Film Review: Lions Jameson Williams Has 'Best' Career Game

Exploring why Dan Campbell said Jameson Williams had best career game.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (9). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions' offense was humming at a high efficiency Sunday, scoring points on each of its first five drives en route to a 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears.

Headlining the effort was Jameson Williams, who had five catches for a career-best 143 yards and a touchdown. On Monday, coach Dan Campbell called it the best performance of the Alabama product's three-year career.

"Offensively, our game balls were (Amon-Ra) St. Brown and (Jameson Williams) Jamo, both of those guys had huge games," Campbell said. "And really it was probably Jamo’s best game that he’s had since he’s been here and I’m talking about from run blocking as well as the pass game which everybody sees, so that was great."

With Williams as the deep threat, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta chipping in and Jahmyr Gibbs handling the rushing attack, the Lions rode a multi-faceted offensive attack to keep the Bears at bay and move closer to the NFC's top seed in the playoffs.

Here is a look at how the former first round pick excelled against the Bears in a Week 16 victory.

Goff to Williams for long TD

After scoring on all three first quarter drives, the Lions built an early 13-0 lead over the Bears heading into the second. Chicago punted on its first drive of the second quarter, pinning the Lions deep to start their first series of the quarter.

Starting at its own 7-yard line, the Lions called upon Jahmyr Gibbs to run the ball on first down. He gained 11 yards, pushing the offense out of the shadow of its own end zone. What followed was the team's biggest play of the season.

Chicago plays a Cover-3 defense, walking one of its two safeties into the middle of the field to leave Jonathan Owens responsible for the middle third of the defense. Initially, Jameson Williams gains leverage on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

As Williams breaks inward, he becomes the responsibility of Owens, who did not get deep enough in his zone drop. Goff has the advantage now, and lofts the ball out to Williams. The Alabama product runs under it and hauls it in, racing the rest of the way for the score.

The screen game

The Lions' offense deployed multiple screen passes throughout Sunday's game as a way to keep the Bears' defense off balance. In particular, rookie left guard Christian Mahogany showed off an impressive ability to get downfield and block beyond the line of scrimmage.

On this specific play, the Lions are looking to break through in the red zone after some early struggles. Detroit was forced to settle for field goals on two of its first three trips inside the 20, and its one touchdown drive saw the team run three plays from the 1-yard line.

This time around, the Lions set up a screen pass for St. Brown. It's a design known commonly as a tunnel screen, as the offensive line all rushes out to create a tunnel of sorts for the receiver to run through.

Wide receivers Williams and Tim Patrick are responsible for setting the boundaries of the tunnel, with the offensive line acting as reinforcements. After the two wideouts do their jobs, Taylor Decker is the first lineman out there.

Thanks to Frank Ragnow leading the way and some impressive body control by St. Brown, the Lions are able to punch it in on this clever design.

Williams' elusiveness

As part of his 143-yard performance, Williams was able to show off some of his elusiveness in addition to his long touchdown.

On this play, which came early in the third quarter, Williams turned a short pass into a big gain. St. Brown goes in motion pre-snap, and no followers from the defense indicates zone coverage from the Bears.

Chicago over-commits to Sam LaPorta, who runs to the flats, partially due to a quick pump-fake by Goff. Williams wisely stops right at the 25-yard line, makes the catch and heads toward the open part of the field.

The Bears' defense closes quickly and forces Williams to go sideways rather than try to get up the field. At the six-second mark of the video, it's Williams and Tim Patrick against three Bears defenders. This is where Williams' elusiveness starts to show up.

A quick jump cut takes him backwards, but more importantly away from the defense. He gets a block from Jahmyr Gibbs that he's able to run around, and then with a burst of speed he's able to get into the open field.

Jaylon Johnson is able to run Williams out of bounds, but not before he's able to get out of bounds near midfield.

'Stumble bum' works like a charm

The play that has made waves after Sunday's game was born in a Ben Johnson film session. Johnson noticed a play from the Packers and Bears' 2023 meeting at Soldier Field in which Jordan Love was able to make a big play after some commotion in the backfield, and sought to replicate it.

As a result, 'Stumble bum' was born. Goff and Gibbs, along with the entire offensive line, get a chance to show off their acting chops. The quarterback stumbles out from center, while Gibbs executes a barrel roll to fall on the fake fumble while the line shouts, "fumble," in an effort to distract the defense.

In coverage, Jameson Williams baits the play-side corner to abandon his deep-third zone with a post pattern. This allows Sam LaPorta to run his delayed wheel into a plethora of open space. Goff drops the throw in a bucket, resulting in a touchdown for the Lions.

End-around

Closing out this film review is another notable play from the third quarter. While the Lions' drive would end with a turnover on downs, they were sparked by another creative play-call from Ben Johnson.

There's no pre-snap motion, which allows the Lions to not tip off the fact that they're running a reverse to Williams on this play. However, the flip-side of that is that it forces Williams to find a new gear of speed in a hurry in order to execute the timing of this play.

The Bears do a good job of trying to cut this off, as the play-side defensive end blows it up and forces Jahmyr Gibbs to decide whether to abandon the play or take the risk of flipping the ball to Williams. Gibbs elects to do the latter, flipping the ball around his blocker to Williams who is now nearly 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Once again, Williams makes the first man miss to give himself some space. He's strung out too far toward the sideline to make a big play, but he's able to get enough room to give Detroit's offense some life with a 7-yard gain.