When the NFL announced its new 17-game schedule in 2021, fans and analysts immediately looked at the single-season records that could be broken with teams playing an extra game. Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards in the 2012 season was mentioned, but Cooper Kupp wasn’t the name brought up as the player who could potentially break it.
Yet, through 12 games, Kupp has a shot to eclipse Johnson’s number. He’ll get to play one more game than Johnson did in 2012, but if Kupp breaks the record, he’ll still etch his name in NFL history.
For the rest of the year, we’ll be checking in on Kupp’s pursuit of Johnson’s single-season record, updating his pace after each game. With five weeks to go, Kupp will not only need to keep up his current pace, but improve it slightly if he wants to top Megatron.