Whatever is to blame, from lack of proper offseason moves to help things to a scheme which leaves a lot to desired on many fronts, the Detroit Lions have what just may be a set of unfixable issues on the defensive side of the ball right now.
General manager Brad Holmes also doesn't seem compelled to try to do much anything to fix the issue in the Lions' secondary during the season. That has been further proven by Monday's move to bring veteran safety Jalen Mills back to the practice squad, while the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in and signed cornerback Kenny Moore on Tuesday.
The pickings are obviously slim now that we're into the season. But it must be nice to have a general manager who doesn't offer flimsy excuses for making minimal effort to fix roster holes. The Lions had reported interest in Moore, but apparently said "no thanks" for whatever reason.
Of course beyond the lackluster talent that's in place, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is under the microscope heading into Week 3 against the New York Jets. What kind of adjustments will he make? It's not a stretch to say he'll have the defensive play-calling taken from him if the results don't get better soon.
Lions' favored defensive scheme through two weeks could be bad news against the Jets
The easy perception of the Lions as one of the more man coverage-heavy defenses in the NFL, which they have been in recent years, has taken a hit early this season.
Per Football Insights, citing data from Fantasy Points, the Lions have deployed some kind of zone coverage at a 76.2 percent rate through two weeks. Within that, they have used Cover 3 at the fifth-highest rate in the league (46.5 percent).
Turns out the Jets just need reasonably viable quarterback play to have a better-functioning offense than they've had in years. Geno Smith is not a high-end signal caller, but as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback in 2022, 2023 and 2024 he threw for 320, 328 and 395 yards in starts against the Lions. Aaron Glenn simply, and fairly inexplicably, had no answers for him and a solid set of wide receivers.
READ MORE: Chuck Clark just got a lot more important for Lions' defense amid injury news
This year's Jets have seen Adonai Mitchell join Garrett Wilson as a viable threat at wide receiver. Per Pro Football Focus' charting, Smith as at least 91.1 passer rating throwing to seven of the nine areas of the field beyond the line of scrimmage through two games.
To what baseball people would call his "arm side", or the defense's left, Smith has gone 12-for-14 on passes short (0-10 yards), intermediate (11-19 yards) and deep (20-plus yards). Across the field 10 or less yards downfield, Smith has completed 27 out of 33 passes.
With the issues the Lions have had in coverage through two games, man-to-man or clearly in zone, Smith might be sitting on another big game against them on Sunday. Adjusting toward more man coverage may not be very helpful either.
Sheppard may simply have no viable answers in Week 3, and this time it won't because his defense is facing one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. It'll simply be a bad matchup against a quarterback who has history of dicing up the Lions, with two wide receivers who can overwhelm a secondary that'll be overwhelmed every week until further notice.
Add us as a preferred source on Google