionate about the game," said Brown, who entered the game with a league-leading 354 receiving yards. "Any time you work as hard, and you expect something out of the play and it doesn't go the way you wanted, you get a little frustrated."
Several Steelers players defended Brown's passion, saying he's not a distraction to the team. Guard Ramon Foster said he spoke to Brown after the flare-up and assured him that the plays will come.
This game belonged to Bell, who rushed for 144 yards on 35 carries and added 42 receiving yards.
Roethlisberger acknowledged that not every playmaker will be happy each week.
"That's just nothing more than a competitor wanting the ball every single play," Roethlisberger said. "You can't blame him."