Broncos Have Hands Full With Lions’ Calvin Johnson

The Broncos have a defensive challenge thrown into their face on Sunday. There’s no bigger receiving threat than Calvin Johnson right now.

At 6’5″, 236 lbs. “Megatron” as he’s known, is the 4th leading receiver in the league, and first in touchdowns. His 10 touchdowns this year are 4 more than No. 2 leading touchdown receiver, Wes Welker.

“He’s tremendous because he’s got great size and speed,” John Fox said of Johnson. “They throw the ball up to him in the red area, they throw the ball up to him on deep balls and he’s come down with most of them.”

The Detroit Lions are capable of running the ball and that’s why the Broncos can’t double Johnson the entire game.

“We’re going to have to cover him some singled up, we’re going to help some, we’ll play some down safety defense, some single high safety defense, and just mix it up against him,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said.

Johnson will be matched up with none other than Champ Bailey for the better part of the day. Approximately 5 inches shorter than Johnson, Bailey will have to use his brain rather than his athleticism with this one.

“I’m always checking with Champ to see what he likes, what he doesn’t like,” Allen said. “Champ’s not worried about it.”

Johnson is among the best in the league because of his ability to catch and run.

“Not only does he catch the ball down the field, but when you throw it to him short, he turns those short throws into big gains,” Allen said.

Johnson enters Sunday’s game averaging 97.0 yards per game, by far the best start of his career.

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