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Packers WRs Christian Watson And Matthew Golden Are Chasing History
PACKERS-PATRIOTS

Green Bay Packers wide receivers Christian Watson (9) and Matthew Golden (0) have given Packer Nation a lot to flip about this season.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Forget chasing Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. Or CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are chasing history.

Watson and Golden, the Green Bay Packers’ dynamic wide receiver duo, are on pace to have the second-most combined receiving yards in a single season by a pair of wideouts.

Detroit’s Herman Moore (1,686) and Brett Perriman (1,488) combined for an NFL-record 3,174 receiving yards back in 1995.

Don’t look now but Watson and Golden are on track to challenge that record.

Watson has 879 receiving yards through nine games and is on pace for 1,660 this season. Golden has 783 yards through nine games and is on track for 1,479.

That would give the Packers’ duo 3,139 combined yards, which would be second all-time behind only Moore and Perriman.

“Those guys have been making play after play,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “I talk about it all the time — MG, when he first got here last year, was making a lot of plays. Obviously the situation we had, we had a lot of depth in the (receiver) room. He wasn’t getting a lot of those (opportunities).

“Christian’s been making play after play since he’s been here. He’s been getting better and better each year. It comes down to I know these guys are going to make the plays. It just is us seeing it all as one, being on the same page with how we’re seeing routes, how we’re seeing the coverages that teams want to play against us, and then me putting the ball in a great spot and them making those plays.”

Final statistics of today’s players can be slightly inflated after the NFL went to a 17-game schedule in 2021. Still, what Watson and Golden are doing is downright eye-popping.

Watson ranks third in the league with 879 receiving yards, behind only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,036) and Lamb of Dallas (904). Among receivers with at least 15 receptions, Watson ranks first in yards per catch (17.9) and he’s tied for second with seven receiving touchdowns.

Watson leads the NFL with 17 receptions of 20 yards, or more. He also has five catches of at least 40 yards.

Watson, now in his fifth season, has already set career-highs in receptions (49) and yards, and is tied for his career-high in touchdown catches.

“He’s just so intelligent,” Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable said of Watson. “He’s matured so much, and he knows the playbook so well that, like on any given play we can move him to a different spot.

“I think when you’re a smart player, and you just continue to evolve like he has and matured, that he’s comfortable wherever we put him. That he’s going to be able to run the right route, and he has confidence that he’s going to attack the ball, and he’s caught the ball really well this year.”

Golden is fourth in the league in receiving yards and seventh in receptions (53). Golden is tied for fourth in the league with 14 catches of at least 20 yards, and is sixth in first down receptions with 35.

Golden was stuck behind veterans Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks last season, and had just 29 receptions in 14 games. General manager Brian Gutekunst let Doubs walk in free agency and traded Wicks to Philadelphia after the season, which has opened the door for Golden.

To date, Watson and Golden have combined for a remarkable 63.5% of the Packers’ receiving yards.

“We talk about it all the time. We feed off each other,” Golden said of his relationship with Watson. “Whenever he gets going, I get going, it goes back and forth. I think when we’re on the same side of the ball, it makes it even better.

“You gotta pick one. I know me and him, we talked about it all offseason – we were going to come in, do this thing and take off with it. It’s just about continuing to keep going and keep winning games.”

Dallas’ Lamb (904) and Pickens (533) rank second in combined receiving yards by a tandem this season with 1,437, which is 225 yards behind Watson and Golden. Cincinnati’s Higgins (758) and Chase (647) are third with 1,405 combined yards.

Both of those duos have played just eight games, though, while Watson and Golden have played nine. Still, Watson and Golden are averaging a combined 184.7 receiving yards per game, while Lamb/Pickens are at 179.6 and Higgins/Chase are at 175.6.

That’s why Watson and Golden could eventually have their eyes on history.

Moore and Perriman remain the gold standard with 3,174 combined receiving yards in a single season, followed by Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce of the St. Louis Rams, who teamed up for 3,106 yards in 2000. Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are third with 3,066 yards in 2022, followed by Denver’s Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders with 3,023 yards in 2014.

Watson and Golden have gotten better as the year has goes on, as well, which could make them a serious threat to Moore and Perriman down the stretch.

Watson is averaging 142.0 yards in his last two games, highlighted by a career-high 171-yard outing in New England in Week 9. Golden set a career-high with his 164-yard game at New England last week, when he was targeted 10 times and amazingly finished with 10 catches.

“It’s definitely contagious,” Watson said. “We’re feeding off each other’s energy all game. If he’s making plays, I know there’s plays for me to make.”

Golden agreed.

“It just speaks about the confidence the coaches got in us, especially with Jordan (Love),” Golden said. “It wasn’t just built now. It happened over time. We had to put the work in to get where we are now. If we continue to do that, it’s going to keep happening.”

And if it does, Watson and Golden could eventually make history.

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