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Although Detroit couldn’t come up with a victory over the Atlanta Falcons Saturday night, Calvin Johnson’s historic performance turned the contest into something Lions and NFL fans alike won’t soon forget. Johnson caught 11 passes for 225 yards to break Jerry Rice’s record for most receiving yards in a single season.
Johnson’s 225-yard output moved him to 1892 on the season, which surpassed Rice’s record of 1,848. It marked Johnson’s second 200-yard receiving game on the year, and the fourth time he’s reached at least 164 yards.
Now that Johnson has Rice’s record in the rear view, the next question is if the talented wide receiver can hit the 2,000-yard mark. He needs another 108 to hit the milestone, a total Johnson has surpassed in 11 of 15, or nearly 75 percent of the games he’s played in this season.
For his part, Johnson said that after last night’s game he believes 2,000 is "very realistic." We’ll find out next weekend when the Lions wrap up their regular season against the Chicago Bears.