Antonio Brown has become the number one receiving target for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s also shown a brilliant ability to get creative in his route-running, great hands, superb hand-eye coordination and leads the NFL this year with 48 catches for 700 yards after just six games. The Cincinnati Bengals will come to Heinz Field one week after Brown had a brilliant game against the Kansas City Chiefs looking to shut down his production making this week’s matchup between Brown and the Bengals cornerbacks a must-watch.

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Brown looking for rebound over Bengals

Against the Bengals, Antonio Brown has had relative success, but the 2016-17 regular season wasn’t as kind. In the two games against the Bengals, Brown spent the majority of his time on the field fending off double-teams and watching Ben Roethlisberger have to spread the ball around in order to win games. In fact, Brown had an overall decline in play last season mainly due to the lack of consistent receiving help outside of running back Le’Veon Bell.

The Steelers swept the Bengals last season. In the September 18 meeting, Pittsburgh won, 24-16; on December 18, they won, 24-20. Looking back at the 2016 games, however, there were several plays that easily could have been called as pass interference against the Bengals in coverage plays against Brown.

Digging into the film, this clip illustrates that the Bengals were able to keep their hands on Brown well past the five-yard mark and it led to frustration and the necessity to find other targets. (Brown is lined up at the bottom of the clip and crosses the center of the field.)

The past is the past, and I reference it only as an illustration. The Bengals come to play and if it means being physical, the Steelers are aware that the battle is on – including Brown.

Brown is having a spectacular regular season this year and will face another true battle on the field this weekend against a Bengals defense that is ranked second in the league (behind the Steelers) in pass defense and second in net defense entering the week.

Here are Brown’s splits over his career against the Bengals (per ESPN stats):

Year	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
2016	7	97	13.9	32	0
2015	13	134	10.3	26	1
2014	16	245	15.3	63	1
2013	11	123	11.2	20	1
2012	12	193	16.1	60	1
2011	7	153	21.9	45	0
2010	3	27	9.0	12	0

Watching last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, this is what the Bengals know they are up against. Brown is one of the most creative receivers in the game today and his skills are not to be overlooked even by the very best teams and defenses.

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Bengals coverage will be tight, physical

Veteran cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is intimately familiar with Brown. In fact, even though they are rivals, Kirkpatrick invited Brown to attend his youth camp in Gadsen, Alabama, during the offseason. Kirkpatrick told Bengals.com editor Geoff Hobson, “The rivalry is thick. It’s thick. A lot of guys don’t feel about it the way I feel about it. A lot of guys take it really hard. But (Brown’s) my friend. And being my friend, I’m going to play as hard as I can. That doesn’t give him any passes.  It just makes it a little bit more.”

His ability to work so well with the quarterback [makes Brown gold]. They’ve been doing this so long it seems like they’re one out there sometimes. I feel like that’s why he wins a lot. (Roethlisberger) gives him the ball right at the point of his break. – D. Kirkpatrick on Brown

If the Bengals learned anything from the sweep last year by the Steelers is that they can’t let Brown get loose in coverage, but they can’t let other guys get open either. Although defensive coordinator Paul Guenther named just the jersey numbers, he pointed out this week that the Steelers have “got other guys that can hurt you … Obviously, (Brown’s) their main targeted guy, so we understand that.”

With Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones limited in practice due to a back injury, Kirkpatrick is likely to play opposite William Jackson with Darqueze Dennard in the slot. Jackson has had an up-and-down debut season, like many rookies, but being heavily penalized is something the Bengals would like him to clean up. Dennard is healthier than the last time he faced the Steelers but will have his hands full trying to help contain Brown and anyone else the Steelers send down the field.

The Bengals aren’t the number two passing defense in the league because they’re slackers, though. The cornerbacks play very well in tandem with the safeties – George Iloka and Shawn Williams. They have yet to face a team this season that has the overall explosive potential at different receiver positions as the Steelers present, but they are willing to step up and play tight man or zone depending on the scheme and they are guaranteed to be physical and challenge on every play.

I tip my hat off to my safeties because as a corner I don’t feel like you can slow down (big play) guys without your safeties playing great … You can man up on him all day and at some point he’s going to beat you. You’ve got to have somebody (at safety) that plays the position pretty well. – D. Kirkpatrick

Kirkpatrick hinted that the Bengals plan in the defensive backfield is to let the Steelers take the underneath passes and prevent the long plays, the big plays. They’ll be looking to flip the field and limit the number of third-down conversions the Steelers are able to gain as well. Kirkpatrick believes that will give the Bengals a “great chance” to leave Heinz Field with a win on Sunday.