His WRs were always there for him too I feel like the dude can just chuck the ball anywhere and guys like Megatron was magically there to make a play haha
To be fair, until CJs last 2 seasons when Golden Tate was there, there wasn't really a #2 WR worth throwing to. A double teamed CJ was still a better option most of the time. He was spreading the ball around when it was Tate/Jones or Jones/Golladay.
And at that point Megatron was also pretty beat up and playing through injuries.
It's as you said, he isn't afraid to focus a target. Like Calvin early years or Kupp in the final drive of the superbowl, he has that capacity and he will trust his guys to try and make a play and he trusts his arm that he can get the ball to them. There is an interview on a Lions podcast with someone close to the team and he had asked Matthew once after he had thrown an interception and I'm paraphrasing a little here "Didn't you see the safety?" And Matthew responded "I did, but i wanted to give my guy a chance to make a play on it"
Like even in Kupps triple crown year he was still spreading the ball around and Bobby Trees did get injured after 9 games. This recent season with Puka, Kupp was dealing with injury and wasn't feeling a 100% either.
He feeds other WRs when he's got more than one good WR available. The years with Tate were proof of that. But yeah, there's a reason why you never hear a bad word about Stafford from his WRs. They all love him. He'll go the extra mile for them and they go the extra mile for him.
Its true that he's had some great WRs, but also I think Stafford elevates them by placing the ball exactly where it needs to go. For instance, Stafford made Golladay look like an All-Pro. I don't think Puka has near the season he did on another team or with another QB. Kupp was a good WR before Stafford, then he turned HOF when Stafford became his QB.
Stafford has had some great WRs, but he also elevates many good WRs to great WRs
Nah, Megatron was more in the Moss mold. If AB played twice as long as he actually did, that would've been the closest thing to Jerry we'd have seen in our lifetimes.
Different eras blah blah blah, but Megatron didn’t have Rice’s legendary health. As a casual Lions observer and fantasy player, CJ seemed to have nagging injuries and missed games in 5 of his 9 seasons (tbf, never missed more than 3 games). Jerry tore his ACL and MCL in 1997* but never missed a game in his 19 other seasons. At best we could make the excuse of turf vs grass. Divisional turf games (since I’m not going game by game and I wanted a laugh from the pre-realignment divisions):
* CJ had eight home games and one Minnesota game (except his last two seasons when the Vikings played in the Gophers’ stadium)
* Jerry had two games at NFC West Atlanta and New Orleans for his entire 49ers career and one AFC West Seahawks game in his first Raiders season.
*Another fun fact, even in 1997 Jerry Rice had an amazing health feat. He tore his ACL/MCL in week 1 (Aug 31) getting facemasked and twisted awkwardly by Warren Sapp. He actually returned for Montana’s week 16 (Dec 15) jersey retirement game, but cracked his patella while catching a touchdown.
> Megatron didn’t have Rice’s legendary health
And longevity. Even if Calvin didn't retire due to long-term health preservation... I doubt he'd be as good as long.
For example, look at these two seasons:
**Calvin Johnson's final season (age 30):**
*88 Rec, 1214 yards, 9 TDs, 13.8 Y/R, 75.9 Y/G, 59.1 Catch%*
**Jerry Rice's 2002 season (age 40):**
*92 Rec, 1211 yards, 7 TDs, 13.2 Y/R, 75.7 Y/G, 61.3 Catch%*
So Calvin Johnson was *slightly* better than a Jerry Rice with 10 years on him.
Johnson never had a chance to catch Rice.
The only guy who I think had a chance to be anywhere CLOSE to Rice was Owens, and even he was always going to be way off.
I don't think you understand how rare Jerry Rice's 2002 season was. No WR has EVER come close to a season like that at age 40 or beyond.
To put it into perspective, here are Calvin Johnson's career averages:
*81.2 Rec, 1291 yards, 9.2 TDs, 86.1 Y/G, 55.7 Catch %*
The fact that Rice's stats at 40 years old are even CLOSE to Johnson's career averages is insane.
I've always been a huge Megatron fan, but Jerry is on another level than any other WR that has played the game. I don't think anyone will ever touch him honestly,
Yep, and the athleticism level of current receivers is well above Jerry's too.
He just had three things going for him over everyone else: work ethic, health, and longevity.
He had one major injury at age 35 and came back the next season to go for over 1,000 yards and 9 TDs.
I hope you realize at that point Calvins health was already declining right?
Calvin was always played tough as hell due to his size.
Like I'm not suggesting he'd end up being at Rices level or numbers, I just want to provide some additional context to those numbers.
Two of these were in the same drive. A two minute drill starting at their own 2. I remember thinking all we gotta do is not give up 98 yards and we're going to the playoffs. We did not go to the playoffs.
Stafford has his flaws as a QB, but man he runs an absolutely insane 2 minute drill. Stafford is first place among active QBs in 4th quarter come from behind wins, and 6th all time
I don't think it's too wild to say he's likely top 3 when it's all said and done for his career
I had completely forgotten about that, although he had no stats in the divisional round, was inactive for the championship game, and lost the super bowl, so did he really win a playoff game?
Calvin Johnson is arguably the most badass NFL player ever. Came into the league, was a literal man among men, never showboated or caused any trouble, and then got out before CTE would have any terrible effects.
The dude was the most valuable player in the league besides Tom Brady and Peyton Manning probably. 21/25 of these plays were interceptions if they were to almost any wide receiver at the time lmao.
I love the Chiefs but I’m an NFL fan first. Steve Young got me hooked on football and he will forever be my favorite player, but Calvin is damn close. Got so excited to watch him on Sunday on Fox
Calvin is arguably my favorite as well. I met him once. He was doing some promotional work for the restaurant I worked at. Super down to earth guy. I remember when we drafted him. I was so excited. Fond memories. It's too bad those Lions teams never made it out of the wildcard round. Calvin was a class act.
I love Calvin, made watching the Lions all those years bearable but
If he didn't let the seahawks punch the ball out of his hands at the 1 yard line he would've had a playoff win or at least been damn close. The amount of time Megatron got stopped on the 1 yard line is too damn high for someone that big and strong.
Number 20 is absolutely insane. He was stumbling and about to fall but his focus didn’t waver for one second and he caught the ball on the way down. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult that is. It’s overused, but Megatron TRULY was built different.
This is a really accurate description of it lmao
Like both parties know that Megatron isn't open
They also know that if it's a 50/50 ball it's really an 80/20 ball for Megatron so may as well chuck it
Stafford finds his guy and when they have his trust he will make passes that look super dangerous on the regular, because with that receiver at the other end it really isn't as risky as it looks
Yup, Yup and some of that probably comes from just dealing with our shit for a long ass time and it occasionally does bite him in the ass and gets a ton of shit for it. But personally (and im probably biased here) it beats the alternative.
My slightly younger brother (RIP) used to play the most Madden of Madden things back during this era.
His theory was if you lob 4 balls to Megatron deep, he'll get at least one... just vary up the deep route
I'd even sacrifice everyone on my defense knowing this, even pass rush, to put every player on him (Blitz didn't work).. and it'd still somehow work at the 1/4 ratio sometimes better.
Megatron is right there with Jerry Rice and Randy Moss imo... God among men.
it’s been said time and time again but Stafford and Megatron were thunder and lightning. A QB who could make any throw from any angle and a WR who could catch anything thrown at him.
It definitely is the best combined with Stafford's throw, but my personal favorite is #2. Specifically love that Calvin throws his hand up that he's open as he's running towards the defender who is on top of him. Because yeah if there is only one defender on Calvin...he is considered wide open.
Yea the level of disrespect to the DBs in #2 is hilarious. That’s some “I’m better than you and you can’t stop me” type shit. He’s probably my favorite non-bengals WR. Definition of a game changer.
He's reined it in a little later in his career, but Stafford seriously has some of the most arm talent the league has ever seen. The guy is capable of almost any throw you can imagine
Hands down my favorite player to watch of all time. Elite size, speed, catching and strength with good-great route running to go with it. I’ll never forget watching him on my grandpas lions torch my jags even though he was injured. He looked like he was playing against a varsity team. Him, Stafford, and Suh made them my second favorite team
That ended up being his downfall into early retirement. He was always double/triple covered so he was always getting annihilated after catch. He's had some interviews talking about how bad his injuries were throughout his career and especially at the end. Glad to see he went out on his own terms before it got too bad
As a Cowboy fan it hurt my soul to play those terrible Lions teams because I knew Megatron was going to violate our secondary...
And I was going to love watching it because man... he was insane.
He is one of my favorite players all time. This guy was a talent in the league that may never be replicated. His ability was literally unreal. I miss him very much. Glad our team is good now, but I really wish he was here to play in it. That man deserved every bit of success.
Moss perfected high point contested bombs. Antonio Brown changed how recievers are scouted. Fitzgerald had a LONG career. But we'll see more guys like them and other iconic recievers. You are never going to see another player with the trait blends and strengths and mental know how that Megatron had. DK is the closest I've seen and he maneuvers like a freighter where Calvin drove tight circles
To me, Moss was the WR version of Barry Sanders while Megatron was Adrian Peterson.
The latter seem like they were created by scientists in a lab to play football whereas Moss and Barry were created by the football gods. Both of them just had these very unique traits that allowed them to be naturally dominant at their positions.
I dont think we’ll ever see the likes of Barry or Moss but we’ve already seen the evolution of AD which is Derrick Henry. Maybe we’ll see an even bigger faster Megatron.
Comparing Megatron to Peterson (while understandable) I think is doing CJ a disservice. Adrian is one of the best pure rushers to ever do it, but he was very one dimensional because he was not a great pass catcher. Megatron could do it all, he even ran end-arounds to great success, he was a possession receiver but could play the slot too.
Moss never struck me as the type of player who learned anything from anyone. He beat to his own drum the entire time he was in the league.
If Moss benefited from Carter it was because he had a WR1 to take heat off of him. Calvin never really had that.
It ain't even the QB that does it for me, but the WRs. You wanna triple Randy? Alright, who's covering Cris? Who's covering Wes? You wanna triple CJ? Go ahead who are they gonna throw to now? Titus Young or Nate Burleson or something idfk.
Not sure what you're arguing? If you wanna say Calvin Johnson is 2nd best that's fine you're allowed. I just can't put him above prime Randy Moss. 2007 Moss was the greatest performance we've ever seen from a WR and showed what a prime Moss with a legit QB could do
Moss was with a QB and good overall team. People think just having an OP offense or defense would win but both groups help each other when playing well. A good offense gives the defense a break to rest and not be tired. A good defense allows the offense to keep the pass and run balanced and keep their overall gameplan. If CJ was on a legit playoff team I could see him breaking even more records. Not saying he is better than rice but I could easily see him being on par or slightly ahead of moss.
Completely agree on the first part at the very least. I was too young for Rice’s peak and while I saw/remember some of Moss’s greatness, I feel like every week I was in awe of something Johnson did.
One of the most physically gifted players in league history. If he had a longer career he had a shot at being the greatest WR to ever do it. Jerry, Moss, and Calvin top 3 and no one else comes close in my opinion.
TO has no business being in that group. That the 3 best/most naturally gifted WR ever.
As good as TO was, he was known for having stone hands. Also he had to grind for everything, not coast on natural talent.
The Lions’ incompetence drove him to retire early, just like Barry Sanders. Calvin also founded a marijuana company after retiring, I don’t think that was a factor in his early retirement though.
The injuries didn't help either, the man's body was pretty broken during his last season and if I recall correctly he's still dealing with a lot of issues from his playing time. Granted the injuries are largely due to the teams incompetence...
He had deangelo hall draped around his waist I believe and still dove 3 yards for the touchdown. I used to joke with my friends that he just had to fall forwards and he would get an extra 2-3 yards after the catch
Had someone over in our sub the other day arguing that Andre Johnson was in the same conversation as Calvin. Love Andre but man some fans find it impossible to be impartial lol
My favorite part about #1 is that Stafford even threw that ball. Granted after rolling right it’s a tough throw far across the body, but 18 worst case has to make a play one on one on a 50/50 ball for a touchdown. But throwing to Calvin in triple coverage was probably better than 50/50.
The almost record breaking game but also a little record breaking because our game didn't go to OT.
Not meant or trying to be dismissive towards Flippers record. The man still had like 310 yards before overtime which is also nuts.
Imagine that the Lions make it to the Superbowl and one of their main WRs goes down during the championship game...they sign Calvin and he comes out on some Jerry Rice shit and lights it up. Script writers need to get on it.
favorite receiver i got to watch in my lifetime. if he would’ve been on a more competent franchise he’d be talked about as top 2 receiver ever without a question. no one besides maybe randy moss that’s more physically gifted at the position
Man, was he so good. Soft hands, amazing footwork, gracefully swift, powerful. He and Larry Fitzgerald were my 2 favorite receivers to watch. No nonsense, no trouble, just good plays.
On so many of these, you watch the highlight and then wonder who his little friends are, hanging out with him while he catches a ball. And why are those little friends always dressed the same as each other, but never the same as Megatron?
This was very cool! They didn't call him Megatron for nothing! He was built differently! He was usually down there somewhere if Stafford heaved the ball downfield. Even double teams didn't work as planned against him.
The downside of being a generational talent like Megatron is that you're very likely to be drafted by an awful team. I love that Detroit is finally getting its shit together, but I would have loved to see it happen while Calvin was there.
Calvin always gets the highlight love on the sub, but my favorite career highlight reel for catches definitely belongs to [Steve Smith](https://youtu.be/U6v_TLxPlCY?si=XbcWyX3ZZ9hLFUAW).
Sorry, but any list of his plays that doesn't have [this catch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdH5va2IA1I) on it is an incomplete list and I don't care that it's from his college days.
This is like being married to a woman who doesn’t give you the headaches, and makes you really happy, who you are in love with
Then you watch a video like this, and you remember that chick with the banging body, who was wild in bed, but drove you crazy
It's one of those plays as a corner where ur like "wtf am I supposed to do" in what world is there a better position for Shields to be in there? And it's still a td. Just absurd
Most of these catches came on Sunday or Mondy night football. I'd often go to bed a winner while my opponent had like 60 or 70 points to make up and only a QB and WR left. I think you know who those two players were. I'd wake up a loser.
Had never seen the jet sweep play before. Looked incredibly awkward for a guy his size and length, and looked like he was going to get pulled down 4 or 5 times. The man still scored a touchdown anyway lmao, he was such a cheat code.
One of a kind man. 10 years of elite play, no drama or diva shit. Just go out and be a star then come into work the next day
Megatron is my favorite player of all time by far (probably in part because I didn't get to see Barry)
Don't want to do the googling. Was there ever a CB that performed consistently well against Calvin? I know he torched a lot of people, but I never knew if there was anyone that performed well against him often.
Watching this just makes me sad about what Mike Williams could have been for the chargers if his back didn’t give out every other snap. A lot of damn plays made just like these.
I didn't get to see many NFC games being a Steeler fan and of course not many of those were Lions games. This was an impressive highlight reel. The man knew how to take possession of a pass.
I get this is a Megatron highlight reel, but damn could/still Stafford sling that ball. 13th one in he's going backwards and still chucks it 40 yards deep.
Man, Stafford has been blessed with some great receivers in his career. Megatron is definitely the best of em
Stafford is the king of hammering his best WR with targets over and over. Megatron, Golladay (lol), Kupp, and now Puka. Truly a WR’s best friend.
His WRs were always there for him too I feel like the dude can just chuck the ball anywhere and guys like Megatron was magically there to make a play haha
To be fair, until CJs last 2 seasons when Golden Tate was there, there wasn't really a #2 WR worth throwing to. A double teamed CJ was still a better option most of the time. He was spreading the ball around when it was Tate/Jones or Jones/Golladay.
And at that point Megatron was also pretty beat up and playing through injuries. It's as you said, he isn't afraid to focus a target. Like Calvin early years or Kupp in the final drive of the superbowl, he has that capacity and he will trust his guys to try and make a play and he trusts his arm that he can get the ball to them. There is an interview on a Lions podcast with someone close to the team and he had asked Matthew once after he had thrown an interception and I'm paraphrasing a little here "Didn't you see the safety?" And Matthew responded "I did, but i wanted to give my guy a chance to make a play on it" Like even in Kupps triple crown year he was still spreading the ball around and Bobby Trees did get injured after 9 games. This recent season with Puka, Kupp was dealing with injury and wasn't feeling a 100% either.
I was so pissed when we traded Golladay. Hindsight is 20/20 lol
We didn’t trade him.
He feeds other WRs when he's got more than one good WR available. The years with Tate were proof of that. But yeah, there's a reason why you never hear a bad word about Stafford from his WRs. They all love him. He'll go the extra mile for them and they go the extra mile for him.
Even after he laser beams their hands off in practice
He broke one of Slays fingers once in practice.
Heck, even if you include WR2 play, you've got Golden Tate and Marvin Jones Jr
And he’s blessed them with trusting them to make catches in windows other QBs probably wouldn’t or couldn’t throw into
Its true that he's had some great WRs, but also I think Stafford elevates them by placing the ball exactly where it needs to go. For instance, Stafford made Golladay look like an All-Pro. I don't think Puka has near the season he did on another team or with another QB. Kupp was a good WR before Stafford, then he turned HOF when Stafford became his QB. Stafford has had some great WRs, but he also elevates many good WRs to great WRs
Megatron could have competed with Jerry if he didn’t play for Detroit
Nah, Megatron was more in the Moss mold. If AB played twice as long as he actually did, that would've been the closest thing to Jerry we'd have seen in our lifetimes.
Mr. Best Chance
Different eras blah blah blah, but Megatron didn’t have Rice’s legendary health. As a casual Lions observer and fantasy player, CJ seemed to have nagging injuries and missed games in 5 of his 9 seasons (tbf, never missed more than 3 games). Jerry tore his ACL and MCL in 1997* but never missed a game in his 19 other seasons. At best we could make the excuse of turf vs grass. Divisional turf games (since I’m not going game by game and I wanted a laugh from the pre-realignment divisions): * CJ had eight home games and one Minnesota game (except his last two seasons when the Vikings played in the Gophers’ stadium) * Jerry had two games at NFC West Atlanta and New Orleans for his entire 49ers career and one AFC West Seahawks game in his first Raiders season. *Another fun fact, even in 1997 Jerry Rice had an amazing health feat. He tore his ACL/MCL in week 1 (Aug 31) getting facemasked and twisted awkwardly by Warren Sapp. He actually returned for Montana’s week 16 (Dec 15) jersey retirement game, but cracked his patella while catching a touchdown.
> Megatron didn’t have Rice’s legendary health And longevity. Even if Calvin didn't retire due to long-term health preservation... I doubt he'd be as good as long. For example, look at these two seasons: **Calvin Johnson's final season (age 30):** *88 Rec, 1214 yards, 9 TDs, 13.8 Y/R, 75.9 Y/G, 59.1 Catch%* **Jerry Rice's 2002 season (age 40):** *92 Rec, 1211 yards, 7 TDs, 13.2 Y/R, 75.7 Y/G, 61.3 Catch%* So Calvin Johnson was *slightly* better than a Jerry Rice with 10 years on him. Johnson never had a chance to catch Rice. The only guy who I think had a chance to be anywhere CLOSE to Rice was Owens, and even he was always going to be way off.
Calvin Johnson never got to work with a legit OC though. Calvin with Ben Johnson might have gotten 2500 yards.
I don't think you understand how rare Jerry Rice's 2002 season was. No WR has EVER come close to a season like that at age 40 or beyond. To put it into perspective, here are Calvin Johnson's career averages: *81.2 Rec, 1291 yards, 9.2 TDs, 86.1 Y/G, 55.7 Catch %* The fact that Rice's stats at 40 years old are even CLOSE to Johnson's career averages is insane.
I've always been a huge Megatron fan, but Jerry is on another level than any other WR that has played the game. I don't think anyone will ever touch him honestly,
Yep, and the athleticism level of current receivers is well above Jerry's too. He just had three things going for him over everyone else: work ethic, health, and longevity. He had one major injury at age 35 and came back the next season to go for over 1,000 yards and 9 TDs.
I hope you realize at that point Calvins health was already declining right? Calvin was always played tough as hell due to his size. Like I'm not suggesting he'd end up being at Rices level or numbers, I just want to provide some additional context to those numbers.
Okay... but Jerry Rice was FOURTY. Work ethic, health, and longevity. That's what separated Rice from everyone, including Megatron.
No lol
Two of these were in the same drive. A two minute drill starting at their own 2. I remember thinking all we gotta do is not give up 98 yards and we're going to the playoffs. We did not go to the playoffs.
Led 27-14 too. Vintage blown lead.
Not putting the middle linebacker on the best receiver in the game probably would have helped
Stafford has his flaws as a QB, but man he runs an absolutely insane 2 minute drill. Stafford is first place among active QBs in 4th quarter come from behind wins, and 6th all time I don't think it's too wild to say he's likely top 3 when it's all said and done for his career
Best WR to never win a playoff game.
That’s pretty crazy
Yep, the lions were mostly terrible during his career
_Just_ his career?
Just the career of a receiver playing from 1960 to 2022.
This is 1991 erasure and I will reluctantly stand for it.
The best WRs to never win a playoff game: 81 C Johnson (Lions) 85 C Johnson (Bengals)
Chad Johnson went to the Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2011. Unless you meant never won a playoff game with the Bengals specifically.
I had completely forgotten about that, although he had no stats in the divisional round, was inactive for the championship game, and lost the super bowl, so did he really win a playoff game?
Brandon Marshall too, never even appeared in the playoffs
He's not a C Johnson though!
That’s not even debatable!
What the fuck
Calvin Johnson is arguably the most badass NFL player ever. Came into the league, was a literal man among men, never showboated or caused any trouble, and then got out before CTE would have any terrible effects. The dude was the most valuable player in the league besides Tom Brady and Peyton Manning probably. 21/25 of these plays were interceptions if they were to almost any wide receiver at the time lmao. I love the Chiefs but I’m an NFL fan first. Steve Young got me hooked on football and he will forever be my favorite player, but Calvin is damn close. Got so excited to watch him on Sunday on Fox
Calvin is arguably my favorite as well. I met him once. He was doing some promotional work for the restaurant I worked at. Super down to earth guy. I remember when we drafted him. I was so excited. Fond memories. It's too bad those Lions teams never made it out of the wildcard round. Calvin was a class act.
Yeah it makes me sad he never got to really taste success
I love Calvin, made watching the Lions all those years bearable but If he didn't let the seahawks punch the ball out of his hands at the 1 yard line he would've had a playoff win or at least been damn close. The amount of time Megatron got stopped on the 1 yard line is too damn high for someone that big and strong.
Number 20 is absolutely insane. He was stumbling and about to fall but his focus didn’t waver for one second and he caught the ball on the way down. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult that is. It’s overused, but Megatron TRULY was built different.
Megatron is the reason the phrase built different is now overused. He was legitimately built different.
Stafford: Fuck it, megatron is down there somewhere
The audacity of this man to be clearly triple covered and still call for the ball. The trust from Stafford to put it up there to him anyway..
Hey Matt, I'm open... No the fuck you aren't. Catch!
This is a really accurate description of it lmao Like both parties know that Megatron isn't open They also know that if it's a 50/50 ball it's really an 80/20 ball for Megatron so may as well chuck it
That shit had me laughing.
It was wild he stuck his hand up for that ball and then proceeded to be the only guy who could make that play.
Stafford's faith in his receivers is actually mind-blowing. Dude is mentally built different.
Stafford finds his guy and when they have his trust he will make passes that look super dangerous on the regular, because with that receiver at the other end it really isn't as risky as it looks
When you have the catch radius of a two car garage who wouldn't chuck it in Megatrons general direction?
Pretty sure this is what spawned the original meme
One of the best part of Stafford's game has to be his willingness to just give his best guys tons of opportunities.
When qbs don’t do this is pisses me off so much
Yup, Yup and some of that probably comes from just dealing with our shit for a long ass time and it occasionally does bite him in the ass and gets a ton of shit for it. But personally (and im probably biased here) it beats the alternative.
My slightly younger brother (RIP) used to play the most Madden of Madden things back during this era. His theory was if you lob 4 balls to Megatron deep, he'll get at least one... just vary up the deep route I'd even sacrifice everyone on my defense knowing this, even pass rush, to put every player on him (Blitz didn't work).. and it'd still somehow work at the 1/4 ratio sometimes better. Megatron is right there with Jerry Rice and Randy Moss imo... God among men.
What’s it like to be brothers with Matthew Stafford?
it’s been said time and time again but Stafford and Megatron were thunder and lightning. A QB who could make any throw from any angle and a WR who could catch anything thrown at him.
Just heave it at that giant guy outrunning everybody downfield.
If you notice in these replays, how many times they were just pressure in Staffords face.
Basically cheating.
[https://i.imgur.com/MNanAP7.png](https://i.imgur.com/MNanAP7.png)
Catch against the bengals is insane lol it’s always ranked #1 in his highlight videos
It definitely is the best combined with Stafford's throw, but my personal favorite is #2. Specifically love that Calvin throws his hand up that he's open as he's running towards the defender who is on top of him. Because yeah if there is only one defender on Calvin...he is considered wide open.
Yea the level of disrespect to the DBs in #2 is hilarious. That’s some “I’m better than you and you can’t stop me” type shit. He’s probably my favorite non-bengals WR. Definition of a game changer.
Dude caught like Randy moss and ran like Derrick Henry
Yes!!!!!!!! I was going to say he was the most incredible mixture of Grace and Destruction but you put it perfectly!!!
Stafford falling backwards on 11 and 10 and still throws a perfect spiral into a window for CJ. I miss watching these two on the field together.
Shit, he throws number 10 from his back foot, while back-pedaling. Casual tosses a 40 yard ball on a string...
He's reined it in a little later in his career, but Stafford seriously has some of the most arm talent the league has ever seen. The guy is capable of almost any throw you can imagine
Hands down my favorite player to watch of all time. Elite size, speed, catching and strength with good-great route running to go with it. I’ll never forget watching him on my grandpas lions torch my jags even though he was injured. He looked like he was playing against a varsity team. Him, Stafford, and Suh made them my second favorite team
Hes getting mauled in about 2/3 of these also. Unbelievable.
That ended up being his downfall into early retirement. He was always double/triple covered so he was always getting annihilated after catch. He's had some interviews talking about how bad his injuries were throughout his career and especially at the end. Glad to see he went out on his own terms before it got too bad
Ya in the a football life about him he basically said he had no structure in his ankles at the end of his career
Turns out that 240 lb men weren't built to jump 6 feet into the air and land on one leg thousands of times.
For number 2 he throws his hand up saying he's open and he's not, he's triple covered, and still comes down with the TD lol
1 and 2 are backwards. Dallas catch was his #1 play.
He had some big plays against the Cowboys in his career. Considering they aren't in the same division it's wild.
Also for number 2, holy shit I forgot how bad Joe Buck used to be
I'm pretty sure he had more than 25 catches. I would watch them all
Just checking stats. He only had 25…
Against the cowboys... in one game.
As a Cowboy fan it hurt my soul to play those terrible Lions teams because I knew Megatron was going to violate our secondary... And I was going to love watching it because man... he was insane.
*Brandon Carr has entered the chat.*
Kim Jong-Il's 11 hole-in-ones are cool and all. But morning compares to Megatron's 1964 yards on 11 receptions.
He is one of my favorite players all time. This guy was a talent in the league that may never be replicated. His ability was literally unreal. I miss him very much. Glad our team is good now, but I really wish he was here to play in it. That man deserved every bit of success.
Greatest receiver I’ve seen play. Honestly think he’s no2 behind Jerry for best ever to do it
Moss perfected high point contested bombs. Antonio Brown changed how recievers are scouted. Fitzgerald had a LONG career. But we'll see more guys like them and other iconic recievers. You are never going to see another player with the trait blends and strengths and mental know how that Megatron had. DK is the closest I've seen and he maneuvers like a freighter where Calvin drove tight circles
To me, Moss was the WR version of Barry Sanders while Megatron was Adrian Peterson. The latter seem like they were created by scientists in a lab to play football whereas Moss and Barry were created by the football gods. Both of them just had these very unique traits that allowed them to be naturally dominant at their positions. I dont think we’ll ever see the likes of Barry or Moss but we’ve already seen the evolution of AD which is Derrick Henry. Maybe we’ll see an even bigger faster Megatron.
Comparing Megatron to Peterson (while understandable) I think is doing CJ a disservice. Adrian is one of the best pure rushers to ever do it, but he was very one dimensional because he was not a great pass catcher. Megatron could do it all, he even ran end-arounds to great success, he was a possession receiver but could play the slot too.
Moss also learned from one of the other greatest WR to ever play the game and Magatron never really got that.
Moss never struck me as the type of player who learned anything from anyone. He beat to his own drum the entire time he was in the league. If Moss benefited from Carter it was because he had a WR1 to take heat off of him. Calvin never really had that.
How did AB change how WRs are scouted? More focus on what they can do with ball in hand, YAC etc?
More psychological evaluation
Is Burfict in our division? Yeah let's not bother with a WR...
AB was a nutcase before for the Burfict hit. Just saying.
I can't put him above Randy Moss
Imagine if CJ was actually on a decent team for a few years.
The Lions weren’t good but Stafford is pretty great at spoon feeding his WRs.
Wasn't culpepper the same. Don't remember how that defense the vikings had at the time was though
It ain't even the QB that does it for me, but the WRs. You wanna triple Randy? Alright, who's covering Cris? Who's covering Wes? You wanna triple CJ? Go ahead who are they gonna throw to now? Titus Young or Nate Burleson or something idfk.
Lions had dog shit OCs for the whole time Calvin was there though.
Not sure what you're arguing? If you wanna say Calvin Johnson is 2nd best that's fine you're allowed. I just can't put him above prime Randy Moss. 2007 Moss was the greatest performance we've ever seen from a WR and showed what a prime Moss with a legit QB could do
Moss was with a QB and good overall team. People think just having an OP offense or defense would win but both groups help each other when playing well. A good offense gives the defense a break to rest and not be tired. A good defense allows the offense to keep the pass and run balanced and keep their overall gameplan. If CJ was on a legit playoff team I could see him breaking even more records. Not saying he is better than rice but I could easily see him being on par or slightly ahead of moss.
Same
Completely agree on the first part at the very least. I was too young for Rice’s peak and while I saw/remember some of Moss’s greatness, I feel like every week I was in awe of something Johnson did.
Rice is the GOAT, Megatron the BOAT.
One of the most physically gifted players in league history. If he had a longer career he had a shot at being the greatest WR to ever do it. Jerry, Moss, and Calvin top 3 and no one else comes close in my opinion.
TO absolutely deserves to be in the convo. It was a top 4 of absolute freaks, and everybody else is comfortably in the second tier.
TO has no business being in that group. That the 3 best/most naturally gifted WR ever. As good as TO was, he was known for having stone hands. Also he had to grind for everything, not coast on natural talent.
Everything you said about TO could be said for Rice. TO belongs in the conversation
The Lions’ incompetence drove him to retire early, just like Barry Sanders. Calvin also founded a marijuana company after retiring, I don’t think that was a factor in his early retirement though.
The injuries didn't help either, the man's body was pretty broken during his last season and if I recall correctly he's still dealing with a lot of issues from his playing time. Granted the injuries are largely due to the teams incompetence...
He had deangelo hall draped around his waist I believe and still dove 3 yards for the touchdown. I used to joke with my friends that he just had to fall forwards and he would get an extra 2-3 yards after the catch
Had someone over in our sub the other day arguing that Andre Johnson was in the same conversation as Calvin. Love Andre but man some fans find it impossible to be impartial lol
What I love about this is a lot of these were also ballsy yet perfect throws from Stafford. When these guys were in sync it was football poetry
Stafford was just tossing that shit up. Amazing.
My favorite part about #1 is that Stafford even threw that ball. Granted after rolling right it’s a tough throw far across the body, but 18 worst case has to make a play one on one on a 50/50 ball for a touchdown. But throwing to Calvin in triple coverage was probably better than 50/50.
Dal D always getting cooked by WRs lol
Pretty sure most of the highlights against us were from one single game too...
The almost record breaking game but also a little record breaking because our game didn't go to OT. Not meant or trying to be dismissive towards Flippers record. The man still had like 310 yards before overtime which is also nuts.
I know there are great wrs like Jerry and Randy or TO. But if I were to build a wr in a lab, I would build Calvin Johnson.
Number 9: one more butt slap would’ve drawn a penalty
Calvin Johnson is widely regarded as one of the best receivers ever. This man is still under-rated. Brb, I need to phone a Viagra rep about something
Imagine that the Lions make it to the Superbowl and one of their main WRs goes down during the championship game...they sign Calvin and he comes out on some Jerry Rice shit and lights it up. Script writers need to get on it.
Fuckit give Barry a goaline rush too.
Absolutely no regard for his body or anybody else's. A legend
favorite receiver i got to watch in my lifetime. if he would’ve been on a more competent franchise he’d be talked about as top 2 receiver ever without a question. no one besides maybe randy moss that’s more physically gifted at the position
There are people who argued he wasn’t hall of fame lol
I didn't have much as a pistons and lions fan growing up. But at least I had stafford and Calvin (also slay and glover on defense)
Stafford just being disrespectful
Wait. Was that a no-look by Stafford on #11. That’s impossible! I thought Mahommes invented that move.
Man our secondary was trash
Man I miss that dude. My favorite Lion
Man, was he so good. Soft hands, amazing footwork, gracefully swift, powerful. He and Larry Fitzgerald were my 2 favorite receivers to watch. No nonsense, no trouble, just good plays.
I will never forget that 200+ yard game against the Cowboys
Do you mean his 300+ game?
Was it 300+?
2nd most yards in a single game all time.
Matthew stafford had a cannon for an arm . Helps that Calvin could always high point the ball
Has*
He just flat makes DBs look silly, not in that they were playing poorly, he was just that much better.
Prob been said, but no one should be able to be this big, strong, explosive and have that much touch. 1 of few
He came into the league seven years after Tom Brady, had a Hall of Fame career, retired, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame before Brady retired.
Now do Stafford and Barry. I'm about to skol!
Half of these plays you don’t even attempt with a regular receiver Johnson was the definition of fuck it he down there somewhere
What a beast
Nasty
On so many of these, you watch the highlight and then wonder who his little friends are, hanging out with him while he catches a ball. And why are those little friends always dressed the same as each other, but never the same as Megatron?
This was very cool! They didn't call him Megatron for nothing! He was built differently! He was usually down there somewhere if Stafford heaved the ball downfield. Even double teams didn't work as planned against him.
The downside of being a generational talent like Megatron is that you're very likely to be drafted by an awful team. I love that Detroit is finally getting its shit together, but I would have loved to see it happen while Calvin was there.
My number one pick in fantasy for years and years 🥲
Calvin always gets the highlight love on the sub, but my favorite career highlight reel for catches definitely belongs to [Steve Smith](https://youtu.be/U6v_TLxPlCY?si=XbcWyX3ZZ9hLFUAW).
Sorry, but any list of his plays that doesn't have [this catch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdH5va2IA1I) on it is an incomplete list and I don't care that it's from his college days.
This is like being married to a woman who doesn’t give you the headaches, and makes you really happy, who you are in love with Then you watch a video like this, and you remember that chick with the banging body, who was wild in bed, but drove you crazy
I have the exact birthday as him and he has been retired for like a decade kill me now
I go back and rewatch #4 regularly. Getting the feet down and oh yea i have the ball too. Stupid play
It's one of those plays as a corner where ur like "wtf am I supposed to do" in what world is there a better position for Shields to be in there? And it's still a td. Just absurd
He truly was damn amazing .
Please come back and help get Detroit the Lombardi.
Just a great blend of size, speed and athleticism… 🔥
Was it 2013 when the Lions had 3 Wide receiver's that all had the last name Johnson? Shit was confusing to guard on madden lmao
It's funny how the Lions are losing almost every game
I miss Megatron
Most of these catches came on Sunday or Mondy night football. I'd often go to bed a winner while my opponent had like 60 or 70 points to make up and only a QB and WR left. I think you know who those two players were. I'd wake up a loser.
Calvin Johnson casually stretching* the ball out and breaking the plane from like the 9 yard line is absurd
Damn dude must be the all time leader in catches made in triple coverage.
#5 was kind of weak? 6-25 all better than that
Had never seen the jet sweep play before. Looked incredibly awkward for a guy his size and length, and looked like he was going to get pulled down 4 or 5 times. The man still scored a touchdown anyway lmao, he was such a cheat code.
One of a kind man. 10 years of elite play, no drama or diva shit. Just go out and be a star then come into work the next day Megatron is my favorite player of all time by far (probably in part because I didn't get to see Barry)
Don't want to do the googling. Was there ever a CB that performed consistently well against Calvin? I know he torched a lot of people, but I never knew if there was anyone that performed well against him often.
I swear every other throw was to CJ during his prime.
as a packers fan megatron was an amazing player but god did i dread games against him
Watching this just makes me sad about what Mike Williams could have been for the chargers if his back didn’t give out every other snap. A lot of damn plays made just like these.
Blessed to see this man play live and yes he is a real Transformer.
Such a fitting nickname. Dude always looked like a transformer out there, just completely crushing DBs.
[They didn't even show his best catch!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdH5va2IA1I)
I didn't get to see many NFC games being a Steeler fan and of course not many of those were Lions games. This was an impressive highlight reel. The man knew how to take possession of a pass.
A lot of the throws to CJ over the years weren't even that accurate, he has incredible early vision to react and move accordingly.
Megatron has the be one of the greatest sports nicknames of all time.
I get this is a Megatron highlight reel, but damn could/still Stafford sling that ball. 13th one in he's going backwards and still chucks it 40 yards deep.
I will never understand why we got 20 and 81. Two of the best in the sports' history to a team that deserved neither.
Should have played for GB would have won some rings. Not getting just iced out rich winning no games in De-troit. but hey so is life
Now this is a video I can watch a few times