There’s no such thing as a “perfect game” for a wide receiver, but if such a thing did exist, Antonio Brown came very close to pitching one last night.
Brown was targeted six times last night, and finished with five receptions for 91 yards and three touchdowns. It’s fitting that the one pass Brown didn’t manage to haul in, a ball in the back of the end zone that was knocked away at the last second by a closing safety, was coupled with Brown’s best highlight of the night. What Brown is doing to poor Vontae Davis in that GIF up there is one of the cruelest things I’ve ever seen on a football field, and it deserved better than an incomplete pass.
The NFL sucks and won’t let Brown’s highlight reel play on the page, but I am going to recommend that you click through and watch it. I don’t care if you’ve still got an old-ass iPhone 4 that will take three minutes to load the YouTube page, because you need to see these catches:
In that small handful of plays, Brown shows everything you could possibly want from an elite receiver. He schools Davis with a back-shoulder reception on the first touchdown; he unleashes a perfect double move to fly right by Davis (seriously, RIP Vontae Davis) on the second touchdown; he runs a perfect wheel route that leaves his man stumbling to catch up on the third touchdown. You can’t play wide receiver any better than Antonio Brown did last night.