Falcons Wrap up No. 1 Seed in NFC, Johnson Sets Receiving Record

The Atlanta Falcons clinched the top seed in the NFC for the postseason, while Calvin Johnson broke a receiving record held by the NFL’s all time best receiver.

With the NFL regular season quickly coming to a close teams are fighting for playoff spots, while individually players are striving to be excellent and break records in the process.

On Saturday night, the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Detroit Lions by a score of 31-18. The win increased the Falcons regular season record to 13-2 and gave them the home-field advantage for the entire playoffs in the NFC.

The game also will be remembered for Calvin Johnson, the Lions wide receiver breaking the NFL single season receiving yards mark set by Jerry Rice, the NFL’s best all time wide out and by some considered the best player to ever play in the NFL.

The mark was 1,848 yards and Johnson ended the night with 11 catches for 225 yards giving him a season total of 1,892 yards. Johnson still has the final game of the season to add to his total and possibly become the first receiver to gain over 2,000 yards in one season.

The 225 yards receiving for Johnson gave him eight consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving and his 11 receptions gave him four consecutive games with 10 or more receptions, a first in NFL history for both. Johnson also had 100 yards or more receiving in 11 of his teams’ 15 games this season.

Jim Schwartz the Head Coach for Detroit said he has not seen any player in all of his years playing, watching and coaching football that is better than Johnson is.

With the win, Atlanta hopes playing at home will help them more than it did following the 2010 season. Two years ago, the Green Bay Packers routed Atlanta following the regular season.

The loss was Detroit’s seventh straight and is the longest losing streak this season in the NFL.

Matthew Stafford the Detroit quarterback is only seven passing attempts from breaking the single season record of 691 set in 1994 by New England’s Drew Bledsoe.

For Johnson the records he set on Saturday, especially the total receiving yards for a season are great personal accomplishments that he knows would not be his unless he had help from his teammates. However, the accomplishments would be even better if his team was headed to the postseason.

However, the Lions have struggled on defense all season allowing too many points and can only be thrilled for Johnson individually this season as they head to their last game next week with a 4-11 record.