Jameson Williams didn’t mince words when assessing the Detroit Lions’ offensive performance in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders.
After a month of inconsistency and stalled drives, Williams said the difference was undeniable. The offense, he emphasized, was “so much smoother” with Dan Campbell calling the plays in the Lions’ thrashing of the Commanders.
For the first time in a long time, Detroit looked like the explosive, high-octane offense it had been built to be.
The Lions racked up a season-high 546 yards and 44 points, scoring on eight straight possessions and never punting.
“It felt good with the play-calling and being so much smoother, going out there and just being free and playing. That was a good thing for us,” Williams told reporters Thursday. “We converted, we had a lot of explosives on our end. Shout-out to the defense, they got us the ball a lot of times. We scored on our possessions, executing is the main thing. So, that was the main thing, we just went out there and executed.”
Williams himself was a major beneficiary of Campbell taking over the play-calling duties from offensive coordinator John Morton.
The fourth-year receiver delivered his best performance since Week 2, hauling in six catches for 119 yards, including a crucial three-catch, 47-yard sequence on the opening drive of the second half. Before returning to the field for the final half of play, Campbell made sure Williams knew his number was going to be called.
“He just told me he’s coming to me and that just got me,” Williams said. “I was already ready, but that just gave me, it let me know it was coming and that whole drive he dedicated it to me, he called plays for me and I just went out there and made plays. It was something where I had a great feeling. It felt great getting the ball and moving well with the offense.”
Williams capped off that five-play, 72-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown reception, stretching Detroit’s lead and further demonstrating how comfortable — and confident — he looked in an offense that showcased his blazing speed and play-making ability.
For a player whose involvement has been infrequent throughout the season, the direct communication from Campbell and the intentional play design carried real meaning.
Beyond praising the rejuvenated offense, Williams also shifted his focus to what lies ahead: a road contest with the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, in one of the league’s toughest home environments.
Though he’s never played in Philadelphia, he made clear the Lions cannot allow the crowd to be a factor.
“I’ve heard it’s crazy,” Williams said of the environment in Philadelphia. “But, if we go out there and do our thing, make plays, execute, the crowd and the fans will be a non-factor to us. So, we just gotta go out there and do our thing and we’ll be good.”
Williams added that he rarely hears opposing fans anyway. He’s typically too focused on the next offensive series.
However, he did hear the chants of his name in Washington, a moment that reflected how electric his performance was and how strongly Detroit fans responded to it.
As for the magnitude of the Lions’ Sunday Night Football showdown with Philadelphia, Williams has a simple mindset: “Every game is (a) must win. We just got to go out there and execute, and we’re gonna come out on top for sure.”
If Detroit’s offense continues to operate with the same rhythm it displayed a week ago, the Lions will have a legitimate shot to escape Philadelphia with a win Sunday.
For Williams, Week 10 was a turning point in his season and perhaps the Lions’ season, too – the week where everything finally clicked.
One most welcome surprise for the Cincinnati Bengals in recent weeks has been the transformation of their running game. Unfortunately, the bye week, a second-time opponent in the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a key injury could derail all that prior momentum.
Not that the Steelers have a stupendous defense, but if Pittsburgh can score at will like many Bengals opponents have this season, ageless wonder Joe Flacco will be forced to air it out a lot and render Cincinnati’s offense one-dimensional.
To help Flacco avoid a quadragenarian shootout versus Aaron Rodgers, the Bengals need to play keep-away and lean on the run. Can they count on a rookie sixth-round pick to help the cause?
Former Texas Tech tailback Tahj Brooks slid all the way to the 193rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Bengals happily scooped up the productive ball-carrier then, as a deep running back class was part of the reason for Brooks’ tumble down the board.
Any hopes Brooks had of substantial playing time early on were dashed when Cincinnati could run the ball whatsoever. Chase Brown was averaging around two yards per carry. Brooks has only managed six carries for 18 yards in his young career thus far.
But aging vet Samaje Perine and Brown suddenly became a phenomenal 1-2 punch of late. It’s a bummer that Perine will be out for Week 11 with an ankle injury, as the team confirmed on Friday.
Perine is a savvy back who still has more explosiveness than you’d think at 30 years old. The good news is, the Bengals’ disreputable offensive line has rallied from early adversity to pave lots of running lanes, which should open things up for Brown against Pittsburgh.
When the Steelers and Bengals met in Week 7, Brown had 108 yards on only 11 carries. The question is, does Brooks have the vision and conviction to hit the hole without hesitating, and produce like a solid RB2?
That much is unclear. What is clear is that Brooks should have the chance to prove himself. Maybe Zac Taylor won’t trust him with a lot of reps, but Brown’s health should take priority.
Plus, Brooks did have quite a run at the end of his college days, rushing for over 1500 yards in each of his last two seasons with 27 touchdowns on the ground in that span.
It’d just be nice to see a Cincinnati rookie do well. Watching Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter try to play NFL linebacker has been a disaster and a big reason why the defense is so bad. Maybe Brooks will provide hope that this latest underwhelming draft class can turn into something salvageable and respectable for the Duke Tobin-led scouting department.
I’ll play you out with some Brooks Texas Tech highlights rather than any more depressing Bengals personnel fodder.