Lions News

[whatever_gong82]

Is Detroit Lions' Jameson Williams finally breaking out? His coaches, teammates think so



Shawn Windsor
Detroit Free Press



Jameson Williams has a long way to go to become the player the Detroit Lions hope he will be, to become the player the fans expect — or at least did expect when he was selected 12th overall in the 2022 NFL draft.

Yet the distance between that lofty and faraway place and where Williams is now isn’t as great as it was a week ago.



Certainly, two weeks ago.

Definitely a month ago.



Jared Goff isn’t surprised. He has seen the second-year receiver look great in practice recently.

“Yeah, the last couple of weeks for him have been so good,” Goff said after Sunday's 31-26 win over the Bears at Ford Field. “He’s practiced so well. We do trust him now. We trust him a lot.”



Goff’s quote obviously begs the question: The Lions didn’t trust Williams before?

Well, of course, they didn’t. Not to run the right route, or run the route properly, or understand where he needed to be on certain run plays.


They didn’t always trust he would make the catch, especially if the catch could only be made in traffic. They weren’t sure about his ability to track deep balls or to adjust to deep balls.



They had lots of questions, frankly, and his lost time last year because of an ACL and this year because of a hamstring and a gambling suspension, well, it made it hard to get answers.

Slowly, the Lions are starting to get them. Not all of them. It’s too soon for that. But answers to some of the most important questions.



Like: Does Williams like football?

“Lives and breathes it,” said linebacker Alex Anzalone.



Or: Does he enjoy blocking?

“Happily,” said left tackle Taylor Decker.



And, finally: Does he like to work, to grind? Will he keep showing up?

“He’s putting in the work,” head coach Dan Campbell said.



It’s starting to show, both in the way Goff is starting to target him in games and the way he is (slowly) beginning to make plays.

Sunday's touchdown was one such play. It came on a pylon route, where the receiver heads to that part of the end zone. Williams got behind the defense. But for him, that was the easy part. Few players are as fast.



What his coaches and his quarterback loved is that Williams read the play correctly. In the formation, he had choices. Here, let’s let Williams explain:

“I kind of saw the safety before the play. We (were) running it off him. So, if he was inside of me, I know once I get about 12 or 15 yards, if he is not able to run with me to the back pylon, then we got him. … After that, we make that read on the corner. Is he going to go high or low? It’s me or it’s a corner route under me.”


Williams spotted the safety, watched how the corner reacted as he began his route, and then hit the gas. The Bears' secondary didn’t have a chance.

The 32-yard touchdown came with 2:59 left in the game. It cut Chicago’s lead to five. It helped change momentum. It stopped the boos.



Wait, there was booing, asked Goff?

“I actually didn’t hear that. I heard about that, but I didn’t hear that.”



So, yeah, Williams helped quiet the boos. Imagine that? Not that Williams is worried about that, or any of the booing or chirping or doubting that’s come his way.

“It's easy to get lost in the football world in media and fans but, you know, he just keeps showing up for his teammates and that’s really who he is,” Anzalone said. “Obviously, there is a perception about him that isn’t as true as you think it is.”



One touchdown isn’t going to permanently change perceptions about Williams, nor recalibrate expectation; after all, he has scored before. But he has improved by almost every measure lately, and in particular the last two weeks.

His first catch Sunday may have been his best play of the season. He caught a 12-yarder on a crossing route. He got hit from behind as he caught it. He held on. The crowd cheered.





A routine catch? Perhaps. Yet nothing has been routine about Williams’ introduction to the NFL. Also, he has clearly had an issue with drops. And when he held on after getting walloped, it felt like progress.

Now, neither catch demanded he stretch his arms out and steal the ball out of the air with his fingertips. But holding onto a catch is progress. Reading the defense and gaining the trust of the quarterback is progress.



Where will this go? And what kind of player can he ultimately be?

Those are questions for another time, a later date. For now, as Campbell said, Williams is “part of the herd. He’s been accepted.”



And?


“He blocks,” said Campbell, “and he’s starting to run some pretty good routes and he’s making some catches and there’s a lot of guys that are beginning to trust him, and that’s been earned. No different than anybody else had to earn it.”



Earned. Remember that word the next time Williams’ name comes up. Remember, too, that he is still young, and that not only has he earned the trust of his teammates and his quarterback because he is learning how to read an NFL defense and learning how to run NFL routes, but also because he has always grinded.

He loves football, and that helps. He loves hitting, too. His eagerness to get physical has helped him stay connected to his teammates and earn respect in the locker room, even as he struggled on the field with other receiving duties.




“For a young receiver … he’s just doing what he’s asked to do,” Decker said. “That builds trust. Because when he’s blocking for the running backs in the run game, and kinda representing what that wide receiver room is about — we have receivers that go in there and dig it out, and he’s happily going in and doing that — that speaks a lot.”



Decker and Goff like to think about where this offense might eventually go if Williams keeps on the track he’s been on lately.

“As he continues to progress,” said Goff, “the level to which our offense could possibly go with him … is pretty exciting.”



For the first time since Williams arrived, that possibility is not so hard to see. Again, getting there will take time, maybe a lot more time. But everyone has their own timeline, and while Williams may never become an All-Pro receiver, he has shown he can become a difference-maker.

He made a difference Sunday, one read, one block, one route at a time.



Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him@shawnwindsor.

[whatever_gong82]

How did Detroit Lions pull off stunner? They've got the right DNA, and real good players.



Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press



Let’s start with the opening.

Every thief needs an opportunity, and here it came: The Chicago Bears had the ball on a third-and-7 from the Detroit Lions' 23, and they went conservative — thank you, thank you, thank you — running the ball to set up a field goal, content to hold onto a 26-14 fourth-quarter lead.


Suckers!



At that moment, Lions quarterback Jared Goff sensed an opening, like a thief peeking through the crack in a door, seeing the diamond jewel left unguarded.

"They kick the field goal, you think, ‘OK, they’re letting us have a chance to win this with two touchdowns. Sounds good,'" Goff said after the Lions’ thrilling, epic, stunning 31-26 win on Sunday. "You see that path to winning there at the end.”



The Lions took that path all right, and they stole this game from the Bears.

I don’t mean that in a negative way. Because this ending was nothing but warm and fuzzy and wild as heck — the Lions made all the plays, got all the stops and racked up 17 points in a 3-minute barrage that felt like a Disney movie come to life.


But they did steal this win, overcoming four turnovers and pulled a victory out of the jaws of, well, Da Bears.

It was truly amazing and special — and it’s the first time the Lions are 8-2 since 1962.



“That’s a long time,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “It’s a long time, and it’s something that we talked about before the season.”

He cracked a smile — yes, he was joking. “It’s great to be 8-2 and we got a big one in about four days,” he said of the Thanksgiving Day game against the Green Bay Packers. “Or five? I don’t know what it is, but it’s coming up.”


Pieces coming together


Now, here's the great part about this win. It wasn’t one player.

It was a long list of them.



This is what makes a great team, and it starts with the DNA. This was a win of character, resilience, toughness, never getting frazzled and belief. Yes, belief is huge part of it, especially after four turnovers.

But it’s more than DNA. You need dudes who can make plays, and the Lions have a ton of dudes, who made a bunch of plays.



It was Goff hitting Jameson Williams for a 32-yard touchdown.

“Yeah, I had a pylon route,” Williams said. “I kind of saw the safety before the play, we are running it off of him, so if he was inside of me, I know once I get about 12 or 15 yards if he is not able to run with me to the back pylon then we got him.”



Read between the lines: He’s figuring out this offense, and Goff is trusting him to be in the right place.

“He’s part of the herd,” Campbell said. "He's been accepted."


But then, this wasn’t just an offensive story. The Lions needed a stop, with less than 3 minutes to play, and here it came.

It was Jack Campbell, coming up and turning into a brick wall — he’s growing in the biggest moments.



It was Alim McNeill getting another stop.

And it was a deep shot that fell incomplete, forcing the Bears to punt.



And that crack had turned into a giant hole — one which the Lions were about to jump through with both feet.

It started with David Montgomery, ripping off a 13-yard run and then a 12-yarder.



"He’s steady,” Campbell said. “He’s reliable, he’s explosive, he can help in the pass game, run game, protection, and if there’s anything I would say is, man wish we could’ve gotten him the ball more."

It was Goff going to the youngsters, hitting all Jahmyr Gibbs for 6 and Sam LaPorta for 8 — two rookies who are aging wonderfully.


"Here’s what we know about Goff," Campbell said. "At the very least he’s going to be mentally tough and physically tough, and you can always count on that. You can bank on that, and today he showed his resiliency, you know? And when we needed those plays when he showed up in no-huddle mode, he was awesome.”

After Montgomery plunged into the end zone, giving the Lions the lead, there was another key moment that happened in the middle of the exciement.



Goff hit LaPorte for the two-point conversion, pushing the lead to three and making sure if the Bears got a late field goal, it would only tie the game.

"Man, I was proud of the guys, the coaches," Campbell said. "Nobody got frazzled, we knew if we could just get the ball back in our court, we get a stop, score, we could get some momentum back, but man that’s what I was proud of. Pressure went up, my heart rate leveled out like we talk about, so it’s a great job by a number of guys. Really the whole team had a part in that."



Belief turns to reality


Finally, it was Campbell’s unwavering belief in this team.

After the Lions took the lead, he met with the defense.


“I actually went down there and I said, ‘It just doesn’t get any better than this,'" he said. "Like, this is the moment — this is what you want to be in right now. Game on the line, you got a chance to make the big stop to win this game and (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) goes out and makes the sack-fumble of his life for a safety.



"I mean, that to me, those are the moments we’re built for. Like, that’s how we have to think, and I mean that was how it felt like when they took the field. This is why you play this game at this level, it was for moments just like that. It was awesome.”

Yes, here came Hutchinson charging around the right corner like a freight train, beating right tackle Darnell Wright. And then Hutchinson swatted at the ball, whacking it away from Justin Fields. As the ball was tumbling toward the end zone, he shoved Wright out of the way. And it rolled out — a safety.



It was like putting a cherry on top of the most surreal sundae on Sunday.

Having said that, let me point out something else. The Lions could have lost this game earlier. But you know who kept them in it?


Brian Branch.

The rookie defensive back is an absolute joy to watch.



He’s a game-wrecker. Whether it’s in coverage. Or, better yet, flying across the line of scrimmage and making a fantastic tackle for a loss. He had three in the first three quarters on Sunday.



That kept the game close.

But so did Hutchinson.


Everybody focuses on his sacks. But he had a tremendous impact on this game — in the most unusual way. Because of his unrelenting motor. Several times, the Bears would break a tackle or make a big play, and Hutchinson would chase them down from behind, saving an even bigger play.

This wasn’t one player.



This was a pure team win.

Now, was it perfect?



Heck no. They can’t turn the ball over four times against a good team and win.

But the won.


That’s what really good teams do.

And that’s what the Lions are — a dang good football team.



Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

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Detroit Lions game balls: David Montgomery delivers on final drive to defeat former team



Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press



Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances from the Detroit Lions' 31-26 win over the Chicago Bears at Ford Field.

Game balls

RB David Montgomery

Montgomery has had better statistical performances this season, but he was clutch when it counted Sunday and delivered the knockout blow against his old team.



Montgomery finished with 12 carries for 76 yards against a Bears defense that entered the week second in the NFL against the run. He started the Lions’ game-winning drive with a 13-yard catch, ended with a 1-yard run, and had five touches on the 11-play possession for 45 yards.

“What you see is what you get with David,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s steady, he’s reliable, he’s explosive, he can help in the pass game, run game, protection, and if there’s anything I would say is, man, wish we could’ve gotten him the ball more. … But there again, once we needed it there at the end, just to be able to give him the ball, man, he was huge for us in those last couple drives.”


DE Aidan Hutchinson

Amon-Ra St. Brown had a huge first half and is almost always deserving of a game ball, and Brian Branch (three tackles for loss) would have got one if not for two penalties that kept alive Chicago drives.

Hutchinson wasn’t as consistently impactful as those two, but he made the biggest defensive play of the game for the Lions, beating Darnell Wright off the left end to sack Justin Fields and force a fumble with 29 seconds to play. As the ball bounced loose behind Fields, Wright kicked it out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

After the game, Hutchinson dedicated the play to Ryder Finkel, a young boy he visited in the hospital who was recently diagnosed with Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DPIG).


Goats


Bears coach Matt Eberflus

The Lions beat the Los Angeles Chargers last week because of their coach’s aggressive approach to game management. The Bears lost Sunday because their coach cowered in big moments.

Up six points early in the fourth quarter, Eberflus sent his field goal team on after the Lions stuffed Justin Fields on a quarterback sneak on third-and-inches for no gain. A drive later, with the Bears leading 23-14 and 4:20 to play, Eberflus again took the short field goal (39 yards) rather than try and convert a fourth-and-5 that might have iced the game.

Eberflus’ final three plays of that drive were conservative run calls, and he opened the Bears’ only three-and-out late in the fourth quarter with two more runs up the middle destined to go nowhere. The Lions rallied for two late touchdowns to win, but the Bears left the door open for the comeback with their conservative playcalling.


Lions RB Craig Reynolds

Jared Goff threw three interceptions that the Lions were fortunate turned into only three Chicago points. He would have made the goat list if not for his late-game heroics, and the fact that two of the interceptions weren’t his fault.

Reynolds accounted for the Lions’ fourth turnover, a fumbled kickoff return midway through the third quarter on his only touch of the game that set up a Justin Fields touchdown pass to D.J. Moore.

Reynolds never got the chance to atone for his mistake. He handled one of the Bears’ final two kickoffs, but it was a touchback. But the Lions were fortunate to survive on a day they were minus-3 in the turnover margin.


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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McFlurry cheeseburgers & primal roars: How the Detroit Lions celebrated their 8th win



Jared Ramsey
Detroit Free Press



Dan Campbell channeled his inner king of the jungle at the beginning of his postgame speech to celebrate the Detroit Lions' thrilling 31-26 comeback win over the Chicago Bears.

In the postgame locker room, Campbell began his speech by taking off his camouflaged Lions hat, bending over slightly then snapping up and letting out a guttural roar from the bottom of his soul. The entire team burst out with raucous approval before the head coach continued to tell them how proud he was of the team's resiliency and fight until the final whistle.

Campbell finished the speech by awarding the game ball to Aidan Hutchinson, who had one of his best performances of the season chasing and harassing Justin Fields all afternoon. Hutchinson finished with six tackles and a game-clinching strip-sack of Justin Fields that led to a safety on the final drive of the game.


"I'm really excited about this year," Hutchinson said in his postgame speech to the team. "I think we're going to do some special (expletive), especially with the adversity we just dealt with and how we overcame it."



The other player to receive shining praise after the game was wide receiver Jameson Williams, who is ramping back up to full speed within the offense after his gambling suspension to start the year. Williams helped kickstart the comeback with a 32-yard touchdown on a deep corner route to cut the deficit to 26-21 with three minutes left.

Williams lined up in a stack on the outside with St. Brown and used his well-documented quickness to find a slice of open turf in the end zone between the cornerback and safety in zone coverage and twisted to haul in a good pass from Jared Goff for the score. Williams said after the game he knew he was going to score in the huddle before thanks to some wisdom from Detroit's leading receiver.


The clutch play from Williams, who had rough luck in his first year and a half with the Lions between injuries and suspensions, spurred an outburst of love for the former first-round pick online. Lions fans and even the team's social media administrators flocked to McDonald's to try Williams' unique go-to fast food order — a McDouble topped with a large scoop of an Oreo McFlurry on top.

The McJamo — a seemingly odd combination of dinner and dessert — was a surprising hit and could lead to a nice marketing deal for Williams in the future.

Putting people onto an unheard-of fast food combination was not the only gift Williams gave to Detroit on Sunday. Following the game, he handed out Thanksgiving turkeys and signed autographs in partnership with local nonprofit Families Assistance for Renaissance Men, or F.A.R.M., a Detroit nonprofit organization whose purpose is to connect fathers and their children by providing them with the resources they need according to their website.

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How the Detroit Lions stopped the Bears' Tush Push, and why it might matter come playoffs



Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press



It was more Wind(y City) Tunnel than Brotherly Shove, and if the results were any indication, the wind wasn’t even blowing that hard.

But on the first of four straight key defensive possessions in Sunday’s fourth quarter, the Detroit Lions may have found something they’ll need this postseason to have a chance against the surest play in football.



On the first snap of the fourth quarter, with the Chicago Bears clinging to a 20-14 lead, the Bears lined up for a quarterback sneak on third-and-less-than-a-yard from just inside the Lions’ 23-yard line.

Justin Fields was under (backup) center Dan Feeney, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and running back Roschon Johnson were directly behind Fields, and the rest of the Bears offense was lined tight to scrimmage like a battering ram ready to bust through a door.


Only the Lions reinforced their door with nearly 700 pounds of beef directly over the ball, 335-pound Benito Jones and (generously-listed) 338-pound Quinton Bohanna, and four more defenders waiting to knife their way through Chicago’s offensive line at the snap.


Jones dove low at Feeney’s feet, taking out his ability to get any push. Bohanna buried his head into a crevice under left guard Teven Jenkins, eliminating Jenkins from the play. And linebacker Alex Anzalone torpedoed over Jenkins and hit Fields in the back, stopping him in his tracks short of a first down.



The Bears cowered on fourth-and-short and kicked a 40-yard field goal to go up two scores that turned out to be a mistake. It was as if “Mortal Kombat” gave Bears coach Matt Eberflus orders to finish the Lions and Eberflus stopped to microwave some pizza rolls instead.

The Lions held the Bears to a field goal on their next possession, then rallied for two late touchdowns to pull out a dramatic 31-26 victory. The Lions got two more late defensive stops, forcing a three-and-out between touchdowns and ending the game with a sack-fumble, but wiping out the Tush Push may have been the biggest play of the night.

“It was a huge stop,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “That was as big as they come. To be able to — cause, really, that’s maybe a normal sequence of the game they may be going for it and doing it again, but that’s the opportunity to go up two scores with a field goal. So to be able to get that for us, to get that stop was huge.”

The stop was huge because it paved the way for a Lions victory, of course. The Lions improved to 8-2 for the first time since 1962 and, coupled with the Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, have a 2½-game lead in the NFC North standings. They should clinch their first division title in 30 years before Christmas and are in line to host multiple playoff games.


But it was doubly important because of the monster that lies ahead.



The Philadelphia Eagles, the only NFL team with a better record than the Lions entering their Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, have been virtually unstoppable on quarterback sneaks the past two years.

The Eagles ran six Tush Push plays, where the offensive players lined up behind the quarterback help push him forward for extra yards, in February’s Super Bowl and converted every one for a touchdown or first down. Since the start of the 2022 season, they’ve succeeded on about 90% of those plays, according to the Kansas City Star, and recently added a wrinkle by handing the ball off a Tush Push alignment to former Lions running back D’Andre Swift for a touchdown.



The Eagles excel at the play — no other NFL team has anywhere near the success rate on sneaks — in part because of their personnel.

Jason Kelce is a five-time first-team All-Pro center and the anchor of one of the best offensive lines in football, and quarterback Jalen Hurts famously squatted 600 pounds in college.

There is no great way to simulate the play in practice, not without significant injury risk, which is why the Lions’ success Sunday — even against a backup center and team less accomplished on sneaks — could turn out to be plenty significant as the year goes on.



“They tried to do the Philly, the Brotherly Shove,” Anzalone said. “We had the big guys up front. I know Bohanna was out there (and Jones), and linebackers came over top and we were able to stop the momentum. Teams are going to keep doing it until they figure out that they can’t do it like the Eagles.”

The Eagles, of course, won’t stop running it any time soon, and if the Lions face the Eagles in the playoffs — they’re currently the top two seeds in the NFC — there’s a good chance they’ll need to stop it in January to advance.



Defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who was not in on Sunday’s fourth-and-short – the Lions kept their nickel package on the field, with defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Charles Harris flanking Bohanna and Jones inside, Barnes joining Anzalone at linebacker and Kerby Joseph the only defender more than 3 yards from scrimmage as a deep safety – said there are two keys to defending the Tush Push, both of which the Lions executed against the Bears.

“You just got to get lower than the O-linemen,” he said. And, “it’s a mentality thing for sure. We knew we had to get that. There’s no other option, to be honest.”



The other option is to watch a team like the Eagles run it over and over and slowly destroy your will.

That’s something the Lions are clearly aware of — “The Eagles seem to have it down by a science. I think every other team’s trying to figure it out,” Anzalone said — and as they track towards a playoff showdown with the defending NFC champs, it’s something they’re prepared to defend.


“I think there’s really no secret to it, it’s about leverage and get-off,” Campbell said. “Get-off and leverage, and normally the offense has the upper hand on those things and then you need a guy who can really push. He gets the football, he can leg drive. So I don’t know that the secret that Philly does a really good job of it, and that quarterback, he does a good job, too. But we stopped it today, so it was big.”



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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Detroit Lions' C.J. Gardner-Johnson would need 'mutant genes' to play again this season


Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press



C.J. Gardner-Johnson has told some of his teammates he could return from his torn pectoral muscle before the end of the season, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday that might be wishful thinking.

"We’ll just have to see," Campbell said when asked if the Lions are still holding out hope Gardner-Johnson could be back for the playoffs. "I think that timeline’s a matter of — it would be a very, very fast recovery, but I love where his head’s at. You got to think that way and you got to be positive, cause I think that leads to quicker healing if you allow yourself to think that way."



Gardner-Johnson suffered a torn pec in the Lions' Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and underwent surgery the following week.

He's spent most of his time rehabbing in Florida, but has made a handful of trips to Detroit to check in with doctors and be around teammates.


At one practice last month, Gardner-Johnson was spotted throwing a football, and Lions safety Kerby Joseph said Gardner-Johnson did a push-up in the locker room about a month after surgery.



Told Gardner-Johnson has suggest on social media he could return in the next few weeks, Campbell joked, "I want to talk to the doctor he’s talking to."

"No, listen, Ducey is — he’s an upbeat, positive, hard-working, like will himself to (get better), and that’s what we love about him," Campbell said. "I don’t foresee that, but yet man, I’m not going to (rule it out). Never say never. I’m not going to do that. He may have mutant genes, he’s like Wolverine, there’s no telling. But believe me, that would be unbelievable, but I just, I think it’ll be hard but you never know."


More injuries

Campbell said the Lions are hopeful left guard Jonah Jackson can return for Thursday's game against the Green Bay Packers after sitting out Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears with a wrist injury.



Jackson was listed as "no practice" on the Lions' estimated injury report Monday, but Campbell said he was going to take part in the team's hourlong evening walk-through.

Defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs, who did not play against the Bears because of an illness, was listed as a full participant in practice, as were center Frank Ragnow (toe) and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu (hand).



If Jackson can't start, rookie Colby Sorsdal likely will make his second straight start at left guard. The Lions (8-2) have started eight different line combinations in 10 games this season and have used four different starters in their past four games at left guard: Sorsdal, Jackson, Graham Glasgow and Kayode Awosika.



"That was his first time starting over there at left guard and I say this again, it’s not too big for him," Campbell said. "I thought he fought in there. I know this, at the end of that game, he really, he played well. As really all those guys on offense did. That was some of our best football we’ve played all year in the last four minutes of the game. They just, we executed at a high level. And he really did, he stepped up.

"That’s a lot of pressure for a rookie, to go in there, first time at left guard and game’s on the line. I thought he played pretty good. Look, it's something to build off of on that side. We believe he’ll get better with more reps. We believe he’ll continue to grow, so it’s good."



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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Detroit Lions haven't been 8-2 since 1962. Here's how good that team was.



Jared Ramsey
Detroit Free Press



The Detroit Lions are off to a historic franchise start thanks to a 31-26 comeback victory over the Chicago Bears. The win moved the Lions to 8-2, the franchise's best start since 1962.

The last time the Lions were this good through 10 weeks, John F. Kennedy was in the Oval Office, George Romney was elected as Michigan's Governor, McDonald's released the newly-invented Filet-O-Fish and Gordie Howe tallied his 500th of 801 career goals for the Detroit Red Wings.


Not quite good enough


The '62 Lions joined the list of historical accomplishments with the third-best regular season record in franchise history, behind the 1953 (won the NFL championship) and 1954 squads. The team was led by head coach George Wilson, the last Lions coach to win an NFL championship in 1957.

The Lions went 11-3 over the 14-game schedule and finished second in the NFL Western Conference behind the Green Bay Packers, the eventual NFL champions. Back then, only the conference champions would make the postseason for the NFL championship, meaning one of the best Lions seasons ever ended in a missed playoff berth despite having the league's third-best record.


Back then, the team shared home field at Tiger Stadium with the Detroit Tigers and held practices at the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills. The team would have to wait 13 more years for the opening of the Pontiac Silverdome.


Season Breakdown

The Lions started out 3-0 before dropping a road game to the Packers in Week 4. They went 1-1 the next two weeks with a win over the Los Angeles Rams and a loss to the New York Giants, the other team to make the championship that year. After the Giants' loss, the Lions rattled off seven straight victories to reach 11-2 before dropping the season finale against the Chicago Bears inside of a different baseball stadium, Wrigley Field.

Green Bay at Detroit_11-22-1962.jpg

The seven-game winning streak featured a Thanksgiving day win over the Packers to avenge the Week 4 loss. The Lions ended up as the only team to defeat the Vince Lombardi-led squad, who finished 14-1 including the championship, the entire season. Detroit won, 26-14, thanks to a great performance from quarterback/kicker Milt Plum, who threw two first half touchdowns to Gail Codgill and added a field goal in the third quarter to give the Lions an insurmountable 26-0 lead.

Plum was playing his first year in Detroit after being traded from the Cleveland Browns in a six-player deal during the offseason. He was the main star of the offense, compiling 2378 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and 20 interceptions with a 55.1% completion percentage.


He was assisted by a three-headed backfield comprised of running backs Dan Lewis and Tom Watkins and fullback Nick Pietrosante. All three finished north of 400 rushing yards and at least two touchdowns on the season. Codgill, who also played defensive end, finished as the team's leading receiver with 53 receptions for 991 yards and seven touchdowns.

The offense was league average, but the Lions defense was the main catalyst for the success. The defense ranked second in points allowed, only surrendering an average of 12.6 points per game. It was headlined by the "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line made up of starters Sam Williams, Alex Karras, Roger Brown and Darris McCord. The nickname was bestowed by team announcer Van Patrick for having the league's best rushing defense and pass rushing ability. The Fearsome Foursome combined for 36 sacks and four forced safeties in 1962.

Don Shula and Pat Studstill.jpg

Hall of Famer on staff

Wilson coached the Lions for eight seasons from 1957-64, winning an NFL championship in his first year and amassing a 53-45-6 record in Detroit. He kicked off his tenure with an 8-4 record, good to win the NFC Western Conference, then smacked the Browns, 59-14, for Detroit's most recent NFL title.



Wilson got his start under the legendary George Halas as the Chicago Bears wide receivers and tight ends coach in 1947 and 1948. He then moved to Detroit to work in the same role from 1949-56 before taking over for Buddy Parker, who was the head coach from 1951-56.

The Lions also had a future Hall of Famer at defensive coordinator. Don Shula, who went on to win two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins, was in charge of Detroit's stifling defense. He ran the unit from 1960-62, all winning seasons for Detroit, before becoming the youngest head coach in NFL history at the time when he took over the Baltimore Colts at the age of 33 in 1963.


Shula's defenses consistently ranked near the top of the league, culminating in the dominant performance in 1962. On top of having the second-best scoring defense, The Lions led the league in yards surrendered, only giving up an average of 229.7 yards per game.


One for the books

There may have been a good omen surrounding that team dating back to training camp. It was that year that sports writer George Plimpton participated in the preseason workouts as a quarterback. He chronicled his experiences in the book, "Paper Lion," which was made into a feature film in the late 60s and starred Alan Alda and eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer Karras, who went on to star in a few other projects after his playing days with the Lions.


We can assure you no Free Press writers tried out this preseason, or would even entertain the idea.


An All-Star team

Here are the All-Pros on that 1962 Lions team: linebacker Joe Schmidt; safety Yale Lary; cornerback Dick "Night Train" Lane and defensive linemen Brown and Karras.

Brown was third in the NFL in sacks that season with 14 and was fourth in The Associated Press' NFL MVP voting. Karras had 11 sacks.

George Plimpton_author of Paper Lion.jpg

[dsred]

Haha! This is how I picture dsred and chemiclord when I read the game day thread.

Ha! Pretty close, but I'm actually a little calmer most of the time. I just hate mental mistakes the most.

[dsred]

Ha! Probably right.

We should start a thread with pictures/memes/videos of how we see other forum members.

Maybe not. Ha!

Found your pic:

popeye.jpg

[CGVT]

Found your pic:

popeye.jpg

Haha! Nice!

[whatever_gong82]

[edindetroit]

https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/11/wr-donovan-peoples-jones-cleared-to-make-lions-debut-second-rounder-benched.html?utm_campaign=wolverines_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR00eOUqjJ4ErxWCSmQ0t2aHllBgnX0NM8R089shQ5TwxWxulV_IXrWtCp0

[whatever_gong82]

Jameson Williams finds his footing with Lions, having fun (and burgers) along the way

Jameson Williams taking a selfie after a Lions win.jpg

By Colton Pouncy
6h ago



DETROIT — At his core, Jameson Williams is still a kid at heart. There’s a childlike passion in his game. A youthful exuberance not always seen at this level. It shows when he’s parading around the field after touchdowns — whether he scored or a teammate did. It’s like he’s uniquely aware that he plays a children’s sport for a living. Most lose sight of it. Williams keeps it in his rearview mirror. In many ways, it’s what makes Jamo, Jamo.



And yet, with each snap, each rep, each play he takes the field for these days, Detroit’s young receiver finds himself maturing at a pace matched only by his game-changing speed.

He showed off that speed Sunday, when his 32-yard yard touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter helped the Lions rally for a dramatic win over the Chicago Bears.

But before Williams was scoring game-altering touchdowns for the 8-2 Lions, it was tough to know how much they could rely on Williams. Some players find their footing faster than others; some need more time. Williams falls in the latter category.



A torn ACL suffered just months before the Lions made him a first-round draft pick in 2022 and a subsequent suspension early this season slowed his NFL progress. He missed much-needed reps, practice and time to build chemistry. A hamstring injury in the preseason further complicated those efforts. Far from a finished product by the time he was ready to return, it was fair to wonder how quickly Williams would be acclimated into an offense that was doing just fine without his services.

What people often get wrong about Williams, though, is his desire to simply be one of the guys, to be accepted. During his four-game suspension, he watched his team jump out to a 3-1 start from his couch. There were some hard days, Williams said last month. The feeling of letting down a group that was counting on him to contribute, unable to even speak with coaches as his suspension played out. It can weigh on even the most upbeat souls. But in many ways, it was the precursor to what we’re seeing now.



Earlier this season, Lions coaches’ comments about Williams’ progress were reserved upon his initial return to play. They’d say, “He’s back in the building” or “He’s gotta stack good days” when asked about his progress. He was still making mistakes. Dropping passes. Unable to get on the same page with his quarterback. Slowly but surely, though, that has started to change.

Lions coaches have noticed the little things. The things that turn an athlete into a receiver. The effort in practice, the crisper routes, the improved hands, the blocking downfield, the acceptance that the ball will come when it comes. Those are the nuances in Williams’ game that weren’t there before. Those nuances come with time and maturity, and at long last, Williams finally had that on his side.



“He’s doing a phenomenal job,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said last week. “Really, since he’s come back, it’s meetings, he’s attentive, he asks good questions. Walkthroughs, he’s on his stuff. And then in practice, he’s practicing really hard. We’re still working to get on the same page in some ways in the passing game, but we see improvement each and every day, each and every week, so far. I think the more reps he continues to get in games, it’s only going to accelerate his progress.”

“I think it’s just coming,” Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said of Williams’ production. “It’s just a matter of time because he’s getting better and he’s excited about not just catching the ball. He’s excited about being where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there, about blocks for his teammates, stuff like that. The selflessness is coming out. He wants to do more for the team.”



There’s no greater example of Williams’ rapid development than Sunday’s game. On a day when the Lions struggled offensively, and Williams had just one target through the first 57 minutes of action, there was no bad body language or frustration. Just a process trusted.

When the Lions’ offense took the field with a little over four minutes to go, down 12, attention turned to Williams. He’s the sort of big-play threat the Lions know they have. When a play intended to get Williams open was dialed up by Johnson, Lions team captain and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown approached the receiver with a message.



“Go get it,” he said to Williams. “It’s coming.”

The Lions stacked Williams and St. Brown before the snap. As Williams explained after the game, his read before the play was the safety. If the safety showed inside leverage, Williams knew he could win on a pylon route — deep and to the back of the end zone. The Lions’ hope on the play was that St. Brown would draw the attention of Bears corner Jaylon Johnson, playing “low” rather than dropping deep where Williams was heading. When Johnson did, it created a one-on-one matchup between Williams and Bears safety Eddie Jackson — already at a disadvantage playing inside leverage.



Williams and the Lions had the look they wanted. Results followed.

“He’s part of the herd,” coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s been accepted. The way he works and the way he goes and he blocks, and he’s starting to run some pretty good routes and he’s making some catches. There’s a lot of guys that are beginning to trust him, and that’s been earned. … He’s putting in the work, so that was good to see. It was a huge moment, it was a huge play and he just keeps getting better and better and better.”



After a rough start, there’s a budding love between Williams and the city of Detroit — one that reveals itself in more ways than one. As he walked back to the locker room through the Ford Field tunnels after the win, the Lions’ social media staff asked Williams to break down his touchdown. In the background of the video, you can see and hear a group of children and Lions fans light up, collectively yelling his name when they see him.

“Jamo!”

Williams regularly spends time in the Detroit community, and Sunday night was no different. When he left the stadium, Williams teamed up with the Family Assistance for Renaissance Men — a nonprofit focused on the rehabilitation and reuniting of fathers with their children — to do some good. Williams passed out turkeys to families, signed autographs and posed for photos in Detroit ahead of Thanksgiving.



It’s clear Jamo’s having fun along the way, too, in only ways he can. Earlier in the week, Williams posted an Instagram story of a McDouble from McDonald’s topped with a scoop of an Oreo McFlurry. A “McJamo,” if you will. He called it a 10 out of 10. As he exited the locker room, Williams implored fans and media alike to try it, smiling from ear to ear. Some did. For research purposes.

The review: An unconventional pairing that works surprisingly well. Much like Williams’ fit in this Lions organization.


That’s the thing about the Lions’ locker room. It’s intentionally crafted to allow players to be themselves, in an effort to get the most out of them. When a team has a strong core in place, it can draft with confidence that others will eventually adapt to the culture around them, finding their groove with guys who just love ball and want to work. The Lions are starting to see that with Williams.

Williams isn’t a finished product. He has 10 receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns in six games this season, and in an offense with so many mouths to feed, he might not ever be the featured target. But his coaches and teammates alike trust him to make plays now more than ever before. He has a defined role in an offensive machine. He’s found a rhythm and continues to develop for a team that is now winning with him, not without him.



“I feel good, honestly,” Williams said. “I just feel like the more I get in the game, the more I practice, the more I be out there with my teammates and my brothers, the more fun we can have and the farther we gonna go, you know? We just out having fun and doing we what do. … It’s just building confidence for me and also for the team. As we keep going, we’re just trying to be the train that nobody can stop.”

He hasn’t lost sight of that.


Colton Pouncy is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Detroit Lions. He previously covered Michigan State football and basketball for the company, and covered sports for The Tennessean in Nashville prior to joining The Athletic. Follow Colton on Twitter @colton_pouncy