After the first loss the Detroit Lions suffered this season, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was rather adamant that things would change. Hutchinson just didn’t see the team continuing to do the same things hoping for better results.
The Lions don’t appear to be doing that on defense. Yet, the results are largely the same, and they’re not good.
In Week 4, the Lions allowed the Carolina Panthers to gain 445 yards with 318 passing yards. The Panthers also scored 32 points, becoming the third opponent to eclipse the 30-point mark versus the Detroit defense this season.
Clearly, it was another frustrating performance for the Lions defense. But after this loss, Hutchinson was more speechless than calling for anything different.
“I don’t know. Sometimes, it just flips. In my rookie year, we were 1-5, and it was looking like doomsday, and we rattled off nine straight or eight straight,” Hutchinson told reporters. “I don’t know what that was even. It’s just sometimes the ball rolls your way, you’re playing good football.
“Not to say it’s out of our hands. I don’t know. I can’t really give an answer right now.”
Lions Defense Struggles Again in Week 4
Unsurprising. Discouraging. Alarming. There are quite a few different ways one could define Hutchinson’s response to what needs to be fixed after Week 4.
Given that the Lions defense has played badly four weeks in a row, it’s not surprising Hutchinson doesn’t have the answers. If he knew the fixes, so would the team’s coaches, and the problems would be fixed by now.
Hutchinson’s loss for words could be discouraging, though, because it’s possible there are no fixes for the Lions. At least there aren’t any as the roster, particularly secondary, is currently constructed.
Perhaps things will be different when safety Brian Branch returns or some other personnel changes. For now, though, the Lions are what they are on defense, and it’s not very good.
In three of the first four games this season, the Lions have allowed at least 440 yards. The team’s secondary is yielding 304 passing yards per game, which is the highest mark for a Detroit defense ever.
What’s worse, the Lions are giving up 32 points per game.
Obviously, that’s not a recipe for success.
Hutchinson Supports Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard
With the Lions defense historically bad right now, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has become one of the biggest scapegoats for the team this season.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell mostly avoided any questions about Sheppard during his postgame press conference. However, Campbell also stressed that he would do what’s best for the team overall.
There’s no doubt, though, that Sheppard still has the support of his players. Hutchinson made that clear to reporters Sunday night.
“I’ve been with Shep for years now, man. As an assistant and now as a coordinator the past two years, man. I have the utmost faith in him,” Hutchinson added. “I think we have the utmost faith in him. We have to evolve as a defense, and we have to grow. Because we can’t keep putting our offense in these shootout-type games. It just puts stress on them.
“We just got to do better as a unit … We all support Shep fully. We gotta get a win next week.”
Aidan Hutchinson Was at a Loss for Words After Lions Latest Defensive Showing