Falcons vs. Lions: Calvin Johnson breaks NFL receiving record, Atlanta clinches home-field

The Falcoholic’s Alex Welch enjoyed the team’s big road win over the Lions and mentioned how nice it is to have home (dome) field advantage all locked up heading into the final week of the regular season, but he also mentioned that the next step is to do something the Falcons have had trouble with over the last few seasons: Win in the playoffs.

He also pointed out that with the Falcons heading into Week 17 with a 13-2 record, they have a chance to tie their 14-2 record from the 1998 season, which is the only year they went to the Super Bowl.

The Falcons dominated the game early, jumping out to a 21-6 lead at halftime, and put the game away in the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive after the Lions had cut their lead to five.

A 26-yard reception late in the fourth quarter set off this reaction:

Johnson also set another NFL record for passing 100 yards receiving in eight consecutive games. It was the 11th time this season he surpassed 100 yards; that ties an NFL record also held by Michael Irvin.

Roddy White did his damage in the first half, catching two touchdown passes. He also surpassed 1,000 yards on the season and this impressive milestone:

I am a Chiefs fan so I can totally empathize with this little kid. Things are bad right now with the Lions at 4-10 and it’s probably only going to get worse. (Hey, at least I’m honest.)

Here are five possible reasons the Lions kid is banging that bottle on his head:

It’s Saturday Night Monday Night Football, and that means much like Outback Steakhouse (which coincidentally happens to be Jon Gruden’s favorite restaurant since every restaurant is Jon Gruden’s favorite restaurant) there are no rules, just right.

No immediate word about whether or not this drawing relates to Chris Berman’s earlier comments during Saturday Night Monday Night Countdown about Matthew Stafford needing more work “below the waist.”

This one wasn’t just another long catch and run like we’ve seen from him so often.

This one was special because it broke the Lions franchise record for receiving yards in a season. Johnson was trailing Herman Moore’s 1995 season of 1,986 yards by just 19 yards and crushed it through just one quarter on Saturday night.

The Atlanta Falcons are 9-3 ATS in their last dozen games against the Detroit Lions and can lock up the top seed in the NFC with another win over the Lions this Saturday at Ford Field.

Atlanta was a 4-point road favorite at most sportsbooks tracked by OddsShark.com as of midweek.