Antonio Brown of the Steelers has developed into one of the top receivers in the NFL this season.

PITTSBURGH — Antonio Brown’s brilliance is sometimes overshadowed by everything else that comes with it.

The elaborate and occasionally illegal touchdown celebrations. The rare and highly meme-friendly karate kick to an opposing punter’s face. The intermittent Twitter post about officiating. The curious late-game play call designed solely to extend a “record” that while impressive isn’t actually recognized by the NFL.

Strip it all away, however, and there’s this: the undersized but relentless Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver is elbowing his way into the conversation among the best at his position and maybe one of the most valuable players in the game.

Heading into Sunday night’s game against Baltimore, the two-time Pro Bowler is on his way to the greatest season by a receiver in team history. Brown leads the NFL with 60 receptions and his 852 yards receiving rank second to good friend and former pee-wee football teammate T.Y. Hilton of the Indianapolis Colts. All this despite facing frequent double teams as opponents try to neutralize Brown in an often ill-fated attempt to force Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to look elsewhere with the ball.

Good luck with that.

“When you step into a stadium he’s a known issue but still he performs,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We could talk about some of the things about guys like (Houston Texans defensive end) JJ Watt. We knew what he was capable of when we were getting ready to play him, but it still doesn’t stop the storm from coming.”

The storm reached a frenzy last Sunday against Indianapolis, when Brown caught a season-high 10 passes for 133 yards and two scores in a 51-34 victory over the Colts, numbers made all the more staggering by the fact Brown spent the first quarter as a decoy.

His first reception went for 14 yards. His second was a one-handed, 8-yard touchdown in which he cupped the ball with his left hand while shielding a defender and dragging both feet. His third was a 47-yard catch-and-run score that showcased the unspoken rapport he’s developed with Roethlisberger.

On first down near midfield, Roethlisberger took the snap, evaded a sack and drifted to his right. Brown immediately broke off his route and darted into his quarterback’s line of vision, raising his hand when he gained a step. He hauled in the spiral at the Indianapolis 20 and won a footrace to the end zone.

It was a sublime display of a quarterback and receiver working on the same wavelength, though don’t expect Brown’s teammates to express surprise. At this point anything that happens in front of 60,000 people is simply an extension of what they witness on a daily basis.

“You see the one-handed catches and the long catches and runs in practice the same way you do in the games on Sunday,” Steelers wide receiver Lance Moore said. “He sets the tone and everybody else follows.”

Even if no one else can keep up. Brown is on pace to eclipse his own team record of 1,499 yards receiving he set last year and could establish new club marks for receptions and receiving touchdowns for the Steelers (5-3).

Yet Brown toils in relative obscurity.