For Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, catching a couple touchdown passes a week has become the norm: He has two touchdowns in all three of the Lions’ games this year. But it was another Johnson catch on Sunday -- his 40-yard grab that set up the game-winning field goal in overtime -- that was his biggest play of the season so far.
That play looked like something you’d see on the playground instead of an NFL field: Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was backpedaling because of pressure in his face and chucked the ball high into the air, and Johnson just ran under it and grabbed it. But Johnson said it was actually a pass he and Stafford have practiced together many times.
“It’s funny because [Stafford] made a throw just like that to me in the pre-game,” Johnson said. “We practice it over and over. We knew in the first half, we weren’t playing our game. We know we have the firepower and we showed it.”
The other reason that play looked like something from the playground is that the Vikings’ defense left cornerback Cedric Griffin all alone on Johnson on the play. It was the second time Johnson out-reached a cornerback for a ball in single coverage; Johnson had also beaten Chris Cook for a 32-yard touchdown. That raises the question of why the cornerbacks weren’t getting safety help.
“They call him Megatron for a reason. He makes a lot of plays on two or three guys and I was there by myself,” Cook said.
Johnson is the first player in NFL history to have two touchdown catches in each of his team’s first three games in a season. He’s making it look easy, but that’s the result of a lot of practice.
