If you were to put together a top 10 list of NFL Wide receivers throughout league history, Calvin Johnson would surely be up there for most people. However, many skeptics have always believed that his “early” and abrupt retirement would hurt his Hall of Fame chances. Thankfully for Johnson, that has not been the case. 

On February 6th, during the 2021 NFL Honors Ceremony, the Detroit Lion Great heard Pro Football Hall of fame president David Baker knocking at his door late at night, where Baker congratulated Johnson from six feet away for becoming part of the 2021 Hall of Fame induction class. Similarly to another Lions legend, running back Barry Sanders, Johnson also called it a career at the peak of his game. Many attributed his retirement to Detroit’s lack of post-season success, as the Lions made the playoffs twice during Johnson’s nine-year career, but were kicked out in the wild card rounds. Nevertheless, the future hall of fame receiver had his fair share of individual success. 

In his nine total seasons in the Motor City, Johnson racked up a total of seven 1,000 yard seasons, two of which were over 1500 yards receiving, along with 84 career touchdowns, and earning six pro bowls nods, three First-Team All-Pro’s, and is a member of the NFL 2010’s All-Decade Team. 

In such a polarizing career by the 6’5’’, 240-pound pass-catcher, critics and analysts were unanimous in the fact that Johnson was a Hall of Famer. But whether he was worthy of first-ballot induction was a different story, mainly due to his short time in the league. Megatron’s supporters argued that, despite him playing only nine seasons, Johnson was arguably the most dominant receiver during his 9-year stretch and changed the way defenses had to game plan. 

Similar to another Hall of Fame Receiver, Randy Moss, Johnson forced defenses to double team (and even sometimes triple-team) him in the red zone in order to stop his large frame, combined with his elite speed and jumping ability. The only difference was that Johnson even had 2 corners line up directly in front of him on some red zone attempts.

Regardless of the skepticism that many have surrounding his mysterious retirement, Johnson surely left an everlasting mark on the game. Since his retirement in 2015, there has not been a single player to break his season receiving record with 1,964 yards. This statistic alone should help support Calvin Johnson’s case for one of the greatest receivers to ever play in the NFL.

Writer

-By: LeMarkus Bailey

Last week, the Detroit Lions announced that they would be parting ways with franchise QB Matthew Stafford. Fast-forward a week, and Stafford has now found a new home after he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in a mega-deal. Let us dive into both sides of the trade and ultimately see who truly won this trade. (Please note that the trade isn’t official until the new league year starts).

Trade Details

In this mega-trade, the only asset that the Rams received in this trade was Stafford, while the Lions, on the other hand, received a haul of picks along with QB Jared Goff =on their end of the trade. Besides Goff, Detroit received first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a third-round pick in 2021, putting them in a full rebuild mode. 

Los Angeles Rams

When the news broke, it was a bit of a shock that the Rams pulled this trigger, especially with the lack of draft capital they already had, plus the fact that they have made the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. Despite this, head coach Sean McVay and QB Jared Goff reportedly had a relationship that was “strained” due to Goff’s lack of productivity on the field, specifically getting them over the hump. With this trade, it’s win or go home for the Rams. They will not have a first-round pick for the next several years, along with not having one since 2016 anyway. All that for a quarterback with two years of control as of right now. If the Rams win the Super Bowl, this trade would be a massive success. If not, the Rams would be in danger of a severe collapse.

Detroit Lions

The Lions have been fighting the battle of finding Matthew Stafford some help to win for numerous years now and it was finally time for them to go move on and move into different directions. While losing Stafford hurts because of his meaning to the franchise, the Lions can now declare themselves as a team that is in full rebuild mode. Getting Goff gets them at least a bridge quarterback for now, but that does not mean the Lions do not look at that position in this year’s draft with the draft capital they now have. If the Lions can draft the right guys, this trade will be a massive success for them in the future.

Who Won this Trade?

When trades occur, it is natural to react to see who “won” the trade. In this case, the future will truly tell who won this trade. As of right now, the Lions are the big winners in this trade. They finally hit the reset button and have now established who they will be in 2021. As for the Rams, this trade is super risky and can backfire if they do not win the Super Bowl. It may put themselves in the position that the Houston Texans are in right now with no draft picks in the near future. The Lions won this trade right now, but if the Rams win the Super Bowl, they would be clear winners in this trade and can live with the future being unknown.

Info from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

Detroit, MI: Thanksgiving is a holiday of acknowledging all the good fortune that the American people have received over the past year. Some are thankful for their good health, the clothes on their back, the food in their stomachs. Others are thankful to have a job or the opportunity to go for a grade-a education during a crazy year that featured a controversial national election, a global pandemic, and murder hornets (remember those?). Texans fans, however, are counting their lucky stars and giving thanks to the fact that they have a guy like DeShaun Watson quarterbacking their team, as Houston walked into Ford Field on Thanksgiving and absolutely embarrassed the Lions on “their day” with a 41-25 routing.  

 

Great win, but don’t get fooled, Texans Fans 

            This game against the Detroit Lions was supposed to be the offensive fireworks display many fans were expecting from the Houston Texans going into this season. DeShaun Watson, despite being the leader of this mediocre menagerie of misfits that is the Texans offense, has been a top-five, top-seven quarterback this season. He’s 6thin the league in passing yards, tied for 9thin passing touchdowns, and hasn’t thrown an interception in the last five games. And yet, the Texans offense ranks 17thin yards per game, 31thin rushing yards per game, and Watson often has to play against his own defense, which gives up 411 yards per game (31stin the league in that category) and 27 points per game. But somehow, it all came together for Houston on Thanksgiving. Watson again eclipsed 300 passing for the second week in a row, completed 68% of his passes, tossed four touchdowns, and finished with a near-perfect passer rating of 150.4. And on a day that he didn’t have either Kenny Stills or Randall Cobb, Watson might have found his No. 1 receiving target going forward, connecting with Will Fuller V on six catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns; a forty-yarder that came off the heels of a false start, and an impressive 34-yard flea-flicker that had Fuller skipping into the endzone. 

As for the defense, Detroit’s offense was in a giving mood, as they gave the ball away to Houston’s defense three times; two fumbles and a pick-six by the Texan’s future hall of fame defensive juggernaut JJ Watt. In reality, they should have had eight turnovers, but safety Justin Reid dropped what would have been Matthew Stafford’s second interception of the day in the fourth quarter, and they weren’t able to scoop up three of Detroit’s five fumbles of the day.  

But don’t be fooled Texans fans. Just because interim head coach Romeo Crennel has gone 4-3 since taking over for Bill O’Brien in week 5, it doesn’t mean he’s the answer at head coach for your team. The search starts now for someone that knows how to develop a unique talent in DeShaun Watson. Don’t make the same mistakes the Browns did in 2019.  

Sheila Ford, do the right thing 

            The fact that Matt Patricia is still the head coach of the Detroit Lions after his offense was held to just 185 yards of total offense & laid an egg against the Carolina Panthers last week, along with his defense giving up a horrendous 397 total yards and 28.7 points per game this season, is a crime against football humanity. The former Patriots defensive coordinator was brought to Michigan in hopes of revamping an aging Lions defense to help compliment a promising offense that was top 10 in passing categories, thanks to the efforts of their franchise stalwart in quarterback Matthew Stafford (28/42 [67% completion] for 295 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, and one fumble). But that hasn’t been the case. Patricia is reviled by Lions fans, current/former players, and the Detroit media. During his two years in the Motor City, Patricia has compiled a 13-29-1 coaching record. It took his predecessor, Jim Caldwell, four years to hit 28 losses with Detroit. Let that sink in. As for this game, the only positive takeaway for Detroit was that tight end TJ Hockenson had his best game of the season against Houston, racking up five catches for 89 yards, with 51 of those yards coming off this insane flea-flicker play. His best play of the day, though, came on Adrian Peterson’s (15/55/2) second touchdown of the day, where he won on a one-on-one block with Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus at the goal line.  

What’s next? 

            After enjoying a nice Thanksgiving meal to go along with their win, Houston heads back to NRG Stadium to host a No. 1 ranked Colts defense coming off a battle for the division lead in week 12 vs the Tennessee Titans. As for Detroit, if Patricia is still on this team by week 13, his squad travels southwest to Chicago to face a middling Bears team that would have played in a Sunday Night divisional showdown against the Green Bay Packers.

Writer

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo