If the Lions had a letdown last week, their top receiver didn't. Not Amon-Ra St. Brown. A week after catching his first NFL touchdown to lift the Lions to their first win of the season, the rookie went right back to work. He was one of Detroit's lone bright spots on a grey day in Denver. Every time you look, the fourth-round pick is setting a new franchise record.
St. Brown's 57 catches are the most in Lions history through 13 career games. In Weeks 13-14, he became the first Lions rookie ever to make seven catches in back to back games. It's true: Calvin Johnson didn't reach 57 catches until his second season and didn't make at least seven catches in back to back games until his third.
Much different receivers, of course. Johnson was a downfield game-breaker, even when he only touched the ball a few times per game. He was Megatron. St. Brown is merely the Sun God, the nickname given to him in training camp by Dan Campbell thanks to his bleached blonde hair. But his star is rising. St. Brown said Thursday one of his two personal goals in the final four weeks of the season is to "get a 100-yard game."
Megatron got his first 100-yard game in the 14th game of his career. 14 years later, St. Brown is about to play in his 14th career game. He was 14 yards shy against Minnesota. This is Arizona's price to pay.
St. Brown's other goal harkens back to another Lions receiver, this one a much closer match. You might remember him as the YAC King. From 2014-17, Golden Tate racked up more yards after the catch than any receiver in the game. He routinely turned short passes into explosive plays. He dipped and darted through defenses until they were blue in the face. (And until he was run out of town by the guy red in the face.) Over his five-year peak, Tate averaged 6.9 yards after the catch.
St. Brown is averaging 4.4 yards after the catch in his first NFL season. That ranks in the upper half of receivers in the league. In total yards after the catch he ranks in the upper quarter. Of course, St. Brown wants to be in the upper echelon. There are slot receivers everywhere. The good ones are dependable -- St. Brown hasn't dropped a pass since Week 2. The great ones are also dangerous.
"Something that I just want to keep working on is yards after the catch," said St. Brown. "Catch a five-yard route and make it 20-, 40-plus yards. That just comes with, gotta break tackles, gotta be great with the ball in your hands."
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St. Brown wasn't really a YAC receiver in college. He's averaging more YAC this season than he did last season at USC. It doesn't mean he can't be one in the NFL. The way he finds holes in coverage lends itself to gaining extra yards. He had two crucial catch and runs before his last-second touchdown on Detroit's game-winning drive against the Vikings. It was no coincidence that Jared Goff kept looking his way.
"It takes a while for a guy to get on the same page with a quarterback and we’re kind of at that point now where the anticipation is there," Goff said this week. "He’s able to anticipate what he wants to do and I’m able to anticipate what he’s going to do. When you can get to that point with a slot who’s good at running choice (routes) and can make yards after the catch, it’s all you want. That’s a big area where you’ve seen him grow."
As offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn said Thursday, St. Brown's "always had good route savvy." That's part of the reason the Lions drafted him, and a large part of the reason they have him run those choice routes. He can read and react quickly to the defense in front of him. Now his "timing has gotten a lot better," said Lynn, and wouldn't you know it, only six NFL receivers have more catches the past five weeks than St. Brown:
Diontae Johnson, Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, Cooper Kupp, Hunter Renfrow, Chris Godwin. Ever heard of 'em? St. Brown is tied with sixth overall pick Jaylen Waddle and the NFL's reigning receiving champ Stefon Diggs.
"The chemistry is the biggest thing," said St. Brown. "You can’t really teach chemistry. It really just comes with time. Being around each other, the more we play, the more you can tell the timing is getting better and better each week."
One personal goal of St. Brown's went unsaid Thursday, until it didn't. He said it's "nice to get a lot of targets, but the goal is to win the game." As much as he enjoys making plays, he said "I'm here to help the team win." The team's only win this season came with a ton of help from St. Brown. The Lions need even more help down the stretch with T.J. Hockenson done for the year.
"All that means," said St. Brown, "is we all gotta step up and make plays."