Calvin Johnson: Is 2014 The Year of Megatron?

Calvin Johnson is the most dominant offensive player in the NFL today and arguably one of the greatest receivers of all-time.

His 6-foot-5, 239 pound frame renders double-teams useless. Johnson’s statistics, through his first seven seasons in the league, easily put his name among the greatest receivers to ever play in the NFL.

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Johnson has accumulated 1,000 yards or more receiving in five of the seven years he has played including topping the 1,000 yard mark the last four seasons in a row.

He has also topped 1,500 yards or more twice including 122 catches for 1,964 yards in the 2012 season. “Megatron” currently is No.1 all-time in career yards per game with 88.0 yards per game.

Despite his dominance on the gridiron, Johnson has only one playoff appearance and zero playoff wins to show for all his exploits. However, 2014 can be the year where all of that changes, 2014 can be “The Year of Megatron”.

One would ask, “What makes 2014 so much different from other seasons for Calvin Johnson?”. The reason that this season can be so much different than others for Calvin Johnson is that Johnson is going to have the one thing this year with the Detroit Lions that he has not had in the past — help!

This season there are going to be other offensive options in the passing game for triggerman Matthew Stafford to be able to look to outside of Johnson, and those weapons can make life easier on “Megatron” as the season progresses forward.

The Lions signed wide receiver Golden Tate during the offseason, and drafted tight end Eric Ebron out of North Carolina, so that opposing defenses have a little more on their plate to worry about with Detroit’s offensive attack.

Plus, you have to factor in the Lions backfield with Joique Bell and Reggie Bush. Both Bush and Bell are solid receivers out of the backfield, and can tote the rock effectively. When you put all of these offensive options together, this is the best collection of offensive weapons that the Lions have put together to support Calvin Johnson since he has been in Motown.

Aside from the new offensive cast that will be playing alongside “Megatron”, Detroit brought in a new brain-trust with new head coach Jim Caldwell at the healm.

Jim Caldwell coached the Colts to the 2009 Super Bowl where they lost to the New Orleans Saints. He is also the person that Tony Dungy felt was worthy to take over for him as head coach when he retired in 2009.

He will be able to get the most out of this collection of offensively skilled players, and will bring the one thing that the Lions were lacking while Jim Schwartz was in charge of Detroit over the last five seasons — discipline.

Caldwell will take advantage of having a live-armed quarterback like Matthew Stafford and an unstoppable weapon like Calvin Johnson.

Johnson loves the new atmosphere that Caldwell has brought to Motown and feels that it is conducive to the Lions being successful in 2014 as evidenced by a quote he gave Michael David Smith in and article for profootballtalk.com:

“It’s an overall change and vibe here, and we love it,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go out and bust our butts every day because Jim is such a great guy, a great leader for our team. And he’s helped bring us together, and we’re doing a lot of stuff on our own off the field to keep that camaraderie going.”

–Calvin Johnson

All of the offensive options has Calvin Johnson excited about the Lions prospects for 2014 as well. In an article by Michael Rothstein for espn.com, Johnson spoke about the big play capability that he sees for himself and these new acquisitions:

“They are going to make a lot of plays for us this year, a lot of explosive plays for us and get the ball down the field and increase our scoring chances. So yes, I’m going to be out there and make big plays but those guys are going to help us out a ton.”

-Calvin Johnson

The Detroit Lions have not won a Championship since 1957. The city of Detroit has gone through so much since then, and a Championship would lift the spirits of a struggling town.

Detroit may finally be in position to bring a Lombardi Trophy to “The Motor City”. With a new supporting cast, coaching staff, and Calvin Johnson in place, the Lions have hopes of winning a Super Bowl this year, and this could end up being ” The Year of Megatron”.