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The Detroit Lions lost quite possibly their biggest remaining weapon in the first half while taking on the Green Bay Packers.
Wide receiver Kenny Golladay made a diving catch in the first half against the Packers, but he paid for it. Golladay slammed his head on the turf and quickly walked off the field and went to the locker room. He wouldn’t return in the second half, and was quickly ruled out with a concussion.
It’s tough to see Golladay exit with injury, because he’s quite literally been the healthiest player the team has had the entire season. While everyone else exited, Golladay remained in and put up some incredible numbers along the way.
The good news? At the very least the season is over, so Golladay will have all the time he needs to get rested and right ahead of 2020.
Kenny Golladay Makes Lions History in 2019
Not only is Golladay is one of the leading receivers in the NFL, he’s snagged 8 touchdowns thus far, and has been piling up the yardage as well as the impact plays for the Lions, who have been incredibly needy for big plays this season.
Lucky for Detroit, Golladay is making explosive plays a habit for the team. How much of a habit? Golladay has broken records for the Lions that have been standing for decades. As the team’s PR account pointed out on Twitter, Golladay has caught a touchdown 40 yards or more in three straight games, something which hasn’t been done in 88 years since 1931.
The last player to accomplish the feat? Bill McKalip, who managed to do it with the Portsmouth Spartans. In other words, the last time the Lions had a wideout as explosive as Golladay, they weren’t even officially the Lions yet.
Kenny Golladay’s 2019 Stats
From nearly the start of the season until now, Golladay has been having an excellent season catching the ball. He put up 1,118 yards and 11 touchdowns going into the season finale. He’s had some huge games already this season, and five times Golladay has gone well over 100 yards in a game catching the ball for the Lions.
In total, Golladay has enjoyed arguably the best start to a career of any wideout in his 2017 draft class not named JuJu Smith-Schuster. With 1,783 yards and 12 touchdowns thus far in his career coming into the 2019 season on the field, Golladay looks like an obvious top dog in Detroit for the foreseeable future with Matthew Stafford tossing him the rock. That’s good news for the Lions, who have long pondered how to find production at the wideout position minus Calvin Johnson. Not an issue anymore with Golladay taking over.
The Lions are going to be happy to keep Golladay in the mix for 2020, and his emergence as one of the top wideouts in the NFL will be easy to see next season with more team health.
The hope for the Lions is Golladay himself can now get healthy off a tough injury in the season finale.
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Kenny Golladay Injury Update: Lions WR Sustains Game Ending Collision