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DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones have to be learning by now how hard it will be to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving yards record. Both Hopkins and Jones were on pace at one point to equal or surpass Johnson’s mark of 1,964 yards set in 2012. And now both are increasingly falling far back of the pace halfway through the season. And this gives an opportunity to put into perspective exactly how insane Johnson’s season was in the second half of 2012. Johnson’s pace was actually fairly pedestrian through the first seven games of that year. He had four games under 100 yards receiving and two under 50 yards. He was averaging 5.85 catches and 91.1 yards a game -- good numbers, but not ones that can set records. Johnson was nowhere close to the pace needed to break Jerry Rice’s then-record mark of 1,848 yards set in 1995. Then Johnson had one of the best half-season stretches of any receiver in league history. It was at least on par with Rice’s second half of his record-setting season, when he went over 100 yards in seven of his final nine games of the year. Johnson went over 100 yards receiving for eight straight games. He had two games over 200 yards receiving. In nine games, he had 81 catches for 1,326 yards. That averages -- averages -- to nine catches and 147.3 yards a game. In five of those nine games, Johnson had 10 or more receptions. And those averages would be even higher if you cut out the final game of the season for Johnson, when he had already passed Rice and had a pedestrian five catches for 72 yards. From Week 9 of 2012 on, that was the only game where he had less than 100 yards receiving. So for Jones or Hopkins to break Johnson’s single-season receiving mark, they have to start doing something extraordinary immediately.  Julio Jones:
Games: 8 Receptions: 70 Yards: 892 Yards per game: 111.5 On pace for: 1,784 yards Yards per game needed to break Johnson’s record: 134.1 Yards needed to reach 1,965: 1,073
 DeAndre Hopkins:
Games: 8 Receptions: 66 Yards: 870 Yards per game: 108.75 On pace for: 1,740 yards Yards per game needed to break Johnson’s record: 136.87 Yards needed to reach 1,965: 1,095
Calvin Johnson through six games in 2012:
Yards: 767 Yards per game averaged by Johnson during the 2012 season: 122.75 100-yard games Johnson had in 2012: 11 200-yard games Johnson had in 2012: 2
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