Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who had nine catches for 149 yards against the Saints, finished the season with 136 catches for 1,871 yards.
The 1,872 yards surpassed the second best season of 1,848 yards by Jerry Rice, which was set in 1995.
“It was unbelievable to be a part of it,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “His season was as good as you can play individually. He’s a big part of our success and has been in the past.”
Jones finished tied with Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown with league-lead in receptions with 136. Jones had more yards, 1,871 to 1,836 for Brown.
Jones entered the game within striking distance of the league’s single-season marks for catches and yards. He was 17 catches away from breaking the NFL single season reception mark of 143, which was set by Indianapolis’ Marvin Harrison in 2002.
He needed a whopping 243 yards to break Detroit’s Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards receiving, which was set in 2012.
“I’m just so happy for him, so proud of him,” Ryan said. “He’s the best teammate you can possibly ask for and it was fun to be a part of it.”
Jones was not real excited about the season he posted.
“I just do what my team asks of me,” Jones said. “I just try to go out there and make plays, and I’m going to try to do better next year. Jerry Rice is a great receiver, I feel like he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time), but I don’t have anything to say about passing his record.”
Jones clearly wasn’t happy with the 8-8 mark.
“That we didn’t finish the way we wanted to finish this year,” Jones said. “We got hot then couldn’t find a way to win a game. The effort was there, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We’ve been playing pretty well the last two games, and this game right here was more so us playing for each other.”
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