At long last, the Dallas Cowboys were set to debut recently acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team recently (seemingly) outbid the Detroit Lions for his services, with their defense looking just as worse for wear as Detroit's to begin this season.
And then - Porter Jr. was ruled out. Illness was the cause given, with plenty of footage showing him with a trainer, and a trash can as a bucket. You can do the math.
No matter. The Cowboys were facing UDFA quarterback Jalon Daniels - surely they could take down a then-winless Buccaneers team without Porter Jr.'s services.
Except...as Lions fans can likely attest to, Porter Jr. wouldn't have really made much of a difference in the embarrassment that followed Dallas' defense in their primetime loss. They allowed Daniels to pass for 189 and a touchdown en route to a 110.2 passer rating on the evening. They had opportunities to capitalize on poor passes from Daniels, and didn't. Penalties killed them, and they also couldn't stop the run. Overall, it was a mess.
And, it was a great example of a hard truth that Lions fans are coming to accept about their defense this year: no one move can solve what's obviously a massive personnel problem, and a massive coaching problem.
Lions need to take note from Cowboys after their own primetime embarrassment
Detroit is learning the hard way that you can't bargain shop your way to a decent defense. That's been made crystal clear by the way Rock Ya-Sin, Christian Izien, Thomas Harper, Chuck Clark, Devin White, and somewhat Roger McCreary have been non-factors this season. You could argue they've been beyond non-impactful, and simply detrimental to the defense.
Now, they have to scramble. Porter Jr. is no longer on the market, but Brian Branch is returning soon. Still, that only addresses one of two starting safety spots, leaving one to be filled - and not by Kerby Joseph. Then, you have D.J. Reed in need of major help in the secondary, as the veteran corner is struggling mightily in coverage this season.
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Detroit is 32nd in passing yards allowed per game, while Dallas is 32nd in rushing yards allowed per game. They're both scrambling for a solution, but neither seem primed for the challenge of actually adressing their roster issues, or their obvious weaknesses at DC.
The Lions are staring down the need for another starting safety, two starting cornerbacks, and decent reinforcements behind them. That's a nearly-entire roster overhaul in the middle of the season - which is to say, likely an impossible task.
Then you have the issue of Kelvin Sheppard. The defensive coordinator has taken flack for doing a poor job of masking the Lions defense's issues, and he doesn't seem all that open to criticism on that front. He just doesn't seem like the person for the job at hand, but in some small defense of him, could anyone squeeze a good defense out of this unit?
This is going to be an issue for the Lions for a few seasons, and not just in 2026. It will out-live Sheppard's tenure as DC, and haunt the next unfortunate soul who is tasked with calling plays for an aging, middling roster. One cornerback trade is not going to cut it, which is a reality that the Cowboys are currently set to live out.
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