Lions vs. Colts bold prediction: Jameson Williams sets career mark

The Detroit Lions are unstoppable right now. The Indianapolis Coltson the other hand are quite stoppable. On Sunday, we’ll see what happens when an unstoppable force meets a highly mobile object. Will it be another 50-point game? I’m not so sure. But what I am sure of is that the Lions will continue to see the success they had last week in the intermediate passing game.

Bold Prediction of the Week: Jameson Williams has a career-best 6+ receptions against the Colts

I never want to get ahead of myself because anything can happen every week in the NFL. But the Lions are pretty much indisputably the best team in the league right now, and the Colts are… not. They enter Weeks 5-6 with serious questions remaining over quarterback Anthony Richardson’s head despite reclaiming the starting quarterback spot last week.

We’re not here to talk about Richardson, though. The Colts have as many question marks on defense as they do at quarterback. They’ve been Swiss cheese all season, allowing the third-most rushing yards in the league with 1,574 so far this season (143 yards/game). They are similarly bad against the pass, allowing the fifth-most yards in the league so far. When you dig deeper, the numbers tell you it’s more a matter of coverage than tackling — the Colts are seventh-worst in the league in net yards allowed per carry. pass, with 6.7.

How does that translate to Jameson Williams? Last week, what stood out to me the most was not just that the Lions’ offense played well, but how they played well. Ben Johnson and Jared Goff continue to extend this offense deeper into the middle parts of the field, especially now that Tim Patrick is acclimated and Jamo is back from suspension. That translated to four receptions and 124 yards for Jamo in Week 11. This week, I expect that to continue, even if the Lions are playing from scratch.

One of the things we learned last week is that the Lions aren’t afraid to hurt their opponents’ feelings. They will throw the ball often even when they have more possessions. In fact, four of Jamo’s six scores — as well as his lone rush of the day — came in the second half when the Lions were up by at least four possessions against Jacksonville.

This week, if the Lions see a big lead, they will have even more incentive to throw the football. While the Colts look bad on paper against the run, they have gotten better of late. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner returned from a high ankle sprain in late October, and the Colts have since held two of their four opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground. If the Colts continue that momentum and the Lions have a lead, then Detroit will have no choice but to keep taking on the Colts in the passing game.

A lot has to go right for this to come together. The Lions need to take an early lead, Goff needs to find the same comfort in the middle of the field that he had last week, and the Colts D needs to put pressure on the Lions running game. If it does, though, expect the Lions to lean on Jamo to keep the chains moving, enough for him to finish with a career-high six or more receptions in Week 12.