Allen Park — In football, you’re not granted the ability to immediately correct a poor performance. You typically have to wait a week, or in the case of the Detroit Lions defense following last Thursday’s steamrolling at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, they’ve had to stew in their sloppiness for 10 days.
In the absence of demonstrable action, we’re left with the words of players and coaches. Words can’t heal the wound, but accountability can serve as a bandage to bridge the gap to the next game, where more meaningful redemption awaits.
As a first-year defensive coordinator, Kelvin Sheppard struggled with consistently being accountable for his unit’s shortcomings. The most glaring example — one that became a point of mockery with the fan base — was his shielding of Detroit’s run defense following a 41-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Even on the surface, it was ridiculous. The Rams had gouged the Lions on the ground a few days earlier, racking up 159 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries. To that point, the Week 15 effort was statistically the worst Detroit had performed against the run that season.
And the film offered no counter argument to the stat sheet. The Rams dominated, physically, en route to a lofty 64% efficiency that afternoon. Yet, when challenged about the showing, Sheppard was dismissive.
“You can’t play this game of taking plays away, but nobody — and I can stand on the table behind this — nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats,” Sheppard said. “They popped an explosive run here and there that’ll generate that big number, but that 24, 19 yarder, take that out alone, they’re standing at 4.0 a carry, which is — around this league in the NFL — that’ll sit you right around the top-10 and right where you want to be.”
OK, but I repeat, the Rams were 64% efficient on all of their runs that afternoon. For context, the Rams led the league in run efficiency last season at 50.4%. The next best was Chicago at 46.8%. Make no mistake about it, the ball was certainly run down the Lions throats that day.
On Thursday, Sheppard met with the media for the first time since the 2026 season started, offering the coordinator a chance to answer for the first two games, where his unit allowed 30 points after halftime against New Orleans and got lit up by Buffalo, who scored touchdowns on six of their first eight possessions.
Would Sheppard be dismissive or defiant after the disappointing start? Or would there be accountability, serving as a bandage to get us to Sunday’s matchup with the New York Jets?
Before he was even asked a question, Sheppard launched into an opening statement that stretched longer than seven minutes.