Detroit Lions coach on Jameson Williams: ‘We got him going’
The Detroit Lions got wide receiver Jameson Williams going with 100 receiving yards in their 44-22 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday – in the third quarter.
In the Lions’ first eight games this season, Williams had 21 receptions for 355 yards and three touchdowns, off the pace of his 2024 contributions, when the former Alabama All-American collected 58 receptions for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games.
After Williams had a 14-yard reception in the first half against Washington, Detroit threw to the wide receiver on three of its first five second-half snaps. The passes gained 22, 11 and 14 yards with the last ending in the end zone as the Lions went ahead 32-10.
Before the third quarter closed, Williams added receptions that gained 41 and 17 yards as he posted five receptions for 105 yards and one touchdown in the period.
“I thought Jamo showed up, man,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “… Listen, he’s been doing a great job. I mean, he’s been busting his rear. He does every day. He comes to work. I mean, he grinds on it, man. He’s been unbelievable. And we just hadn’t, you know, we just hadn’t connected.
“And so, today, man, we got him going, you know, (quarterback Jared) Goff got him going and made some throws. And he made some big-time plays, man. And so it was just good to see, man. Confidence was up, and he’s ripping and roaring and he’s very much a part of our guys.”
Campbell might have said: I got him going. The Detroit head coach took out his reading glasses and called the plays for the Lions offense instead of offensive coordinator John Morton.
“It was just ‘Let’s try something a little different,’ right?” Campbell said. “And look, I know what I want to do. I know how I want to do it. Now, that being said, this is a collaborative effort. I mean, I was taking in input from John Morton that whole time and the other coaches. …
“But I just wanted to change it up a little bit. You know, let’s just see if maybe a different play-caller can maybe get us a little rhythm. That’s all. And it honestly is nothing more than that. I know you’re probably going to want to ask questions about, ‘Well, what about this?’ or ‘I heard this.’ It’s not that. It’s this was a change. We made a change. It was good for today.”
After losing to the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 in their previous game, the Lions were ready to produce no matter who called the plays, Williams said.
“Shout out to Dan and how he controlled the game,” Williams said, “but, you know, I think we went out there with a chip on our shoulder and just with a chip to execute coming off the loss last week. And, you know, shout out to the players. I think (running back) Jahmyr (Gibbs) had three touchdowns. Everybody got the ball in their hands, so when you spread the ball around a lot like that, it’s easy to score a lot of points, especially with the playmakers we got at every position.”
Of Williams’ six receptions, the game book describes five as “short” passes.
“I think it was effective going in with the game plan and how they tried to play us,” Williams said. “It was a lot of man and match coverage, so us getting open and running away from DBs, it’s like a part of the game plan, so you got to perfect that, especially when you get man and they trying to play back hip, just snatch off and it’ll be there.”
The Lions play the Philadelphia Eagles at 7:20 p.m. CST Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. NBC will televise the game.
BREAKING: Todd Bowles Faces Growing Calls for His Firing After Buccaneers’ Brutal Loss to Patriots
As one of the handful of NFL head coaches who choose not to employ a defensive coordinator because they’re so good at calling their own schemes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles also opens himself up to some added criticism.
While Bowles might be used to it, Buccaneers fans seem destined to an annual dose of Bowles doing something so inexplicable it begs the question of why he insists on calling the defensive plays.
The latest round of criticism came after a 28-23 home loss to the New England Patriots in Week 10 that seemed to fall squarely on the shoulders of Bowles’ defense.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski singled out Bowles as the team’s “Biggest Loser” after the loss.
“Bowles isn’t just the Buccaneers’ head coach; he’s also the team’s defensive play-caller,” Sobleski wrote on Monday, November 10. “Tampa surrendered three touchdowns of 55 yards or longer and gave up another pass of 54 yards. An aggressive approach is all well and good until the opponent can handle the pressure, as the Patriots did. If Bowles wants to live by the sword, then there will be days when his defense gets gashed.”
Bowles, to his credit, took all of the blame for his team’s defensive failures.
“It starts with me,” Bowles told reporters after the game.
Big Plays Crushed Bucs Against Patriots
Three of the Patriots’ 4 touchdowns came on plays of 55 yards or longer, including the longest pass play of quarterback Drake Maye’s career on a 72-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams and touchdown runs of 55 and 69 yards by rookie running back Treveyon Henderson.
Henderson finished 147 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 carries while the Buccaneers gave up 435 yards of total offense.
It was the kind of performance that left many wondering if the Buccaneers can actually be considered NFC contenders anymore and seemed to cement the NFC South as the NFL’s worst division.
Criticism of Bowles Ramps Up Online
It wouldn’t be an NFL season without Bowles becoming a trending topic online — which happened again after the loss to the Patriots.
X user JV pointed out that Bowles is one of just 3 head coaches left from the 10 who were hired before the 2022 season along with Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“I genuinely don’t think you can win a Super Bowl under Todd Bowles,” Bucs Wire’s EMT Ashlie wrote on her official X account.
“The Bucs gave up three touchdowns of 55+ yards today,” 10 Tampa Bay TV’s David Schiele wrote on X. “Brutal performance by the
“No Evans, Godwin or Irving I can give you,” Buccaneers fan Geoff Frantz wrote on X. “But a healthy defense giving up 435 yards of offense and 166 rushing of that is inexcusable. That should not happen under Bowles. This team is weak, mentally.”
“I still don’t get why anybody says Todd Bowles is an elite defensive coach,” X user Shot by Ronin wrote. “Their defense has sucked for years! Three big play touchdowns today? No sir. They should have fired Bowles and kept Liam Coen because even their offense looks less explosive than last year.”
