StaTuesday: The rare postseason stat line of Packers’ Adams
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams perhaps didn’t quite have the season expected.
Coming off a 2018 season in which he set career highs in catches (111), receiving yards (1,386) and touchdowns (13), Adams was thought to take another step forward in 2019.
An injury cost Adams four games, which didn’t help, and he did manage to still pull down 83 receptions for 997 yards -- but with only five TDs. This after recording double-digit touchdowns in each of the previous three years.
Adams didn’t even grab his first touchdown reception until Week 12 (that 38-7 loss at San Franciso). He’d get two more the next week in a win over the New York Giants and add one in victories over Chicago and at Detroit.
With the regular season is over, the Adams we’d expected emerged in the Packers’ NFC divisional round win over Seattle.
Adams finished with eight receptions for 160 yards – the third time in the last four games he’s topped 100, and the sixth time overall this season – with a pair of touchdowns.
That kind of stat line is a rarity in Packers history.
Adams is just the 13th Packer to have a game with 150+ receiving yards and 2+ receiving touchdowns. Aaron Jones is one of the 13, having done it in Week 8 this year in Kansas City (159 yards, 2 TD).
The others: Robert Brooks, Carroll Dale (four times), Boyd Dowler (twice), Antonio Freeman (five times), Billy Howton (twice), Greg Jennings, James Lofton (twice), Max McGee, Jordy Nelson (three times), Sterling Sharpe (twice) and Javon Walker.
Even rarer: Adams became the first Packers player to have such a game in the playoffs and it’s just the 22nd time since 1950 that any NFL player had a postseason contest with 150+ receiving yards and 2+ receiving touchdowns.
In this era of passing perhaps it’s not surprising that Adams was the eighth this decade to have a playoff game of this magnitude. The Green Bay receiver was the first to do it in two years, since New England’s Chris Hogan and Atlanta’s Julio Jones did it on the same day.
The full list:
| PLAYER | DATE | TEAM | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
| Tom Fears | 12/17/1950 | Rams | Bears | 7 | 198 | 3 |
| Fred Biletnikoff | 12/22/1968 | Raiders | Chiefs | 7 | 180 | 3 |
| Haven Moses | 1/1/1978 | Broncos | Raiders | 5 | 168 | 2 |
| Frank Lewis | 12/27/1981 | Bills | Jets | 7 | 158 | 2 |
| Ricky Sanders | 1/31/1988 | Redskins | Broncos | 9 | 193 | 2 |
| Thurman Thomas | 1/6/1990 | Bills | Browns | 13 | 150 | 2 |
| Michael Irvin | 1/15/1995 | Cowboys | 49ers | 12 | 192 | 2 |
| Randy Moss | 1/16/2000 | Vikings | Rams | 9 | 188 | 2 |
| Ike Hilliard | 1/14/2001 | Giants | Vikings | 10 | 155 | 2 |
| Terrell Owens | 1/5/2003 | 49ers | Giants | 9 | 177 | 2 |
| Reggie Wayne | 1/9/2005 | Colts | Broncos | 10 | 221 | 2 |
| Steve Smith | 1/15/2006 | Panthers | Bears | 12 | 218 | 2 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 1/18/2009 | Cardinals | Eagles | 9 | 152 | 3 |
| Calvin Johnson | 1/7/2012 | Lions | Saints | 12 | 211 | 2 |
| Vernon Davis | 1/14/2012 | 49ers | Saints | 7 | 180 | 2 |
| Hakeem Nicks | 1/15/2012 | Giants | Packers | 7 | 165 | 2 |
| Julio Jones | 1/20/2013 | Falcons | 49ers | 11 | 182 | 2 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 1/4/2014 | Colts | Chiefs | 13 | 224 | 2 |
| Julio Jones | 1/22/2017 | Falcons | Packers | 9 | 180 | 2 |
| Chris Hogan | 1/22/2017 | Patriots | Steelers | 9 | 180 | 2 |
| Davante Adams | 1/12/2020 | Packers | Seahawks | 8 | 160 | 2 |
As you can see from the chart above, only one player has had two playoff games of 150+ yards and 2+ TDs (Jones) and only one has done it in the Super Bowl (Ricky Sanders).
All we’ll say is this: Green Bay is still alive in the playoffs with a potential Super Bowl appearance in the office and Adams is a bit part of the offense and a key to the Packers’ success …
