The Detroit Lions coordinators met with media on Thursday to discuss the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and look forward to Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.
Topics ranged from missing Sam LaPorta, why the defense loves Dan Campbell’s fourth-down aggression, and some thoughts on how to improve the return game on special teams.
Here are my six biggest takeaways:
Offensive coordinator John Morton
Third down struggles
After going just 3-of-13 against the Eagles on third down, the Lions now rank 27th in third-down conversion rate
for the season. Their 36.0% conversion rate is drastically down from last year’s topp-five figure of 47.6%.
Morton believes it’s mostly an execution problem where players are just not winning their one-on-ones enough.
“That was one of the biggest things we talked with the offense about, just dial in. Dial in your detail and your technique every snap, on third down especially,” Morton said. “Because even what you see in the first quarter might not be what you see in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. This guy might have a certain technique, he might do something different, he might have a different move. You’ve got to know that and be ready for it.”
Morton praised his players’ football intelligence and said there’s more they can do as a coaching staff, so he believes things wil turn around.
Life without Sam LaPorta
The Lions will be without All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta for at least the next three games, and his absence was certainly felt last week against the Eagles. When asked when they miss him the most, Morton couldn’t pick one thing.
“All the time. I mean he’s a hell of an all-around blocker, receiver, he can do it all,” Morton said.
Morton has not only accepted the challenge of replacing him in the game plan, but seemed legitimately excited about it.
“This gives everybody else some opportunities and then we have to be creative and that’s the fun part. We love that part gameplanning. I love this,” Morton said. “Trying to figure out things and trying to create mismatches here and there. So, we’ll have a bunch of different packages and looking forward to it. We’ll practice that today on third down. And even on first and second down, we’re putting guys in different spots.”
Recently, the Lions have leaned into more 11 personnel looks (three wide receivers, one tight end) and upped tight end Brock Wright’s playing time. However, Wright, Isaac TeSlaa, and Kalif Raymond combined for just two catches and 8 yards on eight target against the Eagles.
“Someone’s got to step up because that’s a big loss not having LaPorta, there’s no doubt,” Morton said.
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard
Why he LOVES the offense’s fourth down aggression
Many have wondered if the Lions should alter their fourth down aggression, seeing as the defense is playing better than the offense right now. The point being, pin the opponent back and let your defense try to make a play.
Sheppard sees it differently. He sees the offense’s aggression as a vote of confidence in the defense. They know that even if the offense fails and put the defense in a vulnerable position, they trust the defense to—as Sheppard worded—put out the fires.
“I love it. I absolutely love it, because that speaks volumes to me directly. Because our head coach believes no matter where I put this defense, they’re going to put the fire out,” Sheppard said. “So, I don’t care if Dan (Campbell) goes for it on every fourth down. It’s our job as defense to go out there and stand tall in that test. We’re the firefighters on this team.”
Secondary depth will allow competition to continue
The Lions’ secondary is starting to get healthy. Detroit is hopeful to get starting corner D.J. Reed back this week, while Terrion Arnold and Kerby Joseph seem to be nearing a return, as well. That will leave the Lions a bit overcrowded in the secondary, especially with reserves like Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin, and Thomas Harper playing well.
That’s obviously a good problem to have, and Sheppard is excited because it will allow in-team competition to continue. And he even suggested Ya-Sin could still have a role when everyone returns.
“In a lot of buildings in the NFL, competition stops after you break training camp. And that’s when you start to kind of see a level of complacent play, complacency throughout, and guys just thinking they come to work every day, ‘That’s my spot.’” Sheppard said. “And I mean, it’s human nature to, ‘It’s my spot, there’s no challenge, there’s nothing that can get me off this spot.’ But then when you start to look over your shoulder, ‘Oh wow. That guy played like that?’ A guy like Rock Ya-Sin. Should we just pull him off the field? And that’s something I asked the whole DB room, ‘Y’all tell me if you were doing what he’s done, should we just snatch him off the field?’”
We’re likely still a week away from decisions like that, although if Reed does return this week, it will be interesting to see how the Lions treat both Robertson and Ya-sin.
Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp
Note: We wrote a separate story about Fipp explaining the strategy of the fake punt here.
On improving the return game
Earlier this week, coach Dan Campbell said he thinks the return game could us a little boost after a lackluster game against the Eagles. Fipp defended Kalif Raymond when it comes to punt returns, reminding people that even a 1-yard gain is better than a fair catch, even if it drags down the team’s punt return average.
But Fipp did admit that he can do a better job schematically when it comes to the kickoff—a play he admits is both difficult to return and defend.
“Kickoff return, we’ve just got to keep swinging. It’s a tough play,” Fipp said. “I think the hardest part about the kickoff return play is it’s tough on both sides. You talk to a special teams coach and they’re like, ‘I feel like it’s so hard to cover but I also feel like it’s so hard to return the ball.’ So, we’ll just keep swinging. I mean we’ve had some good returns. I think our drive start’s not terrible when you look around the league on either side of that play. I think you always want more.”
It’s worth noting that the Lions offense’s average starting field position (in all situations, not just after kickoffs) is the 31.9-yard line, good for sixth-best in the NFL.
Kick it high or low in the wind?
In the past few weeks, the Lions have emphasized to kicker Jake Bates to try and keep the trajectory of his kicks a little higher, after two recent kicks were blocked. That strategy provided a conundrum this week, though. With windy conditions in Philadelphia, a higher kick is more impacted by the weather. So Bates faced a bit of a paradox: kick it low and drive it below the wind, or kick it high, risk the weather conditions, but avoid an Eagles line that has already blocked a few this year. Ultimately, they gambled on the higher kicks.
“The best thing you could do kicking in conditions like that is drive the ball, which then you’re talking about a little bit lower trajectory. So, for us in that game, that’s not the best thing that we could do, especially on this week,” Fipp said.
Bates was able to drill an important 54-yard kick in the fourth quarter, but he did miss an earlier extra point from 48 yards out. Fipp said it was just a mis-hit on the miss.
“He just missed the ball a little bit. He was just inside-out on it or off his toe—however you want to say it—and then it shoots off to the right just a little bit there,” Fipp said.
