Kelvin Sheppard came away from his offseason self-scout of the Detroit Lions defense determined to give up fewer big plays, but two games into the year that’s exactly what has ailed his unit most.
Sheppard said Thursday, Sept. 24, the Lions have allowed 23 explosive plays in their first two games and that 75% of those gains were a product of their own mistakes.
“We failed in that category up to this point, and that starts with me,” Sheppard said in Allen Park. “In Week 1, I believe we had three explosive runs, eight pass, and that kind of flipped in Week 2 to eight run, four pass. And you can say, ‘You nutted up the run and then on four or five plays, what happened?’ Well, no, no, no. That is the single-hand demise to this defense right now that's
trickling to the team’s kind of overall success.”
The Lions played 2½ good quarters of defensive football to start the season, forcing five punts and three turnovers in their first eight possessions of a Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints, but have allowed 71 points in their past 88 minutes of game action.
They’ve given up a league-high 10 pass plays of 20-plus yards, have the highest explosive run rate allowed (defined as gains of 12 or more yards) at 14.8% and have surrendered touchdowns on 10 of their past 14 non-kneel-down defensive possessions.
“I'm first to say it,” Sheppard said. “[I played] for 8 years and I laced up my cleats. A guy may make a play on you. But what we can’t allow is just the sirens that go off and guys screaming down the middle of our defense uncovered. Blown assignment here, misfit there. Can't happen. This league is hard enough. We can't help the opposition by doing things that benefit them.”
Sheppard declined to say what he believes is the root of the Lions’ many blown assignments or offer any concrete solutions on how to fix it.
“That's things that I won't share publicly,” he said.
But he said players and coaches had an honest and transparent film session when they returned from their long weekend off following last week’s Thursday night loss to the Buffalo Bills to review every explosive play.
“It was very healthy,” Sheppard said. “Like I said, it wasn't coach Shep being honest. It was more so in that meeting the players being honest. Because outright, they were forced to. ‘No, I want to hear you. You tell me.’ Because that's the only way at the point to get the answer.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday that trust appeared to be an issue for some players on defense and some changes could be in store for this week’s game against the New York Jets.
Cornerback D.J. Reed indicated the many players and personnel packages the Lions use to account for the absences of safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch were a contributing factor in the secondary’s communication problems against the Bills.
Sheppard acknowledged there has been a disconnect between what coaches have taught in practice and what players have done on the field in games.
“There's a gap that needs to be bridged and that just comes down to understanding in-game when something moves, don't panic,” he said. “We have an answer for that.”
But he disputed the notion the Lions need to scale back things defensively, while also hinting that could happen.
“I don't think there's a lot going on,” he said. “It's not like it's something we're asking them to do that hasn't already been done. So now, it's up to me, ‘OK, do you pull back?’ But then you pull back so much, you're a sitting duck. That’s what we've been, I feel like, at times in the past. So trying to have variety, trying to change the picture for the quarterback is very important in this league. And trying to have guys understand how important that is, but not to the detriment that we're letting off 23 explosives in the first two weeks. So that's been kind of the fine balance.”
The Jets (1-1) rank near the bottom of the NFL in yards per play but lead the league in time of possession and have yet to turn the ball over this year under veteran quarterback Geno Smith.
Sheppard said his defense needs to get back to its roots of stopping the run and forcing turnovers and that will help limit big plays.
“I have belief in this defense because I've seen it,” Sheppard said. “But it's one thing to see it [in practice], it's another thing to see it at Ford Field or when we go on the road. So again, everything's about closing and bridging this gap.”
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: Big plays forced honest film session with Kelvin Sheppard and Lions defense
