Despite the regression of the Lions defense under Kelvin Sheppard, head coach Dan Campbell signaled his support for his first-year defensive coordinator this week.
“‘Shep’ has really grown this year,” Campbell said (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “I think with any first-time coordinator, first-time coach, you go through a lot and you learn along the way.”
Sheppard had a tough task this year. Aaron Glenn left some big shoes to fill when he departed for New York, and Detroit’s defense has been decimated by injuries over the past few months. The secondary has been particularly devastated, with star safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph and cornerbacks D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold, and Ennis Rakestraw all spending time on injured reserve. Branch, Joseph, Arnold, and Rakestraw all saw their seasons end early and were not available down the stretch as the Lions lost four of their last five games and missed the playoffs.
“There’s always going to be things that you learn from this job, but I like Shep,” Campbell added.
Campbell also offered some words of support for quarterback Jared Goff after a rough performance against the Vikings in Week 17 contributed to the Lions’ elimination from postseason contention.
“We’re fortunate to have him as a quarterback,” Campbell said. “He’s a winning quarterback in this league. He played at a very high level all season long. He played even better than he played the year before, and he’s continued to play better.”
Statistically, Goff may have slightly regressed from last year, but he still led the Lions to the third-most points and the sixth-most yards in the league. Among qualified quarterbacks, he ranked second in touchdowns (33), third in yards (4,233) and passer rating (107.0), fourth in interception rate (1.3%), fifth in completion percentage (68.3%), and eighth in yards per attempt (7.9). This all happened after the departure of Ben Johnson, one of the league’s foremost offensive minds who built the Lions elite offense practically from the ground up.
In other words, Goff is still producing like a top-10 quarterback and is “going nowhere,” per Campbell.
The Lions will figure it out. They’ll make some changes on the coaching staff (OC) and the roster. Still lots and lots of talent on that team. My prediction: The Lions go for it and swing a deal with Vegas for Crosby. They’ll worry about future extensions for players like Campbell and Laporta salary cap issues when the time comes. But in 2026 they go all in and Crosby is a big part of that.
Goff was great when he had a dominant OL and never even had to check left/right for pressure. Or when he had that dominant OL that could maul their way forward on a critical 3rd and 1, or goal line situation, or when he had LaPorta as an safety net.
Now takeaway some of those OL and LaPorta, and takeaway Ben Johnson and we saw what happened. Maybe they were good on paper, but second half of the season I don’t think many defenses feared them. Goff’s reputation early on was that he could get rattled easy, and I saw more of that this year. Last 2 seasons he was ice cold, but not this year. His play in that Philly game was a total disaster. To get back to the top, they’ll need that OL again and a much better D. Won’t be easy in a tough division.