Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Detroit wideout Calvin Johnson entered the
record books on Saturday, breaking Jerry Rice's mark for most receiving yards
in a season in NFL history. But as has been the case for most of the season,
his stellar performance came in yet another loss. Matt Ryan threw four
touchdown passes, and the Atlanta Falcons clinched the NFC's top seed with a
31-18 win over the Lions at Ford Field. Ryan was 25-of-32 for 279 yards and
tied Steve Bartkowski for the most passing touchdowns in a single season in
franchise history with 31. Bartkowski set the record in 1980. Roddy White
caught two of the scores and finished with 153 yards on eight receptions
for Atlanta (13-2), which produced 17 points off three Detroit turnovers.
Johnson made 11 grabs for 225 yards, upping his season total to 1,892. Rice
had 1,848 yards in 1995 with San Francisco. It wasn't the only NFL record
the player known as "Megatron" broke as he became the first player to
record at least 100 receiving yards in eight straight games. Johnson
surpassed a mark set by Charley Hennigan in 1961 and matched by Michael
Irvin in 1995. Matthew Stafford completed 37-of-56 passes for 443 yards with
one interception for the Lions (4-11), who have lost seven in a row.
The Sports Network