Jameson Williams having a bad day in Cincinnati, was actually really good for the Lions
All the attention he got took attention away from everyone else
The Detroit Lions are coming off a nice win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Don’t let your weird Uncle Steve, who calls 97.1 to complain every week, convince you that some garbage time touchdowns are cause for major concern. Also, don’t let him convince you that Jameson Williams having a bad day was a bad thing for Detroit.
Yes, I know that sounds weird. But we’re going to look at some film clips today to show you exactly why Jameson Williams having just one target for nine yards was a good thing for the Lions. Let’s just jump right into it.
Clip 1: All eyes on Jamo and not on LaPorta
Ok, the Bengals came into this game with a clear plan to try to take the deep pass away from Detroit by having that safety over the top, and the corner follow him. Williams takes the coverage over the top with him, and LaPorta is wide open for what was still an explosive 22-yard play. So in their effort to contain the deep threat, they allowed a deep pass because of it.
Clip 2, Three guys on Jamo and LaPorta gets the touchdown
Williams takes the initial corner covering him the whole way, keeps both safeties with him in the end zone, and a linebacker even starts to follow before realizing that the Lions hit LaPorta underneath, and he gets a 10-yard touchdown. All that attention paid to one player hurts you. It’s like in basketball when you double-team a guy, there’s almost always another guy standing at the three-point line waiting to take an open three. LaPorta is Duncan Robinson in this case, and he hit the three.
Clip 3: Ok, we get it, your game plan is to stop Williams
This is my favorite clip of the day. The Lions know that all the attention is going to Williams, so they stacked Amon-Ra St. Brown behind him and then let the corner who was initially covering St. Brown decide that he wants to switch to Williams, so Williams can chip enough to get him out of the way and have an open St. Brown catch this pass for a first down. Good stuff.
Clip 4: Ok, Jared Goff missed on this one
It’s not a big miss. This is still a 39-yard play with the ball going to LaPorta and Williams turning into a blocker, but you have to wonder what the play looks like if Goff cared about my fantasy team and threw the ball to a wide-open Jemson Williams crossing over the middle of the field. Oh well, Williams’ blocks help LaPorta gain an extra five yards here. That’s cool.
The conclusion here is that Williams is a guy that defenses are taking seriously right now because he has the ability to change the game on a dime with that speed. The attention he gets takes attention away from others, and the Lions can take advantage of it. With that said, of course, the Lions don’t want to make Sunday’s thing and every week thing, and you shouldn’t be concerned that it will be. He’s still abig part of the offense, and he’ll get his targets for sure.
Detroit Lions News
Detroit Lions Mailbag: Did the Lions make a mistake releasing edge rusher having a decent season?
Did the Lions make a mistake letting James Houston go? We answer that and more
