Steelers become only the 6th team in NFL history to have two receivers with 100 catches and 1000-yards in a single season

The Pittsburgh Steelers may not have left New Orleans with a victory, but they did leave town with new records for their wide receivers. On a day when Antonio Brown recorded 14 receptions for 185-yards and JuJu Smith-Schuster finished with 11 catches for 115-yards, both did enough to push their receptions total over 100 for the season, only the sixth time that feat has been achieved in NFL history.

Brown also becomes the first player in league history to record six consecutive seasons with at least 100 catches and his latest efforts against the Saints brings his totals to 104 receptions for 1,297-yards and 15 touchdowns in 2018. Smith Schuster has 106 receptions for 1,389-yards and six touchdowns so far this year and enters the history books as the youngest player to ever break 100 receptions in a single season.

However, both players would need to have huge games against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday if they want to have any chance of catching the No.1 receiving duo on the all-time list. The 1995 Detroit Lions saw Brett Perriman finish the year with 108 receptions for 1,488-yards, while Herman Moore recorded 123 receptions and 1,686-yards.

Smith-Schuster is unlikely to be celebrating this new milestone given the way the game ended for him, but there can be little question he is in the running for team MVP this season. While the young wideout has received support from teammates and other players around the league in the wake of his fumble, not everyone has been as encouraging, even after he took to social media to apologize for his mistake on Monday.

For every kind word, there were plenty who were less than understanding, with local “radio personality” Mark Madden seizing on the opportunity to berate a player he has been unfairly critical of all year.

In reality, if everyone on the roster gave a fraction of the effort Smith-Schuster gives each week or were any where near as productive, Pittsburgh would already be in the playoffs.