The Detroit Lions grew their winning streak to three games with Sunday's 34-10 win against the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field. The dominant effort marked the third consecutive outing where the Lions scored 30-plus points, and it wouldn't be absurd for a Detroit fan to view the final score and assume that wideout Jameson Williams played a role in the latest win.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as Williams had another performance to forget to close out November. The talented downfield threat only hauled in two of his eight targets for 40 receiving yards and even ran the ball once for a three-yard loss. Despite Week 4's performance being nothing special, quarterback Jared Goff isn't losing faith in his playmaker just yet.
"We would love to go to (Williams) as much as possible. He's as good a player as there is in this league, so I don't think this game was something different," Goff said in the postgame scrum, per ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "He was open on some (of the plays), he was covered on some of them. I made a poor decision on an interception... I saw it poorly and got pretty reckless. I thought Jamo did fine."
Lions QB Jared Goff Isn't Worried About WR Jameson Williams After Week 4
Goff went on to add that he isn't worried about Williams' mindset heading into Week 5, labeling the fourth-year WR as the "Steady Eddie" type. He also said that the Lions will "keep believing" in his abilities, which should serve as motivation for a bounce-back performance.
Williams put the NFL on notice in 2024 when he was finally healthy enough to showcase his upside, finishing with career highs in catches (58), receiving yards (1,001), and touchdowns (7) in 15 games. While he did enter Week 4 with an NFL-leading 21.8 yards per reception, he now only sits at 10 catches for 214 yards and one TD.
If nothing changes, Williams will be on pace for a 43-910-4 stat line in 17 games. That's far from a terrible projection, but it also isn't close to what Lions fans envisioned before the season began. Hopefully, Goff's unwavering faith in Williams is exactly what the 24-year-old speedster needs to start performing more consistently.
The Lions are visiting the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5, putting Williams in the perfect spot to get back on track. The Bengals' defense has been generous to opposing pass-catchers this season, and entered Week 4 with low rankings when it came to receiving yards per game (25th), yards per completion (22nd), and passing touchdowns per outing (T-26th).
If Williams successfully takes advantage of that matchup, Lions fans will have nothing to worry about. But if he doesn't, and he continues to make the most of his opportunities, Goff might have to start showing his WR more tough love rather than encouraging compliments.