Golden Tate Still in Position to Put Up Big Numbers When Calvin Johnson Returns

It sounds like a broken record: A Detroit Lions wide receiver ranks among league leaders in receptions and receiving yards at their halfway point of the regular season.

Yet, to the surprise of everyone, that receiver is not Calvin Johnson—who has been limited to two full games and parts of three others with an ankle injury—but Golden Tate, who was signed in free agency to give the Lions another legitimate playmaker and fill a big hole in the Lions offense as a complementary No. 2 receiver.

Tate ranks fourth among NFL wide receivers in both receptions (55) and yards (800), as the Lions were able to withstand an injury from their best receiver and enter Week 10 alone in first place in the NFC North with a 6-2 record—including 3-0 with Johnson on the sideline.

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Most analysts agreed Tate would see an uptick of production this season for the Lions, after leaving a run-first offense in the Seattle Seahawks and joining a pass-happy attack with the majority of attention focused on stopping Megatron. It was also expected Tate would give the Lions a reliable, sure-handed target in the event Johnson missed time due to injury.

Not even the most optimistic Lions fans could have expected him to make the impact he has without Johnson in the lineup. Yet Tate has filled those shoes admirably and has developed a rapport with quarterback Matthew Stafford, making the prospect of Johnson’s return this week rather intimidating for opposing defenses.

Stafford said as much earlier this week, according to Lions beat reporter Tim Twentyman:

As mentioned, the Lions' receiving corps was only at full strength in their first two full games this season, before Johnson suffered a high ankle sprain the next week against the Green Bay Packers and was used as a decoy over the Lions' next two games. Despite the Week 3 injury, the duo of Johnson and Tate combined for 35 receptions and 530 yards over that span:

Lions Receiving Corps Breakdown

		Calvin Johnson					Golden Tate
Wk.	Opp.	Rec.	Tgts.	Yds.	TD		Rec.	Tgts.	Yds.	TD
1	NYG	7	11	164	2		6	6	93	0
2	@CAR	6	13	83	0		5	8	57	0
3	GB	6	10	82	0		5	7	51	0

It was after the Week 3 injury to Johnson when Tate did the lion’s share of his work. In the two weeks Johnson was used as a decoy—and aggravating his ankle injury in the latter, forcing the Lions to keep him out through their bye—Tate recorded back-to-back 100-yard receiving games for the first time in his career.

The Lions went 4-1 after Johnson first suffered the injury, and Tate went off for 39 receptions, 599 yards and three touchdowns over that span.

Head coach Jim Caldwell alluded to the emergence of Tate earlier this week, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press: “I do believe in, sometimes, the advantage of disadvantage. I think it adds something to your repertoire…and I think that's a plus because it makes you stronger overall, and I think it does add maybe a little bit more balance to what you're doing."

A healthy Johnson is still going to be the focal point of the Lions offense, but Stafford and Tate developed a chemistry which will still be utilized prominently moving forward. And it gives the Lions a pair of options who are both capable of performing like a No. 1 receiver. Tate has as many 100-yard receiving games (four) this season as he did in four seasons (65 games) in Seattle (including postseason).

Golden Tate: NFL Receiving Rankings

	Amt.	Rank
3rd Down Receptions	21	1st
3rd Down Receiving Yards	390	1st
4th Quarter Receptions	14	T-4th
4th Quarter Receiving Yards	248	3rd
Receiving Yards After Catch	391	T-6th
Receptions for 1st Down	32	T-8th
Receptions for 1st Down (on 3rd Down)	15	1st
20+ Yard Receptions	10	T-10th

Source: STATS LLC

Tate is on pace for 110 receptions and 1,600 yards—numbers reached only twice before in Lions history: Johnson, in his record-setting 2012 season, and Herman Moore in 1995.

Tate and Moore (three times) are the only Lions to reach 55 catches through the team’s first eight games of the season. The return of Johnson may prevent Tate from reaching his current pace, but the impact the two of them can create together will not be quantifiable with statistics.

As Stafford told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press: “The more experience and the better everybody else plays, the less you feel like you have to get 81 the ball.”

Johnson’s return will form one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL, but they would not sit in first place in their division at 6-2 without Tate. And an improved second-half offense to pair with the NFL’s top-ranked defense is a scary thought for divisional foes.