It’s not really worth sugarcoating. The Detroit Lions are off to a terrible start on defense.
Most of the problems have been in the secondary against the pass. But as the result of poor coverage, the Lions are near the bottom of the league in passing yards allowed, third-down conversion against and points yielded.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained to reporters Monday he is open to changes entering Week 3. The team already made one change, signing veteran defensive back Jalen Mills to their practice squad.
But one thing Campbell made clear Monday — he support defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
“I think that he understands and has a real good grasp of – look, there are so many things that we came into this year from last year that we wanted to do …” Campbell told the media Monday. “It’s not going to all happen overnight, but as long as we just tighten a few things up and play a little bit better and a little more sound, that’ll go a long way.”
Lions Must Improve Third Down Defense
In his answer defending Sheppard on Monday, Campbell provided a peak behind the curtain of the team’s overall defensive philosophy.
“One of the big boxes on that we wanted to check was being much more aggressive, first-and-10 to get them in second-and-7-plus. And I just said we’d lead the league in that,” said Campbell. “So, we’ve done the hard part here. And so, now we’ve got to clean up some of this. We got them in second-and-10, we got them in second-and-8. Now they’re in third-and-8, third-and-7.
“So, now it’s alright, now once we get them there, now what do we need to change? What do we need to do? What kind of packages do we need to run? And tighten up some of the players here on a few things.”
That was a roundabout way for Campbell to say the Lions defense has to stop more third downs. Campbell does see his defense getting the opposition to third-and-longs in a lot of cases this season. But then breakdowns in coverage are allow conversions.
With only Monday Night Football remaining in Week 2, the Lions sit at 30th across the league in third-down conversion percentage allowed. The New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills combined to go 17-for-29 (58.6%) on third down versus the Lions defense.
That’s not a recipe for success. But Campbell sees Sheppard finding the recipe after the unit makes some tweaks to its secondary.
“I believe he’s got a real good grasp of what offenses are trying to do; I think he’s got a good grasp of his own personnel,” Campbell said. “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.
“Then we’ll adjust a little bit. We’ll adjust and we’ll get this thing back to where we need to get it.”
Dan Campbell, Kelvin Sheppard Set to Face Aaron Glenn’s Jets in Week 3
Sheppard is trying to pick up the pieces on his defense as he prepares for his old boss.
The Lions will welcome the New York Jets to Ford Field on Sunday for Week 3. Former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is in his second season with the Jets.
Glenn served as Campbell’s first defensive coordinator in Detroit from 2021-24. During that time, Sheppard began his coaching career. First, he served as Detroit’s outside linebackers coach in 2021 and then linebackers coach from 2022-24.
Sheppard replaced Glenn as Lions defensive coordinator last season.
The Lions don’t appear to have the same strong defense this year as they did at the end of the Glenn era. But Detroit needs to get some of its players back, most notably defensive backs Brian Branch and Kaleb Joseph.
Campbell indicated Monday, though, that’s it’s going to be a little while longer before either safety returns. Also, defensive back Avonte Maddox suffered a season-ending injury.
Sheppard is going to have to find a way to improve the team’s pass defense and get more third-down stops.
Dan Campbell Fires Clear Message on Much-Maligned DC Kelvin Sheppard