Heading into last week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ skill players had an opportunity to tie an NFL record for the most consecutive games in which ha pair of teammates scored a touchdown. Wide receiver Antonio Brown had at least one score in seven games, while James Conner had one in five.
With the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-90s, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin once scored in the same game in six consecutive weeks. It’s actually somewhat remarkable that the Steelers’ duo even hit five games.
But in back-to-back weeks, each of their scoring streaks have come to an end. Conner has been held without a touchdown for two games now, which is tied for the longest he has gone without scoring so far this year.
As for Brown, he scored at least one touchdown in every game for the Steelers going back to Week Three, with 10 touchdowns in that eight-week span, giving him 11 on the season. His game-game streak is tied with Buddy Dial for the longest in a single season in team history, and also tied for the second-longest over multiple seasons. Jerry Rice once scored in 12 consecutive games in a single season, and 13 overall.
Brown was not only held without a touchdown Sunday, he failed to catch even one pass of 15 yards or more. That is only the second time this season that has occurred, the first instance coming in the second game against the Baltimore Ravens in which he had just five receptions for 42 yards, but also got into the end zone.
As I wrote about earlier today, the Denver Broncos very much had a plan to minimize Brown’s impact during the game, which they evidently were able to do for the most part. But that is likely true of every team that the Steelers face, so that shouldn’t prove to be radically different.
While Brown might have failed to get into the end zone on Sunday, he still has 11 touchdowns on the season to date, which is the third-most he has had in his career over a full season. He is currently tied with Tyreek Hill and Eric Ebron for the most in the NFL this year.
His 11 receiving touchdowns is already tied for the sixth-most in a single season in franchise history, with himself already occupying two of the top spots. He only needs to score three more over the next five games to set a new team record for the second time. And given that he has scored in nine out of 11 games, I wouldn’t put it past him.
