Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is best known for his streak of consistency – 34 straight games of at least five receptions and 50 receiving yards (by far the longest streak in NFL history.
But Sunday was about excellence. Brown finished with 195 receiving yards, one yard shy of his career high as the Steelers downed the 49ers.
The history
Brown just missed becoming the fifth Steelers player to record 200 receiving yards in a game (the franchise record is 253 by Plaxico Burress in 2002).
Brown moved into fifth place on the Steelers all-time receiving yardage list, passing Lynn Swann. With 5,587, he’s within striking distance of Louis Lipps for fourth place.
He became the fourth Steelers player to record at least 400 receptions, joining Hines Ward (1,000), Heath Miller (542) and John Stallworth (537).
Brown has 328 receiving yards in the first two games of the season, the fifth-most by a Steelers player since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Targeting Brown deep was the way to go
Ben Roethlisberger was 9-of-11 targeting Brown, including 3-of-4 for 143 yards on throws at least 15 yards downfield.
Brown has 59 receptions on throws of at least 15 yards over the last three seasons, most in the NFL.
Roethlisberger finished 5-of-6 for 239 yards and a TD on throws more than 30 yards downfield, the most such completions in a game in the last 10 seasons. Drew Brees is the only other quarterback to have four completions more than 30 yards downfield in a game (Week 4 of 2008, also against the 49ers).