Megatron's single-season record for receiving yardage may be in peril

Published November 09, 2015

Atlanta's Julio Jones and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown are threatening Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving yardage record. Bob Donnan

In 2012, Calvin Johnson pulled off the unthinkable by recording 1,964 receiving yards for the Detroit Lions, breaking the previous NFL record held by Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice (1,848 yards, set in 1995).

Now, three seasons later, two different wideouts are chasing Megatron's ridiculous receiving record: Atlanta's Julio Jones and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown.

Jones (1,029) and Brown (1,002) both eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards with strong performances in Week 7; they are the first two players to reach this milestone in 2015. The receiver with the next most yards, Houston's DeAndre Hopkins, still needs 130 more to hit 1,000 on the season.

It's currently a two-horse race to break the record. Although, at the moment, neither player is on pace to reach Johnson's record yardage total, there's reason to believe these two still have a chance. Jones is being targeted more than any other receiver across the league (13.3 targets per game), and Brown's 284-yard performance against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday serves as proof that a projection can change in a flash.

Johnson averaged over 122 yards per game during his record-breaking campaign; Jones and Brown will have to average more than that the rest of the way in order to overtake him.

Both players have seven games left and over 900 yards to go.

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