The Detroit Lions made some much-needed adjustments on defense. While that wasn't enough to meet the standard, they managed to leave Week 3 with a big 31-24 win over Aaron Glenn's New York Jets.
Following two dreadful weeks, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard benched Rock Ya-Sin in favor of Roger McCreary. Both arrived this season, with the latter looking to be the first guy up at nickel, but Ya-Sin's struggles forced the team's hands to shake things up.
The Lions are now 2-1, but they clearly still have major issues to address on defense. And after watching Ya-Sin struggle in coverage and commit bad penalties again after being benched, things aren't looking good for him.
Lions should still consider trading for a cornerback
The Lions brought Rock Ya-Sin back for another season to provide some depth behind Terrion Arnold. Then, they were forced to throw him into the fire and start him opposite DJ Reed after Arnold's scandal and eventual release.
Despite the win, this was still an unacceptable defensive effort by Kelvin Sheppard's secondary. They allowed Geno Smith, of all people, to complete 31 of 37 passes for 321 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Things won't get much easier for Dan Campbell's team going forward. They will have to deal with the likes of Tetairoa McMillan, Michael Wilson, Christian Watson, and Justin Jefferson in the next month, and their secondary clearly isn't up to the standard.
This team shouldn't have had to resort to a late-game stop in overtime against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, and this game shouldn't have been as close as it was. As for Week 2, that was an absolute disaster of a performance against a true Super Bowl contender.
Ya-Sin's contract makes him a no-brainer expendable piece for this team if he doesn't get his act together any time soon. The benching must've been a wake-up call, though that didn't seem to be the case, given his erratic performance.
At the end of the day, team records can be misleading, and there was no excuse not to win at least two of the first three games if you're the Lions. That effort won't be good enough when they have to come against actual playoff-caliber opposition again.
General manager Brad Holmes doesn't sound too eager to make big moves, but something's got to give here. They've already singled him out as one of the weak links, so the next step should be pretty obvious.
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