{"id":20486,"date":"2016-09-16T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/bengals-at-steelers-a-matchup-of-dynamic-duos\/"},"modified":"2016-09-16T08:00:18","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T15:00:18","slug":"bengals-at-steelers-a-matchup-of-dynamic-duos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/bengals-at-steelers-a-matchup-of-dynamic-duos\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals at Steelers: A matchup of dynamic duos"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINCINNATI<\/strong> \u2014 When the game\u2019s on the line, Bengals and Steelers fans know where the ball\u2019s most likely going.<\/p>\n

Both teams have dynamic duos with years of experience making the game-turning, highlight-reel plays.<\/p>\n

For the Bengals, it\u2019s Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. For the Steelers, it\u2019s Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. In their season openers, the duos were at their dynamic best.<\/p>\n

Green had 12 catches for 180 yards and a touchdown during Cincinnati\u2019s 23-22 win at the Jets. Brown had eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh\u2019s 38-16 win at Washington.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll share the stage on Sunday in Pittsburgh, where both defenses know what it\u2019s all about: Stopping those two.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off, Ben and I both have really talented receivers,\u201d said Dalton, who came into the NFL along with Green in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it just comes with time. I\u2019ve been with A.J. my whole career, he\u2019s been with Antonio for seven years now. So it\u2019s just part of the chemistry and building it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got talented players, you get that chemistry. When you\u2019re both trying to be good at what you do, you\u2019re going to have big plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each does it their own way.<\/p>\n

Brown has a sense of what Roethlisberger is going to do when the elusive quarterback escapes the rush. That\u2019s when the two get creative and use an instinctiveness developed during many hours of practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou put in a lot of time and a lot of hard work, a lot of film, a lot of communication,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking to get better. We never dwell on what we did in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown has caught 375 passes in the past three seasons, an NFL record for a three-year span.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just got a motor,\u201d Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. \u201cYou rarely see him tired. I\u2019ve played him for five years, and I\u2019ve never seen him bent over or nothing like that. That shows you what type of shape he\u2019s in and what condition he has. I just feel like the guy is a great player, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown was in the middle of the ugly ending to the teams\u2019 playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium last season. Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict hit him in the head after an incompletion, leaving Brown with a concussion.<\/p>\n

The personal foul helped move the Steelers in range for a last-minute field goal and an 18-16 victory. Brown had to miss the Steelers\u2019 next playoff game, a loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Denver.<\/p>\n

He looked as good as ever in the opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the play breaks down, he breaks off on the other side of the field and Ben sees him,\u201d Kirkpatrick said. \u201cNow, that\u2019s a 20-yard gain, where you had him stopped if it was a normal play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bengals\u2019 duo gets it done a different way. Dalton gets rid of the ball quickly and looks to Green in the biggest moments, knowing that as long as he gets the ball near him he\u2019s likely to come down with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy nickname for A.J. Green is Inspector Gadget,\u201d Brown said, referring to his ability to make acrobatic catches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got those long arms, almost to his knees. There\u2019s no catch he can\u2019t make. He always can change the outcome of a game with his big-play ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalton and Green form the most productive quarterback\/receiver duo in NFL history for the first five seasons of a career. They had 395 completions for 5,789 yards, the most for any tandem in the first five seasons together. Their 40 touchdown connections are tied with Miami\u2019s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton for the most to start a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one, it starts with me and Andy,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

Notes: Steelers LB Ryan Shazier (knee) was limited in practice Thursday, but defensive coordinator Keith Butler was optimistic that Shazier will play. WR Markus Wheaton (shoulder) practiced for the second straight day and should make his season debut after sitting out the opener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINCINNATI \u2014 When the game\u2019s on the line, Bengals and Steelers fans know where the ball\u2019s most likely going. Both teams have dynamic duos with years of experience making the game-turning, highlight-reel plays. For the Bengals, it\u2019s Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. For the Steelers, it\u2019s Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. In their season openers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20486"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}