The Detroit Lions defense is a major problem. I could use the next 500 words to lay out all the data to support that statement, but you all have eyeballs. You saw what happened in the second half against the New Orleans Saints. You witnessed Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills move through the Lions’ defense like a knife through butter…. melted butter.
The good news is that it’s early in the season, and there is plenty of time to make adjustments, change personnel, or do whatever it takes to get this
defense on track to… not be the worst defense in the NFL.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
What is the first thing you’d do to fix the Lions defense?
My answer: I’m going to address the obvious up top, because I assume this is going to be a popular answer: the Lions won’t and shouldn’t fire defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard right now.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Sheppard is largely to blame for the unit’s struggles right now and his seat should be, at least, heating up. I’ll go more into that in a second. But as coach Dan Campbell pointed out on Monday before the game, Detroit didn’t have any time to make any serious corrections from Week 1 on a short week. You have to at least give Sheppard the chance to go over the tape, come up with some solutions, and try to implement those over the next couple weeks. How Detroit started the season is absolutely unacceptable, and that’s why Sheppard’s seat should be warm, but not giving him the opportunity to adjust and adapt is silly. That’s what the first month of the season is all about. And that’s not even touching the topic of who else on staff is even capable of taking over.
But let’s put that aside and go with my proposed solution: simplify everything.
This offseason, Sheppard and company went out and made some significant changes to the scheme. While the overall principles are the same, Sheppard added a lot of window dressing. Defensive lineman are stunting and stemming a lot more. The back end is disguising their coverages with inverted looks and a much healthier mix of man and zone. Defensive linemen are regularly dropping into coverage, and defensive backs are blitzing the quarterback and extremely high rates.
On the surface, those sort of changes were welcomed. The Lions defense was stale and passive last year. Changes needed to be made, and I was excited to see how it all played out. After all, it was a promising training camp for that unit.
But through two weeks, it’s clear these players are not currently capable of running this much flash and flare. They are few reasons for that. Maybe they’re not understanding basic principles. Maybe it’s just too much on their plate. Or maybe it’s just not being taught well enough.
It would be one thing if it was one player or one unit that was making the mental mistakes. But it’s everyone. Trusted veterans like Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox are making poor reads. Jack Campbell—who is this defense—is off to a miserable start. Aidan Hutchinson is jumping into the wrong gaps. When literally everyone is making mental errors, you’ve overloaded them—forcing them to play slow and reactive rather than fast and proactive.
Overthinking is a death sentence on defense, and so it’s on Sheppard to pare this thing down considerably. Give the secondary simpler rules and keys to deal with. Allow the defensive linemen to hone in on the things they do well, rather than focusing on trying to confuse quarterbacks with endless combinations.
Maybe later in the season when some of the basics are set Detroit can expand upon what they do best, but it’s clear they’re too occupied mentally to perform well right now.
What are your best ideas to fix the Lions defense? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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