NFL Old School Game of the Week: Megatron's 329 Receiving Yards Leads Lions to Nail-Biter Win over Cowboys

 

Calvin Johnson became the fifth player in NFL history to have at least 300 receiving yards in a single game during the Lions' 2013 win over the Cowboys.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest freak athletes to ever play in the NFL.

Standing at 6 feet 5 inches and weighing around 240 pounds, Johnson could ran a 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds with a broad jump of 11 feet 3 inches, leading to former teammate Roy Williams to nickname Johnson "Megatron" after the leader of the Decepticons from the Transformers film franchise which saw its first live-action movie release in 2007 the same year as Johnson's rookie season.

"Megatron" would go on to terrorize for NFL defensive backs as helped the Lions recover from an embarrassing 0-16 season in 2008 to the playoffs in 2011 as Johnson would became an all-pro receiver.

Then in 2012, Johnson broke the record for most receiving yards in a season as he accounted for 1,964 yards on 122 catches despite Detroit having a 4-12 season that year.

For 2013, Johnson was hoping he could help the Lions get back to the postseason as "Megatron" caught 63 passes for 517 yards and scored six touchdowns, with all of those catches coming courtesy of passes from quarterback Matthew Stafford, to help Detroit equal their win total from the previous year as the Lions entered their Week 8 game with the Dallas Cowboys with a 4-3 record.

The Cowboys also came into the game with a 4-3 record under head coach Jason Garrett whose offense was led by quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant was hoping to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2009 season and break a two-year stretch where "America's Team" finished with a 8-8 record.

The two teams traded punts to start the game until the Lions had the ball at their 10-yard-line facing a 2nd & 10 when Johnson caught his first pass of the game, a short slant which "Megatron" turned into a 87-yard completion to give Detroit a 1st & goal at the Dallas three-yard-line.

Three plays picked up only just one yard to set up 4th & goal at the two-yard-line when the Lions decided to go for the touchdown which they got as Stafford found Johnson in the end zone for the touchdown to give Detroit a 7-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.

Following a three-and-out by the Cowboys, the Lions got the ball at their 40-yard-line as two straight running plays gained 18 yards that put Detroit at the Dallas 42-yard-line when Stafford was intercepted by Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee to give Dallas the ball at their 38-yard-line.

After both team punted on  their ensuing possessions, the Cowboys got the ball back at their 20-yard-line when Dallas put together its best drive of the game thus far as they drove 55 yards in eight plays to set up a 53-yard field goal by Dan Bailey to cut the Lions' lead to 7-3 with 5:44 left in the second quarter.

The Lions would begin their ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line as Johnson would catch two passes for  30 yards to help Detroit drive to the Dallas 27-yard-line when Stafford was picked off again by Lee, who returned the interception 74 yards to the Lions' four-yard-line.

Three plays later, Romo hit Dez Bryant, who made a spectacular one-handed catch for the five-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys a 10-7 lead with 51 seconds left in the first half.

Detroit would get one more chance to put points on the scoreboard before halftime as a 29-yard catch by Johnson put the Lions at their 49-yard-line until an intentional grounding penalty would kill the drive as the first half came to an end with the Cowboys on top 10-7.

After the Cowboys punted on their opening possession of the second half, the Lions got the ball at their 30-yard-line as they drove to the Dallas 44-yard-line until running back Reggie Bush fumbled the football after a hit by strong safety Jeff Heath that was recovered by linebacker Justin Durant at the Cowboys' 32-yard-line.

The Cowboys would pick up one first down before punting it back to the Lions who took over at their 13-yard-line as they drove to their 48-yard-line until Johnson caught a 21-yard pass, only to fumble the football after he was hit by free safety Barry Church, leading to a recovery by cornerback Brandon Carr, whose 21-yard return that with an unnecessary roughness penalty on tight end Joe Fauria put Dallas at the Detroit 35-yard-line.

However, the Cowboys would not pick up another yard on three plays, forcing them to settle for a 53-yard field goal by Bailey which increased Dallas' lead to 13-7 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw for 206 yards and three touchdown passes.

Following a 44-yard return by Jeremy Ross on the ensuing kickoff, the Lions would begin their next possession at their 37-yard-line as four plays took them to the Cowboys' 47-yard-line when Johnson caught a 18-yard pass to give Detroit a 1st down at the Dallas' 29-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.

The fourth quarter would begin with Johnson catching a 26-yard pass to give the Lions a 1st & goal at the Cowboys' three-yard-line as the Cowboys would keep the Lions from getting into the end zone, forcing them to settle for a 20-yard field goal by David Akers to cut the Dallas lead to 13-10 with 13:16 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys would start their next drive at their 29-yard-line as two running plays picked up 11 yards to give Dallas a 1st down at its 40-yard-line when Romo completed a short pass to Terrance Williams, who then outran the Lions' defense to get into the end zone to complete the 60-yard touchdown and increase Dallas' lead to 20-10 with 11:43 left in regulation.

The Lions would respond with a seven-play, 80-yard drive which featured Johnson catching a nine-yard pass which set up an one-yard touchdown run by Bell that cut the Cowboys' lead to 20-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

Back came the Cowboys as Dwayne Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the Dallas' 48-yard-line as Joseph Randle ran for two yards to set up to Romo's 50-yard touchdown pass to Bryant which pushed the Cowboys' lead back to 10 points at 27-17 with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter.

Needing a score quickly, Stafford would throw a deep pass on the first play of the Lions' ensuing possession as Johnson would outleap two Dallas defenders to make the catch for a 54-yard reception to give Detroit a 1st down at the  Cowboys' 26-yard-line.

Six plays later, the Lions were in the end zone as Bush punched it in for an one-yard touchdown that cut the Dallas lead to 27-24 with 3:37 left in regulation.

The Lions defense would force the Cowboys to punt on their ensuing possession to get the ball at their 33-yard-line with 2:24 left for Detroit to drive down the field and at least kick a game-tying field goal.

However, the Lions could not pick up a 1st down as a quarterback sack by Cowboys defensive tackle Jason Hatcher cost Detroit eight yards, which was followed by a six-yard pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew and then two incomplete passes to give the ball back to the Cowboys at the Lions' 31-yard-line with 1:33 left in the game.

It seemed like the Cowboys had the game in hand as they needed only one 1st down to win the game or at least could kick a field goal to make it a six-point lead as they would give the ball back to the Lions with around 25 seconds left in the game.

Dallas would run the ball twice as Joseph Randle was dropped for a three-yard loss on 1st down, followed by Phillip Tanner losing one yard on 2nd down as the Lions spent their remaining two timeouts as the Cowboys faced a 3rd & 14 with 1:14 remaining.

The Cowboys chose to run the ball again as Tanner ran for nine yards, only to have left tackle Tyron Smith get called for holding which stopped the clock as the Lions did the smart thing and elected not to push Dallas back 10 yards but instead declined the penalty to make it 4th & 5 from the Detroit 26-yard-line.

Bailey would come on to kick a 44-yard field goal which increased the Dallas lead to 30-24 but would give the Lions 67 seconds to try and drive for the game-winning touchdown.

Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Lions would get the ball at their 20-yard-line as Stafford threw an incomplete pass on 1st down, then connected with Johnson for 17 yards and a 1st down at the Detroit 37-yard-line.

After spiking the ball to stop the clock with 40 seconds left, Stafford hit Kris Durham for 40 yards as the third-year wide receiver stepped out of bounds at the Cowboys' 27-yard-line.

Stafford would go back to Johnson as "Megatron" made his 14th catch of the game, a sliding 26-yard catch to give the Lions a 1st & goal at the Cowboys' one-yard-line.

As the Lions ran to the line of scrimmage, Stafford was yelling "Clock" implying that he was going to spike the ball once his team lined up to snap the ball.

But when the ball was snapped, Stafford kept the ball and lunged in for the one-yard touchdown to tie the game at 30 as Akers would come on to kick the go-ahead extra point to give Detroit a 31-30 lead as the Cowboys with 14 seconds left.

The Cowboys would get one last chance to win the game but failed on their attempt to recreate the 1982 Stanford-California finish as the Lions came away with the 31-30 victory following a 14-catch, 329-yard performance by Johnson as Megatron finished with the second most receiving yards in a NFL game behind Flipper Anderson who had 336 yards in a game against the New Orleans Saints in 1989(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-flipper.html)

The Cowboys would go on to finish the season with a 8-8 record for the third year in a row as Dallas missed the postseason for the fourth consecutive season while the Lions would end the 2013 season on a four-game losing streak to finish with a 7-9 record.

As for Johnson, he would play for two more seasons before shocking the NFL world by retiring from the league after just nine seasons.

"Megatron" would finish his career with 11,619 yards on 731 catches and scored 83 touchdowns as Johnson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility in 2021.