When the Green Bay Packers get to the red zone, it's Davante Adams' time.
The star receiver has been the deadliest scoring threat this season, unmatched in his ability to win inches off the line of scrimmage and dust defenders in close quarters to hit pay dirt.
Adams has 14 touchdowns on the season, tied for most in the NFL despite missing two games due to injury. He's caught a score in each of the past eight games. The eight-game streak is a Packers record, passing the mark of seven set by the great Don Hutson, and puts him one behind A.J. Green for second-most all time.
Adams could pull even with Green on Saturday night against the Carolina Panthers, but the Packers star is aiming for a bigger-picture goal.
"At the end of the day, I want to be great and I want this team to be great," Adams said Wednesday, via The Associated Press. "The awards or minor achievements along the way, the weekly things, hearing stuff like that makes me feel good obviously but that ain't what drives me. What drives me is getting the Super Bowl and ultimately trying to be the best receiver to play this game."
Since early-career ankle injuries hindered his play, Adams has become an unstoppable force alongside Aaron Rodgers. The deft route-runner has the unique ability to carry a passing offense no matter who the opposing corner or defense might be.
"He's one of those transcendent, generational-type players, that it doesn't matter the era or the offense," Rodgers said. "He could be productive in any of those decades or any of those offenses."
Adams' innate ability to get free off the line of scrimmage with impeccable footwork, and his technician route skills provide him the ability to get separation in any condition. Combine his route-running with natural athleticism and you have a receiver who can win anywhere on the field. In the strict confines of the red zone, he can get open for scores where other wideouts might struggle.
Adams is a rare touchdown machine who wins even when defenders know the ball is coming his way. Jerry Rice owns the single-season record of most consecutive games with a TD reception at 12, set in 1987. Adams can get close this year by closing with another flurry.
"I think about scoring touchdowns a lot," Adams said. "I definitely think about that. But records, I let those come. I let [Packers communication manager Tom Fanning] text me or catch me after the game and let me know if anything interesting has happened. I tend to just think about the touchdowns themselves, score and then go from there on all that stuff."
Adams has averaged 1.3 rec TDs per game this season, most in the NFL. Only Rice (1.8 in 1987) and Randy Moss (1.4 in 2007) averaged more in a single season in the Super Bowl era.
Adams needs two more receiving TDs this season to be the 11th WR since the 1970 merger with 60-plus TD catches within his first 100 career games. The second-rounder would join Hall of Famer Terrell Owens (3rd round) and five-time Pro Bowl selection Mark Clayton (8th round) as the only WRs not selected in the first round to hit the mark.
Adams has averaged 104.0 receiving YPG this season, most in the NFL. Only HOF Hutson (110.1 rec YPG in 1942) has averaged more receiving YPG in a single season in Packers history.
Despite the superlatives he's racking up, Adams isn't focused on the minutia. He noted he'd like a Larry Fitzgerald-type long career and to add a few Lombardi Trophies to his case along the way.
"It's pretty awesome, obviously, but I want the all-time records," Adams said. "That's what my mind's set on. When we look back, when we have a Fitz-like career as far as duration, hopefully I can look back and say we got a lot of boxes checked with a couple Super Bowls to add to that. That's where my mind is."
Getting to a Super Bowl would be easier by clinching the only first-round bye in the NFC. The Packers can earn the No. 1 seed by winning their final three games. That task starts Saturday against Carolina.
Saturday's prime-time showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET only on NFL Network.
