Detroit Lions defense, Williams historic day extends winning streak to 3

NEW YORK – The Detroit Lions went to MetLife Stadium and stunned the New York Giants 31-18 for their third win in a row, thanks to their young defense and wily veteran Jamaal Williams, who had a historic day.

Jamaal Williams

Williams carried the ball 17 times for 64 yards and a career-high three touchdowns to help Detroit improve to 4-6 on the season while extending their road winning streak to two. His career high also set franchise records, passing Barry Sanders for most games with two or more rushing touchdowns in a season as he now has five.

Williams’ hat trick gave him the league-leading 12th touchdown on the season. It also set a franchise record through the Lions’ first 10 games of a season as he again passed Sanders (1991) and Billy Sims (1981), who both had nine.

“The production speaks for itself,” said head coach Dan Campbell. “Everything that you know and see is exactly who he is. He’s all emotion and all heart, and he’s just a steady, productive, hard, running hard, working, smart football player.”

The three-game streak is the first for the Lions since 2017. The victory also became the second consecutive road win in the Campbell era, which can be assessed to the revamped defense.

The Lions took a 10-6 halftime lead and held the high-powered Giants’ offense to 12 points in the second half. They also halted superstar running back and NFL-leading rusher Saquon Barkley who carried the ball 15 times for just 22 yards.

Lion cubs

Lion cubs Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph had the best rookie performances in New Jersey. Hutchinson finished the day with three tackles, one interception, one pass deflection, and one fumble recovery.

He is the only player (not rookie) in the NFL to accumulate three-plus sacks and three-plus takeaways so far during the 2022 season.

Joseph finished the day with three tackles, one interception, and one pass deflection as they forced Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to toss three interceptions in the matchup, which he hasn’t thrown since week three.

“Aidan’s got pretty good hands,” said quarterback Jared Goff. “He’s got two interceptions for a defensive lineman, and then Kerby is just so nosey as he just got a nose for the ball and has been that way and to kind of grasp it a little bit more now, you can see that showing up over the last few weeks. Those two guys together are turnover machines these last few weeks, and it’s been fun.”

Goff finished the day completing 17-of-26 passes for 165 yards with no turnovers or touchdowns in the matchup. The protection up front kept his crisp white uniform very clean as he didn’t take a sack Sunday (Nov. 20).

Goff’s favorite target Amon-Ra St. Brown caught seven receptions for 76 yards. He became the first player in franchise history to catch 50 or more passes in each of his first two seasons.

Detroit will look to keep the good times rolling as they’ll play host to the Buffalo Bills Thursday during their annual Thanksgiving Day game. Kick-off is 12:30 at Ford Field.

What chance do you give the Lions against the high-powered Buffalo Bills offense led by quarterback Josh Allen?