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Five things to watch as Lions face winless Panthers; also my prediction

Injury list is long; Branch is out, St. Brown doubtful

Riding a two-game win streak, coach Dan Campbell wants his Lions to stay humble and hungry as they face the Carolina Panthers, a team still looking for its first win.

Detroit (3-1) is coming off another big road win at Green Bay while the Panthers lost their fourth straight, 21-13, against the Vikings.

For the Lions, it’s all about focus and not riding the roller-coaster.

“There’ll be teams that will rise, there’ll be teams that’ll fall, but as long as we just handle our business each week, no different than what we did. We went out to Green Bay and we looked like a hungry team, we looked focused on the details, we played together, we played violent and we made the plays that were there,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “We played complementary football and I think as long as we keep that as the focus and not about who you’re playing, who do they have up, what are the injuries, what is the weather, what – forget that, man. This is another opponent who’s dying for a win.’’

The Lions still have bad memories of last season when the Panthers beat them, 37-23, on Dec. 24 to snap a three-game win streak and put a dent in their playoff chances.

Five things to watch:

1. The Lions’ defense ranks first in the NFL at stopping the run, allowing just 243 rushing yards in four games. That must continue against the Panthers’ running backs Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard. “It goes back to last year where we had a huge emphasis on stopping the run. We truly believe that you stop the run, you make a team one-dimensional, you’ve kind of got a stop on them,’’ linebacker Derrick Barnes said. “… That’s been the main focus and we’re doing a better job this year than last year.’’

2. While Jared Goff’s streak of 383 throws without an interception was exceptional, it was not going to last. Now he’s thrown one interception in each of the last three games. There is no panic. Following each pick, he’s come back with a touchdown drive on the next play. “Nobody wants those (interceptions), we don’t but I don’t feel like he’s pressing. He’ll tell you, he made an error, made a mistake. He’s falling away in the pocket and makes an ill-advised throw, his eyes are on the receiver and best part about it was he didn’t get frazzled,’’ Campbell said. “… But what I want more than anything is I don’t want him to go into a shell or start panicking. And he’s not …” Goff has completed 69.5 percent of his passes with six touchdowns.

3. Continue to press the quarterback. The Lions defense has 13 sacks in four games – 12 of them in the last two games. Campbell said it’s another lesson of what happens when everyone does his job and stays unselfish. “And it’s really everybody’s in on it. And we’re getting a lot of production and the more we get inside like out of (Alim McNeill) Mac for example, the more you really see Hutch (Aidan Hutchinson) shine. It’s taking stress off of some of these other guys and vice versa,’’ the coach said. “You see Charles (Harris), you see Barnes, you see Alex (Anzalone), you see (Jack) Campbell, so they’re all playing off of each other, but they’re all doing their job and it’s important.”

4. Don’t expect miracles from wide receiver Jameson Williams. Fans are hungry to see what the speedster adds to this offense. First of all, there’s a chance he might be inactive depending on how he practiced this week. Also, he will be eased into the offense.He played just six games last season and one preseason game this year before he pulled a hamstring and was sidelined until his suspension kicked in. “We know our offense and putting him back in the mix, how much further we can go,’’ said Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El. “I always make sure everyone understands the humbleness part of it. It’s not that he’s the fix-all, be-all. But he brings a different element that us and many other teams don’t have in terms of speed and the way he runs down the field.’’

5. Even though the Panthers (0-4) are winless, the Lions can not go on cruise control and expect to win the game. Detroit is a 9-point favorite but that doesn’t mean much either. “Look, we talk about it all the time and we’ve lived it. We’ve been there, we know what that’s like. There’s enough of us who’ve been here and know what it’s like when you’re trying to find that win. You’ve lost a few and you’re doing everything you can as players and as coaches to find a way to get that first one. So, we expect their best shot,’’ Campbell said. “Those guys are over there preparing. … And we’re in a race to improve with everybody in this League, and the ones who can improve the fastest are the ones that begin to make a rise in October. So, it goes without saying if you don’t show up and you play sloppy football, you turn the ball over, you don’t get takeaways, you’re not where you’re supposed to be, your odds of losing go way up.”

INJURY UPDATE

The Lions will be missing CB Brian Branch (ankle) and FB Jason Cabinda (knee). WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, who injured his abdomen in the Packers’ win, is ranked as doubtful along with TE James Mitchell (hamstring).

RB Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) appeared on the injury report for the first time this week on Friday. He’s listed as questionable along with Taylor Decker, WR Josh Reynolds, S Kerby Joseph, LB Julian Okwara and G Halapoultivaati Vaitai. CB Emmanuel Moseley (knee/hamstring) is expected to make his LIons’ debut in some capacity.

PREDICTION: Lions 31, Panthers 13. The Lions’ defense is playing too well for the Panthers to pull another upset.

Lions’ Dan Campbell tempers expectations as Jameson Williams returns

ALLEN PARK — Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams is back to work this week after his six-game NFL game suspension was shortened to four weeks.

Williams, a first-round pick in 2022, was limited to six games last season due to injury and finished with nine targets, and one amazing 41-yard reception for a touchdown. He ran a reverse 40 yards against the Bears. That’s it.

Coach Dan Campbell is not looking to make up for lost time with Williams who played in one preseason game with seven targets and two catches for 36 yards in August. He struggled with catching the ball during much of training camp and injured his hamstring in an Aug. 17 practice which sidelined him until his suspension started.

The way Campbell operates, once players get on the field, a first-round pick and undrafted player have the same chance to succeed. That won’t change with Williams. Campbell’s expectations seem basic.

“Reliability, dependability, get lined up, know where you’re supposed to be, we’re going to get the depth out of you, we can count on you to be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and that’s it,’’ Campbell said on Monday.

“I’m not looking for yards, I’m not looking for explosives, not looking for touchdowns, just be a reliable receiver like any of those guys in the room. That’s it. To me that’s a good year. Because we’re about winning it’s not about one player that will help us win.’’

Monday was Williams’ first day back. Tuesday the team will have a full practice in preparation to play the Carolina Panthers at Ford Field on Sunday.

“We’ve just got to see where he’s at with football. This will be his first week back, we’ll take every day and see how he does,’’ Campbell said.

No guarantee on how much he will play or even if he will play Sunday. Depends on practice this week.

“He just needs to come in, I’m not worried about him working, he will. It’s just about polishing all the little things. We also know if he does play, he can’t play 60 plays, that’s not smart, we can’t do that to him,’’ Campbell said. “So we’ll see where it goes, it’s all about improvement, no different than the rest of the team. Every week we’ve just got to get a little bit better. He needs to get a little bit better and we’ll take it from there.’’

So far with the Lions 3-1 record, the offense is sailing without Williams. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown leads with 26 catches for 331 yards and two touchdowns, while rookie tight end Sam LaPorta has 22 catches for 242 yards and a TD. Josh Reynolds had broken through with a dozen receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s not like Williams has really been missed. His speed makes him a natural downfield target but he’s not the only one on the roster with that ability.

“I think what we’ve done a really good job of in these four weeks, we are by committee, we have production. It’s taken all of us,’’ Campbell said. “That O-line is important and our skill guys (are) stepping up, that’s from tight ends to backs to receivers.’’

From Campbell’s perspective everyone has a job to do and those who find success will find the ball coming their way more often.

“Your number will be called at a certain time, we’re not one guy’s carrying a load, that’s not how we work. Certainly we have players that we depend on on that side of the ball that have come up big for us, you know who they are,’’ the coach added.

Detroit Lions prove that grit, belief and hunger is winning combination

Campbell: We’re still the hunters, not the hunted

Grit may be the motto, but believing is a major reason the Detroit Lions have jumped out to a 3-1 start.

“I don’t care how talented you are, if you don’t believe you can win games and you don’t believe the coaches can put you in position to win games or you don’t believe the guy next to you is going to do his job, it doesn’t matter. You’ll struggle to win and you’ll always have doubt,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Friday, the day after the Lions crushed the Packers, 34-20, at Green Bay.

“This team believes, this staff believes. We know we can go into any and every game and we’re going to have a chance to win it as long as we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot,’’ Campbell added.

For starters, they dominate on the offensive and defensive lines. They’re getting contributions across the board including from rookies. Are they perfect? Absolutely not.

“Something else we’re doing well right now, we’re making some errors, but we’re able to overcome those right now and that’s a sign of a good team,’’ Campbell said. “You win back-to-back wins, you can overcome some of your own errors, you can win on the road, those are signs of a good team.’’

All seems to be going well for Campbell’s bunch and another big reason is that he wants violent, physical play and he’s getting it.

The Lions will open as favorites against Carolina on Oct. 8 and it looks like it could continue that way down the stretch. They may have invisible targets on their jerseys but Campbell doesn’t see it that way.

“Our focus has still got to be we’re not hunted, we’re still on the hunt. I said this back in training camp, if you’re hunting us you don’t have to look far, we’ll be on your front porch when you open the door,’’ Campbell said.

After the 34-20 win at Green Bay on Thursday night, the Lions are alone atop the NFC North at 3-1.

“We still have a lot to prove. We want to win this division, we’ve done nothing yet. We’re on course, we like where we’re at. We’re still hungry, we have to approach every game that way no different than last night,’’ the coach said.

He was asked when he’ll be able to let himself dream about how good this team can be.

“I’m not going there. We’ve got our standards and we have our own goals, it started that way it’s always going to be the focus,’’ Campbell said. “You have to look at each game individually.’’

Campbell is more a hunter than a dreamer. That’s exactly what he needs to see from his team for the next 13 games.

UP NEXT: Carolina Panthers (0-3) at Lions (3-1), 1 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Ford Field.)