After allowing 159 rushing yards on 29 attempts to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, here's what Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said about the run defense taking a step back during the game.
"When we say step back, is that total yardage we’re saying? Because, I believe when you looked at it, they rushed the ball 29 times, 155 yards, if I’m not mistaken. You look there, they popped one, I believe it was 19 yards, where we pressured and had a misfit on the interior of it," Sheppard said. "When they cut back, the center folded, which created a misfit extra gap and they hit us for 19 there.
"And then towards the end of the game around a four-minute situation, the ball hit on the edge where Rock (Ya-Sin) has pinned the hip 100 times but took a bad angle," Sheppard added. "That generated 24 yards. And then down in the red zone where my man (Blake) Corum scored, I believe that was probably 11 or 12 yards there."
Sheppard then said "you can't play this game of taking plays away", but that's just what he continued to do.
"Nobody, and I can stand on the table behind this, nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats or made us like the run game," said Sheppard. "They popped the explosive run here and there, that’d generate that big number. But that 24, 19-yarder, take that out alone, they’re standing at 4.0 a carry. Which around this league in the NFL, that’ll sit you right around the top-10, and right where you want to be."
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Sheppard was technically right about removing the Rams' longest runs (24, 19 and 11 yards) to get to the Lions to a better showing as a run defense. But as Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit revealed, 15 of Los Angeles' 29 carries went for at least six yards. But Sheppard seemingly left that part, which he was presumably aware of in a broad sense, out in order to bolster his argument.
Kelvin Sheppard has to eat his words after Steelers undress Lions' run defense
On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran for 230 yards on their way to beating the Lions and crushing their playoff chances. Two 45-yard touchdown runs by Jaylen Warren certainly skewed things a bit, but before his first touchdown run Pittsburgh had an even 100 yards on 20 carrries (5.0 yards per carry).
Take those two long touchdown runs by Warren out, and the Steelers had 140 yards on their other 25 rushes (5.6 yards per carry). Take out tight end Jonnu Smith's two carries for 28 yards as well, and they still averaged 4.9 yards per carry (112 yards on 23 attempts).
One game of struggles stopping the run could be an one-off anomaly, and easily fixed the following week. Two straight games is the root of a trend, so Sheppard cannot go back to the "take away x number of plays and it's ok" note to explain why what happened to the Lions' run defense on Sunday happened.