The Lions offense couldn't put anything together in the first half, scoring only six points on two Jason Hanson field goals. They fought back in the second half with a touchdown and another field goal, but the Falcons pulled away again. Johnson broke a major mark, setting the record for most receiving yards in a season, a mark that had been held by legendary San Francisco 49ers' receiver Jerry Rice since 1995. Johnson will have another week to add to his final total of receiving yards. He also set records for eight straight games with at least 100 receiving yards and four straight games with at least ten receptions. Johnson finished the night with eleven receptions and 225 yards receiving. Quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 37 of his 56 passing attempts for 443 yards and an interception. He is closing in on the record for most passing attempts by a quarterback in a season. The Lions are now 4-11 on the year after losing their last seven games in a row.
The Atlanta Falcons locked up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That will be a big advantage for them as they look for their first playoff victory under head coach Mike Smith. The Falcons led from the very beginning and never looked back. Quarterback Matt Ryan matched a career-high with four touchdown passes in the game. Two of them went to Roddy White, one to Julio Jones, who made a fantastic catch, and the other to tight end Michael Palmer. Ryan finished the evening completing 25 of his 32 passes for 279 yards and his touchdowns to lead the Falcons pass-first offense.
White not only had two touchdown receptions, he finished the night with eight total catches for 153 yards to lead all Falcons' receivers. Tony Gonzalez caught only one pass, but it continued his streak of 194 straight games with at least one reception. Matt Bryant also kicked a 20-yard field goal to complete the Falcons' scoring. Dunta Robinson led the Falcons' defense with nine tackles. Fellow corner back Asante Samuel picked off Stafford for one of the Falcons' three takeaways. Defensive lineman John Abraham and Corey Peters each forced a fumble that the Falcons' recovered for the other two.
The Falcons are now 13-2 on the year. They will finish off the regular season at home next Sunday when they welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to town. The Buccaneers are currently 6-8 on the year, but they will battle the St. Louis Rams tomorrow before taking on Atlanta next week at 1 p.m.
The Falcons' Julio Jones makes a fantastic touchdown catch, he just barely kept both feet in bounds for the reception. The Falcons beat the Detroit Lions 31-18 on Saturday night.
Photo Courtesy of yahoo.com
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