Through the first four weeks of the season, the Detroit Lions have had the worst defense in football by a significant margin. The mere fact that they're 2-2 and not 0-4 is a testament to their stacked offense and Drew Petzing's solid work.
After their heartbreaking loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Lions now rank dead last in total yards allowed per game (443.7), passing yards allowed per game (299.3), and scoring defense (31.7). They're 23rd in rushing yards allowed (117.3) and 31st in successful third-down conversion rate allowed (56.1 percent).
That's not sustainable. There's no way to win that way. However, instead of addressing the elephant in the room, head coach Dan Campbell refused to even talk about potentially parting ways with defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
Dan Campbell is sending the wrong message with his comments on the defense
“I’m not talking about all that,” Campbell said. “I’m talking about getting better right now with what we got and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to find a way to get better with what we got."
While he does have a valid point and the players must be better, he's also playing a dangerous game here. What about accountability? What about holding people responsible for their shortcomings? Wasn't that supposed to be part of his thing?
Either the Lions don't have good players and are well-coached, they have great players and are poorly coached, or everything's wrong. If that's the case, then either general manager Brad Holmes or Sheppard has to pay the price for this situation.
To be fair, Sheppard has been given a bad hand. He lost his two starting safeties to injury, the Lions didn't go defense in the first round, and they've put together one of the thinnest, most underwhelming cornerback rooms in the game. But then, if it's not on Sheppard, why not call out Holmes?
The Lions have already benched some guys like Rock Ya-Sin, so it's not like they're not trying, but whatever it is they're doing simply isn't working. It's not about throwing people under the bus, but this is odd for a guy who didn't hesitate to take play-calling duties off John Morton's hands last season.
This team feels off this season. Campbell has lost his aggressiveness and his fire during the game, and it's starting to feel like he's losing his grasp on the players. Maybe it's too early to talk about that, but that's just the type of vibe they give right now.
The offense has been one of the best in the game, but it's impossible to win at a high level when you can't get stops. How long until the offense calls out the defense and there's a rift in the locker room? And who could blame them?
The fact of the matter is that this team was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, and they don't look anything close to that right now. The defense is borderline amateur, and someone has to pay for that. Regardless of who's to blame, it'll ultimately fall on Dan Campbell's shoulders (and record).
Add us as a preferred source on Google