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Top Ten Steelers Single-Season Performances (1-2)

By Alex Kozora

Posted on June 9, 2023 at 9:30 am

A new series we’re bringing to Steelers Depot to get us through a portion of the offseason. A list of the top 10 individual seasons in team history. Which as I sat down to research turned out to be a lot harder than I figured. A team that’s been around for 90 years has had lots of great seasons – who would’ve guessed?

So we’re counting down 10-1 the top singular-season performances by anyone who has worn the black and gold. One important caveat: players can only appear on this list once. So their best of the best season. You won’t see any repeat names on here.

As we begin to near the end of the list, I’ll also post an honorable mention of players and performances that just missed the cut. Let me know your thoughts of the top 10 in the comments below.

We’re finally unveiling the top two performances in Steelers’ history.

#2 – 2015 WR Antonio Brown: Team-Record/League-Leading 136 Receptions + Team Record 1,834 Yards + 10 TDs + 1 PR + League-Lead In All-Purpose Yards + Pro Bowl/All-Pro

Choosing Antonio Brown’s best season is a difficult task in itself. There’s years when he averaged more yards per receptions. Seasons when he had more touchdowns. But 2015 rises above the others for how historically good it was. His 136 receptions and 1,834 yards were and remain Steelers’ single-season records in addition to leading the league in receptions and second in yards (behind Julio Jones’ 1,871).

Brown began the year with three-straight 100+ yard games, including a 9/195/1 line in a Week Two blowout win against the San Francisco 49ers. While the attention he drew made his stats volatile (coupled with losing Ben Roethlisberger and turning to Landry Jones/Mike Vick), when Brown shined, he burned brightly. He went for over 100 yards in more than half his games, nine of 16. None were more video game-like than what he did in Week 9 against the Raiders, going off for 17 receptions for 284 yards in a 38-35 shootout win, including this late-game catch to set up the game-winning field goal.

Brown hung onto his punt return duties and though he played things safer than he did at the start of his career, he put the cherry on top of a blowout primetime game against the Colts, juking Pat McAfee on his way to a 71-yard punt return, highlighted by a “hug” of the goalposts.

Throughout his career, Brown was unstoppable. In 2015, he found a way to raise that another level. Had Ben Roethlisberger stayed healthy, odds are high AB would’ve surpassed 2,000 yards.

#1 – 2008 LB James Harrison: 101 tackles + 16 sacks + 16 TFL + League-Leading 7 FF + 1 INT + Pro Bowl/All-Pro + DPOY

James Harrison tops the list despite not even leading the NFL in sacks that season, finishing fourth behind DeMarcus Ware, Joey Porter, and John Abraham. Still, for my money, Harrison was the league’s most feared player that year as evident by him winning Defensive Player of the Year.

Fear is the word to sum up his season. Offenses feared him. His physicality. His demeanor. His ability to take over a game. He had one sack in 10 of his 15 games and forced a fumble in six of them. His best game came in the season opener, a three sack, one forced fumble, three tackle for loss, two QB hit game against the Houston Texans. Here’s one of those sacks that popped the ball out of Matt Schaub’s hands.

Harrison did it all. Rushed the passer. Played the run. Made splash plays. Pittsburgh finished the year ranked 1st in scoring defense, yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and yards per carry allowed. Harrison was far from the only great player on that defense but he was its ringleader.

He’s one of just seven players since 1999 with 15+ sacks and 7+ forced fumbles in a season and the only Steeler to do it.

And, of course, you can’t forget about the Super Bowl. The greatest defensive play in football’s greatest game, his 100-yard run back at the end of the half is an iconic play that will be shown for the next 100 years when we reflect on the league’s greatest moments. It was a collective effort but an individual play that capped the greatest individual season in franchise history.