Calvin Johnson 4 yards shy of Jerry Rice's record

The Lions can suddenly take a lead with a touchdown against the Falcons, but the game has become secondary at this point.

With nine catches for 178 yards, Calvin Johnson needs just 4 more yards to break Jerry Rice’s NFL single-season yardage record of 1,848.

Of course, the Lions had a chance to have him break it on their last drive, but on three goal-to-go plays, Johnson didn’t have one target.

The Lions instead settled for a 20-yard field goal and trail 21-16 with 13:26 left.

Josh Katzenstein
Josh Katzenstein joined The Detroit News as an intern on the metro desk in June 2011 before becoming a full-time metro reporter in September 2011. This August he moved to the sports desk and will assist in covering the Detroit Lions. He previously covered the University of Minnesota football and men's basketball teams for the student newspaper, Minnesota Daily, and freelanced for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He can be reached at jkatzenstein@detnews.com.