Tim Benz: Antonio Brown quit on Steelers. Mike Tomlin would've played him this week, anyway.

Let's live in a fantasy world for a minute.

Baker Mayfield's fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter last Sunday wasn't intercepted by Baltimore's C.J. Mosely. Instead, it was complete, and the Browns picked up a first down. They moved a few more yards downfield and kicked a game-winning field goal.

That result would've been fantasy, indeed. It would've eliminated the Ravens from AFC North contention and given the division crown to the Steelers along with a berth in the playoffs.

It also would've raised a tremendous question: What would Mike Tomlin have done with Antonio Brown if a playoff game was looming after he had gone AWOL the week before?

Brown — for reasons still less than clear — pouted his way out of the facility after a morning practice incident with Ben Roethlisberger Wednesday.

According to Tomlin, his four-time All-Pro wide receiver then ceased communication with the team after practice Friday following a week of complaints about various injuries, including a bad knee. Then, no one heard from him until before the game on Sunday morning, when Brown's agent informed Mike Tomlin that his client was feeling well enough to play.

In Tomlin's words, "decisions aren't made like that," and the coach made the call to keep Brown out of the lineup.

At his season-ending news conference, Tomlin left any details about potential discipline for Brown unclear.

"I'm going to address him and the circumstances," Tomlin said. "But to be quite honest with you, we're going to information gather and deal with it like we do in all circumstances. We're going to deal with it appropriately. In-house."

Tomlin was asked if that act constituted Brown quitting on the team. He replied, "You can call it what you want."

I didn't ask that question. But thanks for the latitude, coach. That's what I want to call it. I'm going to say Brown quit on the team.

Here's another question. This one I did ask.

What if the Ravens had lost? What would you have done with Antonio Brown then?

If your team was slated to play the Chargers this weekend in the wild-card round, would you have dressed this selfish diva who ran out on his club the week leading up to a potential elimination game? All in the name of some assumed slight over the team MVP vote or practice disagreement?

"I would be addressing it in a timeframe in terms of urgency differently than I am right now if we had been playing. That's all I'm going to say on it," Tomlin replied. "Because you aren't under time constraints, then you approach things in a very different approach."

That's not a direct answer. Let me give you one instead.

Brown would've played. I'm 100 percent sure of that. I'd bet you Antonio Brown's $20K G.O.A.T. ring that Tomlin would've looked the other way and suited him up.

Why? Two reasons.

The first is precedent. Brown missed a team meeting after a Week 2 loss to Kansas City. He played against the Buccaneers the next Monday night.

Le'Veon Bell didn't show up until the very end of the Steelers' walkthrough the night before the playoff game against Jacksonville last January. He played anyway, despite being late to the stadium on game day, too.

Why would this latest incident with Brown be any different?

Second, I bet news of this story never would've come out if the Steelers were still playing. Whichever players, coaches or front office types, who anonymously corroborated the leaked information about the true nature of Brown's absence being beyond some exaggerated injury, likely wouldn't have done so with another game on the horizon.

It's one thing to voice frustrations over an incident if it happens in the vacuum of a seven-month offseason. It's quite another to give a story like this legs a week before the postseason.

In other words, any discipline the Steelers show toward Brown now is nothing more than being tough in the name of convenience. You know, that luxury of not being "under time constraints," as Tomlin said.

Back to those fantasy worlds, let's live in another one. It's a world where the likes of Brown, Bell and James Harrison aren't self-absorbed jerks and, instead, act in the interest of what's best for the team.

And when they don't, Tomlin makes them accountable.

Or maybe the fantasy world is one where the Steelers have entirely new star players. And perhaps a new head coach as well.