Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown certainly enjoyed his time on the field earlier today against the Oakland Raiders secondary. The sixth-year pro just shattered some more team records for wide receivers, setting new franchise marks for receptions and receiving yards in a single game.
Between quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Landry Jones, Brown finished the afternoon with 17 receptions and 284 yards, surpassing the previous franchise bests of 14 and 253, respectively.
He also became the fourth player in franchise history to surpass the 6000-yard mark as a receiver, entering the day with 5977 yards. He finished the game with 6261, which now puts him just 78 yards behind teammate Heath Miller for the third-most receiving yards in team history. The 11th-year tight end finished the game with 32 receiving yards.
The Steelers’ previous single-game reception mark had been held by Courtney Hawkins since 1998, when he hauled in 14 receptions against the Tennessee Oilers on a November 1st game. Brown has now put some distance between himself and Hawkins by bettering that mark by three.
His 17 receptions puts him in a tie for the sixth-most receptions in a game in NFL history, with Brandon Marshall holding the record that he set in 2009 with 21 receptions. He broke Terrell Owens’ 20-reception game set in 2000.
In that same game, Owens also gained 283 yards through the air, which ranks now 10th all-time, after Brown bettered him by one, but the two share the distinction of recording the only games of at least 17 receptions for at least 280 yards in the history of the league.
As mentioned, Brown’s 284 yards now puts him in ninth place for the most receiving yards in a single game, as he blew past his previous career-high by 89 yards, finishing once with 195 receiving yards. He had a game of 194 receiving yards earlier this year.
The franchise’ previous single-game high for receiving yardage in a game was a mark set by Plaxico Burress in 2002, when he accumulated 253 yards on nine receptions, including touchdown receptions of 33 and 62 yards in what ended as a 34-34 tie with the Atlanta Falcons. Brown has cleared that mark comfortably by 31 yards.
The receivers’ big game today has put him back on pace for a stellar season in terms of productivity. He entered the game with 52 receptions for 718 yards, and now exists with 69 receptions for 1002 yards. He is on pace to grab 122 balls now before the year is out, which would only come second in franchise history behind the 129-mark he set last year, a mark that ranks second in NFL history.
His 1002 yards through nine games puts him on pace to franchise the franchise yardage mark for the third consecutive season. In 2013, he topped the Yancey Thigpen’s 1395 mark by hauling in 1499 yards through the air. Last year, he blew past that with 1698 yards. Now he is on pace for 1781 yards.
While Brown’s historic day was kept in good spirits with at last-second game winning field goal, however, there remains the question of what the future holds for Roethlisberger, who left the game, and the stadium, with a foot injury after a sack. The Steelers’ entire season, let alone Brown’s productivity, hangs in the balance.
