Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is absolutely digging in on his blitz calls, even as the team sits bottom 10 in the NFL in passing EPA per play allowed (+0.26) when sending extra rushers, according to Next Gen Stats. This isn’t just some sideline chatter either; the man went *fiery* during a Thursday news conference, declaring, “Those calls were the right calls. Those calls were the right calls. And I’ll leave it at that.” Talk about a mic drop, except the microphone was still live, and the stats are screaming something else.
“Those Calls Were the Right Calls” , The Disconnect Is Real
You saw it with your own eyes during the “Sunday Night Football” defeat to the Carolina Panthers. QB Bryce Young absolutely shredded the Lions’ blitz, completing 9-of-11 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. That’s not just a bad day; that’s getting carved up. When pressed on the clear disconnect between his calls and the execution on the field, especially from that Panthers game, the 38-year-old Sheppard clammed up, saying, “Those are private conversations that we have that I’m going to keep in-house.” He then doubled down again on his original statement: “Those calls were the right calls.” Listen, we all love a coach who sticks to his guns, but when your unit is getting torched like that, you gotta wonder if the guns are misfiring or if the bullets just aren’t hitting the target. RPOs also gashed the Lions in that 32-26 Panthers victory, where Young threw for a whopping 329 yards and a pair of scores. The defensive front, with Aidan Hutchinson and Tyleik Williams, has flashed potential, but the back seven? They’re struggling big time.
Poison, Perceptions, and Trust Issues
It’s not just blitzes that are a mess for Sheppard’s defense. Entering Week 5, this unit ranked second to last in the league in points per game allowed (31.8), barely “better” than the New Orleans Saints at 32. Right now, no NFL team is giving up more passing yards per game (304) than the Lions. Yikes. With a 2-2 record, Detroit is clearly being buoyed by five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jared Goff and an offense that’s absolutely stacked with talent. But don’t you dare suggest that to Sheppard. He shot down any notion of the offense carrying the team: “I can care less about perceptions. I can care less about the talk. It’s all poison. And I mean that. Every word of it’s poison. The praise is the big poison, though. It’s not the negativity… I think that’s ultra-disrespectful to my unit to say somebody has to carry us. We’re going to do our one-third here, hell or high water, point blank, period.” While that fire is admirable, the cold, hard facts say otherwise. The coaches themselves have even diagnosed a “trust issue” on that side of the ball, with guys “peaking” at other gaps instead of just doing their own job.
Fortunately for Detroit, they might get a boost with 2024 Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch expected back soon. But let’s be real, bringing back one player won’t magically fix a defensive dilemma that’s this deep. The Lions have a road game against the 1-3 Arizona Cardinals on tap, and if they want to stay above water, Sheppard’s defense has to figure out these “right calls” and get on the same page. The season is still early, but these are the kind of trends that can sink a team fast.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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