Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown closed out his phenomenal 2014 regular season with a bang Sunday night in the 27-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals as he recorded another seven catches for 128 yards and a touchdown.
If that wasn’t enough, Brown also added a 71 yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter for good measure.
Brown, who was voted to his third Pro Bowl earlier in the week, finished the 2014 season as the league leader in both receptions (129) and receiving yardage (1,698). His 129 receptions is also the second-most ever recorded in a single-season as he passed former Detroit Lions wide receiver Herman Moore (123) Sunday night.
“It means a lot. To go down in history is a tremendous honor,” said Brown after the win. “Some of my kids, my son is here today and it’s something that I can tell my kids. But it’s not just me. I couldn’t do it by myself. Coach Haley does a great job with the formations and Coach Richard Mann does a great job watching the little things in my game, snapping down and getting all of the little things. Obviously playing with Mann is amazing. All of those things go into effect.”
Brown’s final catch of the 2014 season, a 63-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with 2:50 left in regulation, put the game away for good for the Steelers. While it wasn’t his most remarkable catch of the season, it certainly showed why he’s currently the best wide receiver in the NFL.
“Ben made a great throw. He was able to get it out and I was able to get on the field and finish the play,” said Brown about the touchdown reception after the game.
As far as Brown’s punt return for a touchdown Sunday night, his only one of the 2014 season, that also can’t properly be described with words. Brown, however, talked about it after the game and he wasn’t modest.
“I set it up pretty good. I set it up right,” he said. “There was a great block on the field. It was a great play. We’ve been waiting for one all year and it’s great to finally get one.”
While not a feat that many will acknowledge as being spectacular, Brown also extended his NFL record for most consecutive games with at least five catches and 50 yards to 32 games Sunday night against the Bengals. That’s two full NFL seasons.
The game of football is all about scoring and Brown’s 13 scoring receptions in 2014 is now a new franchise record. Oh, he also threw a touchdown pass in 2014 as well.
That was one hell of a season for the former sixth-round draft back out of Central Michigan.
