In the Detroit Lions’ 31-30 comeback win vs. the Dallas Cowboys, WR Calvin Johnson recorded the second-most single-game receiving yards in NFL history with 329 on 14 receptions (23.5 avg). His 329 yards set a franchise record for most yards in a single game as he broke the previous best set by E Cloyce Box (302) vs. Baltimore October 27, 1950. He finished just seven yards shy of the all-time record set by Los Angeles Rams WR Flipper Anderson vs. New Orleans November 26, 1989. Johnson’s 329 yards are the most by a player in NFL history during a regulation game. In Anderson’s NFL record 336-yard game, 40 yards occurred in overtime. Anderson finished regulation with 296 receiving yards. Johnson is the fifth player in NFL history to record 300 yards in a game and the second in Lions history (302, E Cloyce Box vs. Baltimore 12/3/50). Among his 14 receptions, Johnson recorded catches of (order of longest) 87, 54, 29, 26, 22 and 21. He now holds five of the Lions Top-7 single game best in terms of receiving yards. NFL RECORD TWO-GAME TOTALS With 155 yards last week vs. Cincinnati and 329 yards this week vs. Dallas, Johnson set a new NFL record for the most receiving yards in a two-game span with 484 yards (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau). Johnson’s 484 yards the past two games broke the previous record set by Houston WR Andre Johnson in 2012. MEGATRON 200 With 329 yards today in the Lions’ win, Johnson registered his fifth career 200-yard receiving game and tied Hall of Fame WR Lance Alworth for the most in NFL history. He has registered a 200-yard game in each of the past three seasons, including two in 2011 and two in 2012. All five of Johnson’s career 200-yard games have occurred in the past 26 games he has played, dating back to a 214-yard outing at Oakland December 18, 2011. JOHNSON’S 150-YARD GAMES With 329 receiving yards vs. Dallas, Johnson registered his 11th career game of 150+ receiving yards. Johnson is the fifth player (tied for fourth-most) in NFL history to record 150 yards 11 times in the player’s first 100 games. His 329-yard game marked the first time in Johnson’s career he has registered 150+ yards in back-to-back games. He joins Lions E Cloyce Box (172 vs. Chicago Bears 12/7/52; 202 vs. Dallas 12/13/52) as the only players in franchise history with back-to-back 150+-yard games. JOHNSON’S 100-YARD GAMES By reaching 100 yards today vs. the Dallas Cowboys, Johnson (329) recorded his 36thcareer 100-yard game and become the third player in NFL history to collect 36 100-yard receiving games in his first 100 games. Today’s game marks Johnson’s 99th career game. He trails only WR Lance Alworth (40) and WR Randy Moss (39) for the most in a player’s first 100 career games. So far in 2013, Johnson has four 100-yard games this season. TALE OF BOTH HALVES Johnson recorded 150+ yards in both the first and second half of today’s game, with 156 in the first half and 173 yards in the second half. Johnson’s 156 yards are the most he has accumulated in the first half of game during his career. It surpasses the 119 yards he gained in the first half at Chicago October 4, 2009. His 156 yards in the first half are the most by a Lions receiver since WR Roy Williams had 167 yards at Philadelphia September 23, 2007. His second-half total of 173 registers as a career high in the second half, breaking the previous high of 171 accomplished twice (at Green Bay 1/1/12 and at Minnesota 11/11/12). SINGLE-GAME RECEPTIONS RECORD Not only did Johnson break the franchise record for receiving yards in a game, he also tied the team record for receptions in a game with 14. He tied the single-game record set by WR Herman Moore vs. Chicago December 4, 1995. Johnson now holds three of the team’s nine games with 12+ receptions, which also surpassed Moore and WR Brett Perriman (2) for the most in team history. TALLY OF 10 With 14 receptions today, it marks Johnson’s 10th career game with 10+ receptions, setting a new record for the most games with 10+ receptions in team history (WR Herman Moore, 9; 1991-2001). JOHNSON’S LONG CATCH In Johnson’s 329-yard record breaking performance, he registered an 87-yard reception on his first catch of the game. The 87-yard reception led to his two-yard touchdown catch four plays later to give the Lions a 7-0 lead. The 87-yard reception is tied for the second-longest of his career and was his third reception of 85+yards. It was the longest of his career that did not result in a touchdown and the longest in team history that did not result in touchdown. Now with four career receptions of 75+ yards, Johnson tied WR Leonard Thompson (4) for the most in franchise history. He now has two 70+-yard receptions on the season (72t at Arizona 9/15). Today was the second time in Johnson’s career he recorded two catches of 50+ yards in a single game. At Houston (10/19/08). Johnson had a 96-yard touchdown and a 58-yard receptions LEADERS THROUGH 100 Johnson’s 329-yard effort vs. Dallas moved him up the list of receiving yards by players in their first 100 career games. After 99 games, he has netted 8,657 yards, the third-most in NFL history. Today, he passed WR Torry Holt (8,598) for third place and Hall of Fame WR Jerry Rice (8,488) for the fourth-most receiving yards in NFL history among players in the their first 100 games. TOTAL CAREER TOUCHDOWNS Johnson’s two-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter vs. Dallas (10/27) was the 62nd touchdown (receiving and rushing) of his career. He tied WR Herman Moore (62) for the second most total touchdowns in team history. In 99 career games, Johnson has 62 total touchdowns, including 61 touchdown receptions. His only rushing touchdown occurred on a 32-yard rush vs. Tampa Bay October 21, 2007. STAFFORD’S CAREER COMEBACKS QB Matthew Stafford led the Lions to a last-minute 31-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys today as he completed 33-of-48 passes (68.8 pct) for 488 yards and one touchdown. He also scored on a one-yard dive with 12 seconds left to play in regulation after he led the team on a six-play, 80-yard drive in 50 seconds (took possession with 1:02 left). Stafford has now tallied 12 career game-winning drives when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter or in overtime. He has now engineered eight game-winning drives after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter or in overtime, with five of those drives completed with game-winning touchdown passes. Game-Winning Drives (Trailing/Tied) with 2:00 left in 4th Qtr or OT FASTEST TO 15,000 Stafford’s 488 passing yards vs. Dallas moved him past 15,000 career yards as he did so in his 53rd career game. He reached 15,000 career yards faster than any player in NFL history, surpassing the previous high of 56 games set by Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino, QB Kurt Warner and QB Marc Bulger (Courtesy Elias Sports Bureau). Stafford is now the second player in Lions history to pass for 15,000 yards, joining Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne (15,710) as the only Lions passers in team history with 15,000 yards. He went over 15,000 career yards on his 87-yard connection in the first quarter to WR Calvin Johnson. STAFFORD’S 488 PASSING YARDS In the Lions’ 31-30 win over Dallas, Stafford passed for 488 yards, including 79 on the game-winning drive with less than one-minute to playw. It was as the second-highest single-game total in team history and the most in a Lions’ win. Today’s tally trails only Stafford’s 520 yards at Green Bay January 1, 2012. His 488 yards are also the most at home by a Lions quarterback in team history. Stafford now has six career games with 400+ passing yards in his first five NFL seasons, trailing only Hall of Famer Dan Marino (7) for the most such games in the first five seasons of a career in NFL history (courtesy NFL and Elias Sports Bureau). Today’s 488 passing yards by Stafford was his sixth 400-yard game and 21st 300-yard game of his career. Stafford holds six of the team’s nine 400+-yard games in franchise history. Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Stafford has now registered 300 yards in 20 of his 40 starts. He also accumulated his 14th career 350-yard game. 33 PASS COMPLETIONS In the Lions’ 31-30 win, Stafford completed 33 passes against Dallas, which ties for the sixth-highest single-game tally in Lions history. Of the 11 games in Lions history where a passer completed 33+ passes, Stafford now owns six of those games. TEAM OFFENSIVE OUTPUT In Detroit’s 31-30 comeback win over Dallas, the Lions set a franchise single-game record by accumulatin 638 total offensive yards (143 rushing, 480 passing). They broke the previous record of 583 yards set last year at Tennessee (9/23/12) in an overtime game. Today’s game marked the first time in team history that the Lions offense accumulated over 600 total yards in a game. NET TOTAL YARDS DIFFERENTIAL Detroit garnered 623 total yards vs. Dallas and allowed 268 total offensive yards by the Cowboys. The net yards differential equates to 355 yards, which represents the most tallied by the Lions since they netted a 376-yard difference (509 yards; 133 yards allowed) at San Francisco November 3, 1963 120 TOTAL YARDS RB Reggie Bush rushed for 92 yards and registered 30 receiving yards to tally 122 total yards from scrimmage. In seven games played this year, he has totaled 120+ yards four times. Detroit running backs have now tallied 120+ total yards in five of the team’s eight games, including RB Joique Bell’s 132-yard game at Washington (9/22). GREAT TIMING WR Kris Durham, who finished the game with four catches for 54 yards, picked a great time to record his career long reception. With 40-seconds left to play and trailing 30-24, the Lions faced a 2nd-and-10 at the Detroit 37-yard line. Durham streaked down the sideline and registered a career long 40-yard reception that moved the ball down to the Dallas 23-yard line. LIONS LONGEVITY C Dominic Raiola played in his 196th career game today against the Dallas Cowboys. In Week 4 vs. Chicago (10/29), Raiola moved past T Jeff Backus for the third-most career games played in team history. He also set a new franchise record for the most games played by a Lions offensive player and the most games played by a Lions interior (offensive or defensive) lineman. LB Stephen Tulloch played in his 120th consecutive game today vs. Dallas. Tulloch now has the second-most consecutive games played among active defensive players in the NFL. Washington LB London Fletcher has the most with 246.
