The numbers are ugly. The Detroit Lions rank at or near the bottom of the NFL in most defensive categories.
But two games into the season, coach Dan Campbell hasn’t lost any faith in second-year defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard’s ability to do his job.
“I believe in Sheppard,” Campbell said Monday, Sept. 21. “I believe he's an outstanding coach. There’s a bump in the road. I think this staff is outstanding, that defensive staff. I think it's a veteran staff and I think they're versatile and we got to coach better and they can coach better. I can coach better. But I believe they're the right guys to get this thing done.”
The Lions rank 31st in the NFL in passing and total defense, are last
in the league in defensive EPA and have allowed first downs on a whopping 40.6% of their defensive plays (63 in 155 snaps) this year.
They’ve given up 71 points in two games, their most to start a season since 2021 – Campbell's first season – and Campbell’s unprompted vote of confidence for Sheppard on Monday came when he was asked about the last Lions defensive coordinator whose unit sunk to such depths.
In 2021, Aaron Glenn oversaw a Lions defense that gave up 76 points in its first two games and got only incrementally better over the course of the year. The Lions finished that season 31st in scoring defense, 29th in yards allowed and last in yards per pass.
Campbell changed offensive coordinators midway through that first year but never wavered in his faith in Glenn, and his loyalty was rewarded two years later when the Lions made the NFC championship game.
Sheppard served as outside linebackers coach on Glenn’s first staff and was Campbell’s hand-picked choice to take over as coordinator when Glenn left to become coach of the New York Jets in 2025.
And while comparing the two is hardly apples-to-apples – Glenn took over a unit devoid of talent and was in the first year of a defensive scheme change; Sheppard’s defense has plenty of talent deficiencies, but also Pro Bowl players such as defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and linebacker Jack Campbell – it’s fitting the Lions’ latest defensive struggles and Campbell’s defense of his young coordinator come as Glenn brings his new team to town.
The Lions host the Jets on Sunday, Sept. 28 (1 p.m., Fox), at Ford Field in a battle of 1-1 teams.
Campbell explained Monday that he stuck with Glenn through tough times early in their days together in Detroit because Glenn was competent, a good communicator and had the command and confidence of his players and staff.
“All of those are checked boxes,” Campbell said.
Sheppard, Campbell said, checks similar boxes even though his unit has been torched for 71 points in its last 88 minutes of game action and finished 22nd in points allowed last year.
The Lions gave up 30 points in the second half and overtime of a Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints and allowed 446 yards of offense in last week’s 41-31 beatdown by the Buffalo Bills.
They’ve allowed 10 touchdowns and one field goal and forced two punts on their last 15 defensive possessions; the Saints also had a missed field goal in that span, and the Bills took a knee to end last week’s game.
“He’s got a real good grasp of what offenses are trying to do,” Campbell said. “I think he's got a good grasp of his own personnel. I think he's doing a lot of the way we want to play here. And you know what? It didn't work the other night and we didn't coach it up good enough. And then we'll adjust a little bit. We'll adjust and we'll get this thing back to where we need to get it. “
Sheppard won’t be able to fix the Lions’ defense overnight, though playing Glenn’s Jets – who rank 14th in the NFL at 326 yards a game – this week should help.
The Lions need to do a better job limiting explosive plays and getting off the field. They’ve allowed an NFL-worst 13 plays of at least 20 yards this year and conversions on 17 of 29 third downs (plus two more on two fourth-down attempts).
But as incompetent as some of those numbers sound, Campbell said the defense is doing some things well.
The Lions notched three takeaways in their opener against the Saints and have forced teams into second-and-7-or-longer situations 35 times on 75 first-down plays run this year. That’s not best in the league, like Campbell suggested Monday, but it’s in the top half and that was a point of emphasis this offseason.
Campbell said the defense just needs to “tighten a few things up and play a little bit better and a little more sound,” and if it does, “that'll go a long way” towards fixing things.
He made it clear Sheppard’s job isn’t in any immediate jeopardy, but Sheppard’s defense doesn’t get things turned around soon, the Lions’ season certainly is.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions' Dan Campbell reiterates faith in DC Kelvin Sheppard
