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Green Hitting Stride At Just The Right Time; Can Haden Slow Him?
According to ESPN.com's Coley Harvey, A.J. Green was adamant last week about putting on a show during his final four games of the regular season.

"It' what you do in December," the Pro Bowl receiver said. "Anything before this really doesn't matter."

As Harvey suggested, if what he did on Dec. 7 can be repeated on the Dec. 14, 22 and 28, then the Bengals may do just enough to hold onto their AFC North lead and advance into the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.

In the past four games, Green has 33 catches on 47 targets for 529 yards and three touchdowns. Only Atlanta's Julio Jones, with 575 yards, has more receiving yards the last four weeks.

Green also has catches of 81, 56 and 38 yards during that stretch, with those receptions coming on play-action go or post routes. In the last month, he also has set a single-game career high in catches (13) and a single-game career high in yards (Sunday's 224).

The problem?

Heading into Cleveland today, Green will be facing a cornerback who has mostly owned him going back to their days as competitors in the SEC. When Green was at Georgia, Browns corner Joe Haden was at Florida and was one of the few defensive backs to have any shred of success against Green.

Since the pair have been in the NFL, Haden has been Green's biggest headache.

In the past two Bengals-Browns games, Green has been held to just 30 yards on five catches and 15 targets while matched up with Haden, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In their six meetings, Haden also has held Green to three or fewer catches four times. Green's receptions percentage (the average the number of catches per target) is significantly lower when facing Haden, too. Versus Haden, his receptions percentage is 46.9 percent. Overall, it's 58.2 percent.

Last week, though, Green had success against another corner who has troubled him over the years. Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor had few answers as Green caught eight passes on nine targets against him. One of those was the 81-yard touchdown reception that came when he blew past Taylor and put a one-move juke on a safety to glide in for the score.

"The confidence is back," quarterback Andy Dalton said. "When the plays have been there, he's made them. He's made big catches, big runs after catches, big plays. That's the type of player he is, so you've got to keep giving him these opportunities to make these big plays."

Even still, Green's offensive coordinator wants to see more.

"He's done some really good things, but I think there's more in there. I really do," Hue Jackson said. "He's just scratching the surface of what he can be. My challenge to him is you've got to do that, but do it better. That's just the way it's got to be."

Fantasy owners can only hope that will be the case today.

Meanwhile, as Pro Football Focus' Mike Clay notes, through Week 9, Mohamed Sanu sat 13th in fantasy points among wide receivers.

Operating as the Bengals' top wideout for a good chunk of that span, Sanu caught 39 passes for 628 yards and four touchdowns. Since Week 10, however, Green has been healthy and operating as Dalton's go-to receiver.

As a byproduct, Sanu has caught just 14 passes for 126 yards and one score in five games.

Clay added that Sanu's 13 drops this season are three more than any other player. Out of his league as an every-down player, Clay suggests that Sanu is best viewed as a WR5 the rest of the way.