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Steelers Antonio Brown is on fire

Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has been hot over the last three weeks. That's helped bust his quarterback out of a sluggish start to 2013. With the passing game starting to click, the Steelers offense is improving more each week.

By Neal Coolong
Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
Antonio Brown is on a tear.

With 30 catches over the last three weeks, he's tied for second in the NFL with 41 receptions, and his 77.4 percent target catch rate is the highest in the NFL among players with at least 43 targets.

Pro Football Focus, a play evaluation web site, has taken notice as well. Despite playing only five games (many have played six), Brown is the highest rated wide receiver in the NFL through Week 6. He's averaging just a shade under 100 yards a game, and his seven catches of 20 yards or more is tied for 12th in the league.

He and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger are locked into each other as well as the offense over the last three weeks. Brown has 30 catches on 37 targets (81 percent), 370 yards and two touchdowns over his last two games. In that same time, Roethlisberger shrugged off a sluggish start to go 85-for-122 (69.6 percent) for 1,053 yards and four touchdowns. He was nearly flawless against the Jets, completing 23 of 30 passes, and managing to not turn the ball over in a game for the first time this season.

In fact the one blemish - outside of the turnovers - between these two lately was Brown's inability to hang onto a beautiful back shoulder throw from Roethlisberger at the pylon against the Jets. It would have resulted in a touchdown.

Brown made up for it with a tough catch on the ground on the next drive, moving the chains on third down.

The chemistry between the two is obvious, and with Roethlisberger having managed to connect with Emmanuel Sanders on a 55-yard touchdown pass - the longest of the season for the Steelers - it seems with each game they are improving. If Roethlisberger continues to limit turnovers and Brown can continue catching 75 percent of his targets, this offense will continue to make big strides.

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