Antonio Brown is on a Hall of Fame track, and the rest of the NFL is just along for the ride.
But if there has been a speed bump on that course, it just might be the Bengals.
In 13 career regular season games against Cincinnati, Brown has 69 receptions for 972 yards and four touchdowns with just two 100-yard games, both of which came in 2014. Those would be great numbers for most players. But when you consider an average season for Brown is an astounding 101 receptions for 1,357 yards and nearly eight touchdowns, his numbers against the Bengals pale in comparison.
Brown and the Steelers (4-2) will renew that AFC North rivalry Sunday when they host the Bengals (2-3) at Heinz Field.
Brown had a rare 100-yard game against the Bengals in the playoffs in 2015. But it was the play he was unable to make after linebacker Vontaze Burfict tried to decapitate him that everyone remembers from that 18-16 victory. It was a victory set up, in part, by the 15-yard penalty assessed to Burfict following that hit.
Brown said after he recovered from that hit that Burfict had tried to hurt him.
“I feel like guys don’t want to stop me no more,” Brown said on 93.7 The Fan at the time. “They want to take me out. They want to kill me. They want to steal my dreams. They want to ruin me. They want to end me.”
You get the idea. He was not a happy camper.
But for all of that, no team did a better job of defending Brown last season than the Bengals, as he had just seven total catches for 97 yards in the two meetings. The Steelers won both.
“I’m not worried about my yardage,” Brown said this week. “That’s for you guys to worry about. My job is to just win games.”
The Steelers have done plenty of that when Brown plays the Bengals. Despite Cincinnati’s success in keeping Brown in check, the Steelers are 10-3 against the Bengals when Brown plays. That’s apparently why he didn't sound worried about anything the Bengals might do Sunday, and why he insisted he didn’t look back at last year’s tape to dissect Cincinnati’s approach.
“You’ve got to study a team’s tendencies,” Brown said when I asked about his lack of personal success against Cincinnati. “But as an offensive player, you’ve got to react and not become overly concerned with what they’re doing. I just do my job to the best of my ability.”
Besides, the Bengals, who have the NFL’s No. 2 pass defense this season -- behind only the Steelers -- do what they’ve pretty much always done defensively. The Bengals won’t blitz a lot, expecting to generate a pass rush with their four-man front. That allows them to drop seven players into coverage, keyed by safeties Shawn Williams and George Iloka playing deep.
Mike Tomlin called those two "very good on the back end,” adding, “They are capable of playing zone. They are capable of playing man. Their disguise packages are excellent, but again when you have continuity, Shawn Williams and those guys have been back there for a number of years together, you have a potential for that.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 4:25 p.m.
• Where: Heinz Field
• TV: CBS (national)
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Satellite: SiriusXM Channel 82 (Internet 826)
• Forecast: 73 degrees, partly cloudy, wind 7 S
• Lots open: 11:30 a.m.
• Will call open: 1:30 p.m.
• Gates open: 2:30 p.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: DE Stephon Tuitt (back, out), RT Marcus Gilbert (hamstring, questionable)
Bengals: WR Tyler Boyd (knee, out), RB Ryan Hewitt (knee, out), CB Pacman Jones (back, doubtful), WR John Ross (knee, questionable), CB Derron Smith (ankle, questionable)
Here are both teams' weeklong participation reports.
THE TOP THREAT
There aren’t many players in the league in Brown’s class as a receiver. But Cincinnati’s A.J. Green is one of those rare few. Through five games, he has 32 receptions for 504 yards and three touchdowns. No other Cincinnati receiver has more than 15 receptions or 164 receiving yards.
The Steelers plan to keep cornerbacks Joe Haden and Artie Burns on their respective sides of the field. But if Green starts having his way with one or the other, that plan can always change.
“He’s super dangerous,” said Haden, who faced Green 12 times as a member of the Browns. “He’s 6-4. He can run a 4.3 (40-yard dash). He can jump. He’s just a very prolific receiver.”
THE WARY EYE
Burfict rhymes with dirt-fict.
His reputation as a cheap player has been well earned. His losses in fines and salary have approached $1.9 million, and his latest infraction during a preseason game against the Chiefs cost him the first three games of this season. But it’s nothing new for a guy who drew 22 personal foul penalties in 37 career college games. In 60 career NFL games, he’s received 16 personal foul penalties.
The Steelers feel Burfict is a very good player. In 2013, he was the first Cincinnati linebacker to make the Pro Bowl in 37 years. But they also know that when he’s on the field, he’s a ticking time bomb. He’s taken his shots at Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger and Brown over the years and had a monumental collision with David DeCastro last season, but they can’t worry about that, because it plays into Burfict’s plan. He wants you worried about him rather than just playing the game.
“I’m going to go out there and play football, protect myself and play hard,” said Bell, who is coming off a 179-yard rushing game last weekend in Kansas City.
THE QUOTES
“I play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We’re all pass rushers. You play linebacker for the Steelers, you’re a pass rusher. You play safety for the Steelers, you’re a pass rusher. You play corner for the Steelers, you’re a pass rusher. That’s kind of how it works.” -- Vince Williams, inside linebacker and the Steelers’ sacks leader with four, when I asked about his telling outside linebackers coach Joey Porter in training camp he wanted reps rushing from the edge
“You hear about it, but you can’t fully appreciate it until you’re in it. It’s the same way with San Fran and Seattle, Dallas and Washington. Until you become a part of the team and you’re in the mix, the rivalry itself, you’re never going to fully appreciate it.” -- Vance McDonald, Steelers tight end, when I asked if he was ready to see what the Bengals-Steelers rivalry was all about
“Tough guys were built for games like this. I know they respect us. We respect them. But it's a mean game. And it's going to be a mean game on Sunday.” -- Vincent Rey, Bengals linebacker
THE DATA POINTS
• Since the change from Ken Zampese to Bill Lazor as Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator following a Week 2 loss at Houston, Andy Dalton has a 116.2 passer rating with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
• In four of five career games against Cincinnati, Bell has 100-plus scrimmage yards. The only game in which he didn’t have more than 100 yards against the Bengals, he was injured by a Burfict tackle in the first half.
• Marvin Lewis has the most wins in Bengals history with a 120-106-3 regular season record. He’s also 0-7 in the postseason. He would be much better if Pittsburgh were not in the division. A former Steelers linebackers coach (1992-1995), Lewis is 8-20 in the regular season against his former employer and 0-2 in the postseason.
• The Bengals will use a three-man rotation at the tackle position with Cedric Ogbuehi, Jake Fisher and Andre Smith. Dalton has been sacked 15 times in 159 pass attempts.
• Brown has four career punt returns for touchdowns in his career. Three have come against Cincinnati. He is averaging just 3.8 yards per return this season.
THE SNEAKY FANTASY PLAY
Anybody knows enough to start Brown or Bell each week. But it takes a leap of faith to start Martavis Bryant after his two-catch, 27-yard game last week in Kansas City. Don't be surprised if Bryant gets into the end zone this week.
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions:
Dale Lolley: The NFL’s top two defenses against the pass meet up in this one, so don’t expect a lot of points. The Bengals will work hard not to allow the receivers to beat them, but Roethlisberger could find his tight ends, particularly McDonald down the seam. Cincinnati’s offensive line isn’t good and rookie running back Joe Mixon is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry. But the Bengals are a desperate team. And desperation can help teams accomplish big things. That said, the Steelers have better overall talent. Steelers 23, Bengals 17
Matt Sunday: Over the past several seasons, a tough pass defense like the Bengals possess wouldn’t mean all too much against Roethlisberger, Brown and whoever else was seeing targets. This season, however, it’s win or lose on the efforts of Brown, Bell and a pretty tenacious defense. If Shazier and crew can limit the big plays to Green and Mixon, Bell can use his superhuman number of touches to lead the Steelers to another AFC North win. Steelers 23, Bengals 14
Christopher Carter: The Bengals' pass defense is bolstered with four first-round picks at cornerback in Dre Kirkpatrick, Adam Jones, Darqueze Dennard and William Jackson III. Each will be aggressive when the ball is in the air and force Roethlisberger to fit the ball into tight passing windows. Look for the Steelers to ease the pressure of their quarterback with the ground game, as Roethlisberger has struggled in the early part of the season. Also look for the defense to suffocate the Bengals after the Steelers take an early lead. Steelers 24, Bengals 10
Dejan Kovacevic: Show me these Steelers when they're focused, and I'll show you how they looked at Baltimore and at Kansas City. No coincidence there. This one won't be, either. They love beating the Bengals. They love beating Burfict. They love showing again and again that Dalton's only paid like an elite QB but isn't one in real life. And they're all terribly overdue, especially Ben, for a big game at Heinz Field. Steelers 27, Bengals 18
THE SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: #CINvsPIT #HereWeGo #Bengals50
Facebook: Bengals vs. Steelers
Instagram: #CINvsPIT
THE OFFICIAL INFOGRAPHICS
Week 7 vs. Cincinnati. #GamePreview pic.twitter.com/dxsHiKx4h1
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 20, 2017
10/22 - #CINvsPIT - 4:25 pm ET - CBS#Bengals50 pic.twitter.com/TQfjotq0Xq
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 19, 2017