ATLANTA — For a variety of reasons, beginning with the market he plays in, Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green is arguably the NFL’s most understated superstar. You’re not going to see him in a bunch of national commercials like Odell Beckham, Jr. He lacks the Q rating of Julio Jones and the magnetism of Antonio Brown. Generally speaking, Green avoids the off-field drama that often seems inherent to the league’s diva position.
But Green, a seven-time Pro Bowler, is burnishing a résumé that could eventually lead him to the Hall of Fame — a goal he openly craves, a career marker he “guaranteed” in a Bleacher Report interview this summer.
If the 30-year old Green ends up in Canton eventually, what he did Sunday in the Bengals’ 37-36 win over the Atlanta Falcons will surely end up somewhere in the voters’ subconscious, if not his personal highlight reel.
Facing a Cover 2 defense that wasn’t supposed to allow him to get open, Green ran his corner route slipping between the cornerback and the safety, slid to make sure he stayed in bounds and came down with the ball for a 13-yard touchdown that crushed the Falcons and moved the Bengals to 3-1 in an AFC North that looks like it’s there for the taking.
“That’s why I’m here,” Green said. “They pay me the big bucks to make the big plays. When it comes down to it, that’s where legends are made. Hall of Famers, that’s what they do in big moments, and that’s what I tried to do.”
By any measure of the Bengals' tortured history, Green has been part of a lot of success, having been on playoff teams each of his first five seasons. But Cincinnati isn't a glamorous market, and the Bengals haven't been much of a championship contender, which means he isn't often perceived to be part of that elite receiver group.
And admittedly, he hasn't had the benefit of many moments like Sunday when it's one play, win or lose, and he comes up with the ball in the end zone to cap off a 16-play, 75-yard game winning drive.
"It’s a roller-coaster league, man," Green said. "I've never been in a part of a game like that where we came out on top. But it was fun, man. Nobody flinched."
It was even more fun for Green to do it here in Atlanta, close to where he went to college at Georgia, but a visiting venue he had never been to as an NFL player. He said he even spotted some fans wearing the Bulldogs' No. 8, the jersey he had in college.
"I have a lot of fans here," Green said. "They might be Falcon fans, but they’re A.J. Green fans because Georgia is the biggest thing here. But it’s fun to come here. I had a lot of family here, so it was definitely fun."
What's even more fun now, as Green tries to match some of his statistics with a level of playoff success to ensure his future Hall of Fame entry, is that he has an emerging No. 2 receiver alongside him in Tyler Boyd. With so much attention focused on Green, who finished with four catches and 78 yards, quarterback Andy Dalton targeted Boyd 15 times and hit him for 11 receptions, including four on the final drive.
Boyd, a third-year pro out of Pitt, has already surpassed last year's total of 22 catches and is a big reason why Cincinnati's offense has scored 30-plus points in three of its four games this year.
"It keeps the defense honest," Green said. "If they want to double me, Tyler will eat all day. It’s all about the team first. The way he’s playing, you’ve seen him grow up from a boy to a man these last three years and it’s really amazing to watch."
With Dalton's return to form early this season, Cincinnati is looking like a sneaky contender in the AFC – and winning road games like Sunday is a huge part of it. The Bengals may have some defensive concerns after yielding 495 yards to the Falcons, but the grit and patience they showed to methodically march down the field, converting a fourth-and-8 and fourth-and-6 before finally unlocking Green for the game-winner, is a good sign going forward.
"It’s like a boxing match," Green said. "You’ve got to jab and move and when the face opens up, you've got to take the right knockout punch. That’s what we did."
One catch in an early-season game isn't going to change the trajectory of Green's career or suddenly launch him to a different level of stardom. But a few more like that and his Hall of Fame guarantee won't look so outlandish.
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