Tyler Lockett oh so close to breaking the thousand yard mark

On Sunday the Seattle Seahawks went into Charlotte and defeated the Carolina Panthers 30-24 in a game that, for the most part, was nowhere near as close as the final score indicated. The Seahawks took the lead on the opening drive of the game and never looked back, with the final six point difference only arriving after the Panthers managed two late touchdowns after falling down by three scores.

Much of the attention following the win will go to Chris Carson, and rightfully so. His 133 yards and two touchdowns played a large role in the Seattle win, but it was Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett who all but iced the game when he hauled in a 14 yard pass from Russell Wilson on 3rd & 11 with just under two and a half minutes to go in the game. That catch put Lockett at 8 receptions for 120 yards on the day, and pushed his season totals in those categories to 75 catches for 994 yards. Those are both already career highs, surpassing his breakout 2018 performance of 57 catches for 965 yards, meaning every reception that goes for positive yards going forward will help extend his career highs.

In addition, just six more yards on the season will put him over the 1,000 yard receiving mark, becoming the first Seattle wideout since Doug Baldwin in 2016 to surpass that threshold. In addition, he would be just the fifth Seahawks receiver to reach that level of performance this millennium, joining Darrell Jackson (2001, 2003 and 2004), Koren Robinson (2002), Bobby Engram (2007) and Doug Baldwin (2015 and 2016).

In addition, if he can reach the 1,000 yard mark, he will be the first Seattle receiver to record 1,000 yards in the same season a Seahawks running back reached that level since Shaun Alexander and Darrell Jackson did it for the 2004 Seahawks.

Lastly, while the odds would seem very slim, if Lockett were to somehow go off for 292 yards over the final two games of the season, he would finish the year with 1,288 yards, which would be a new Seahawks record. Steve Largent caught 79 passes for 1,287 yards in 1985, and only Koren Robinson (1,240 yards in 2002) and Darrell Jackson (1,199 yards in 2004) have come within 100 yards of breaking Largent’s franchise record.

In any case, the Arizona Cardinals have a very bad defense, so if Lockett is going to make a push to threaten the record in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, he may well have a very good chance this weekend to put a solid dent in that 292 yard number.

And just to close it out, here’s a highlight of Lockett catching a pass that I thought would be intercepted when I was watching it live. In spite of the defender being right there, seemingly on top of him, Lockett somehow comes down with this ball for a 44 yard gain.