The Detroit Lions' offense is doing so well that head coach Dan Campbell lightly lamented not scoring more efficiently in a game where 52 points and 645 yards of offense were put up. That was a not to an uptick in competition that's coming, but it says it all about where the Lions are right now.
Ben Johnson benefits from the talent the Lions have on offense, but he is also a top-notch play-caller who will occasionally dig into his bag of tricks to dial up something you've never quite seen. No one is perfect, but he's getting the most out of the talent he has at his disposal.
On a 54-yard reception against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs topped out at the sixth-fastest speed for a ball carrier in the NFL this season (21.8 MPH, according to Next Gen Stats). He also owns the third-fastest speed on that list, from his 70-yard touchdown run in Week 8.
Against Jacksonville, wide receiver Jameson Williams had a 64-yard touchdown reception as he caught a deep crossing route and outran the Jaguars' secondary. Williams has three registered speeds of over 20 mph this season, including 21.03 mph on a 36-yard catch back in Week 1.
During his session with reporters on Thursday, Johnson would not say publicly who he thinks is faster between Gibbs and Williams.
"Ooh," Johnson said. "Depends on who you ask. Yeah, I know where I’d put my money, but I’m not going to say that publicly."
Ben Johnson gives perfectly appropriate label (s) to Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams
The great John Madden once famously said, in so many words, that "a great quarterback is a great deodorant." As in, having a great quarterback can cover up a whole lot else that stinks on a football team.
The talent around the quarterback can have the same effect on a play-caller that might get into a little rut.
Johnson was asked how Williams opens up the playbook for him.
"Yeah, I think a great example was his touchdown there last week," Johnson said. "I’ve got this bad habit right now of calling that particular pass concept into Cover 2, and it’s usually a dead play when I do that, and he makes it work. So, no, I mean, there’s a number of things, and it’s certainly him, but there’s a number of other players, Gibby’s another one, where they are erasers, they’re fixers. If things aren’t quite right, they make it right and he is certainly giving us that element in the passing game and I think defenses take notice of that.”
Johnson might not call the ideal play against a certain coverage, or a matchup isn't favorable based on his play call. But Williams and Gibbs, with their unique speed to put defenders at a disadvantage, can (and surely often do) make it right. "Erasers or "fixers", both labels fit Williams and Gibbs as unique pieces of one of the league's best offenses.