By Matthew Marczi
This past game against the Detroit Lions, wide receiver Antonio Brown had just his second career two-touchdown game—both came this season. And anybody who watched the game knows that it should have been a three-touchdown game, but Brown dropped a ball in the end zone from the one-yard line.
Still, he finished the game with seven receptions for 147 yards, most of which came on the first two drives of the game.
Brown now has 74 receptions on the year, which is the most in the league. Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson has 72 receptions following a 10-receptions game. For perspective, 74 receptions is Brown’s career-high in a single season, besting the 69 that he had in 16 games (though only three starts) in 2010.
The 147 yards also gives Brown 952 yards on the year, which is good for fifth-most in the league. He trails only Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, DeSean Jackson, and Andre Johnson.
His career-high in yardage—again, from 2010—is 1108, which Brown is a lock to surpass in the last six games. Additionally, he has also tied his career-high in touchdowns in a season with five, which he also had last season.
Pro-rate those numbers over the course of the rest of the season.
74 receptions in 10 games translates to about 118 receptions in a full 16-game season—or a Steelers single-season record. Hines Ward had 112 in 2002.
952 yards in 10 games translates to about 1523 yards in a full 16-game season—or a Steelers single-season record. Yancey Thigpen had 1398 in 1997.
Five touchdowns in 10 games translates to eight touchdowns in a full 16-game season. Scoring is one area in which Brown can still use improvement, but of course it’s tough for a 5’10” receiver to score touchdowns when he is expected to be the team’s top receiver.
Also of note is the fact that Brown has not fumbled the ball once this season. He fumbled four times last year, losing two of them.
The fact that he has the fourth-best catch percentage (73.3 percent) in the league among qualified players is a cherry on top. His total yards after catch (394) ranks fifth.
With the offense seemingly starting to click over the last few games, it is hard to imagine that Brown’s historically great season will suddenly come to a crashing halt.
While he may not maintain the pace of 7.4 catches and 95.2 yards per game, it’s hard to imagine him coming up short of 100 receptions and over 1300 yards, so enjoy it while it lasts.
