It started early on with Johnson’s first-quarter slant that he took for 87 yards.
The Lions’ all-time leader in receptions had no shortage of memorable performances throughout his storied career.
In the lead-up to the game, Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made a Monday radio appearance on 103.3 FM ESPN in Dallas.
When it comes to football, just being on the field, it’s a mindset and having a mentality.
Instead, Johnson anticipated Dallas’ game plan, visualizing how they would defend him and how he would attack physical Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr, who would be tasked with covering Johnson most of the day.
“He didn’t really say much, but he was just going about his business.
He walked around the field to visualize what he would do, imagining all the routes he was going to run and the blocks he would make.
Feeding off the adrenaline of more than 64,000 roaring fans, Johnson’s juices were flowing with Carr matched up against him on a slant route.
When the ball was snapped on 2nd & 10 from the Detroit 10, Johnson took two steps, easily bounced off Carr’s attempted jam and snagged a short pass from Stafford behind the Cowboy linebackers who had bitten on a play fake to Lions running back Reggie Bush.
“One thing I liked about Brandon on certain routes is his aggressive nature, and that was perfect for me because I liked contact on the top of certain routes and that specific route is a slant,” Johnson said.
The game was somewhat of a homecoming for Carr with many of his family and friends in attendance at Ford Field.
“I played against Brandon a couple times and Brandon’s always a physical player who likes to get his hands on you.
His quarterback has a helluva arm, Stafford, right? And this guy can jump 40 inches at the drop of a dime after he’s ran a 4.3, so it’s like ‘How in the heck do I cover that?'” Carr said.
With Stafford dropping dimes all over the field, Johnson made catch after catch, particularly during the second half of the close battle, while benefiting from a lot of one-on-one coverage.
On their final drive, Stafford completed a deep middle pass to Johnson for 17 yards with 56 seconds left, then found Johnson on another deep pass completion for 22 yards with 33 seconds left.
And an incredible seven of his receptions went for at least 20 yards, tied for the most in a game over the past 20 years.
Defeating the Cowboys in Detroit was a milestone for the Lions, who improved to 5-3.
At one point during the third quarter, Bryant flapped his arms and screamed at Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo on the sideline, after not being made the intended receiver on a play, which he later described as positive emotion.
But he spent his postgame time alone, in the ice bath at home, before ever revisiting the highlights of the performance on the television screen with his feet up for recovery.