The Detroit Lions spent the week hearing that a loss in Arizona could cost defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard his job. Instead, Detroit left State Farm Stadium with a 45-21 blowout, a 3-2 record and a bye week to sort through everything that happened Sunday.
There’s plenty to sort through. The defense looked like a different unit, Jared Goff threw three more touchdown passes and still hasn’t been intercepted, and a fifth-round rookie picked off a pass in his first career start. Here are five questions Lions fans are asking before Green Bay comes to Ford Field on Oct. 25.
Did Sunday’s win save Kelvin Sheppard’s job?
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
For now, it sure looks that way. Dan Campbell refused to discuss firing Sheppard before the game, and the defense gave him no reason to revisit it. After Arizona opened with a 14-play touchdown drive, the Cardinals went three-and-out on five straight possessions. They finished with 56 rushing yards, and Detroit sacked Jacoby Brissett five times.
The players made a point of crediting their coordinator. “Got to give all the credit to Shep; he gave us a game plan, and we trust him,” cornerback Roger McCreary told MLive. “There was a lot of outside noise after the Carolina week, but we trust our defensive coordinator.”
One good afternoon against a 1-4 team only goes so far. Brissett still threw for 292 yards, a chunk of it after the game was decided. Sheppard bought himself time, and the Packers game is his next real test.
Is more man coverage the fix for this secondary?
The Lions came into Sunday with the NFL’s worst pass defense, and Sheppard answered by letting his corners play more man. MLive noted Detroit had played man coverage only 15.6% of the time before this game.
McCreary said “we love playing man,” and he backed it up by tying Bryant Westbrook’s franchise record with six passes defended. Campbell called the coverage “sticky” and praised how disciplined the group was.
The grades are a little more complicated. D.J. Reed posted an 80.0 overall grade, according to PFF, after entering the week at 59.3. McCreary was targeted 18 times and allowed nine catches, which left him at 52.9 despite the record. Man coverage works when the pass rush gets home, and Detroit will need both against Green Bay.
Who is Keith Abney II, and does he keep starting?
Abney is a fifth-round rookie out of Arizona State, the 157th pick in April, and he’d been working at safety for only about 10 days. He made his first career start back in his college home state and intercepted Brissett on the final play of the first half. That made him the second-youngest Lion since the 1970 merger to record an interception.
“157, that’s been on my mind since I got drafted,” Abney told The Arizona Republic. According to PFF, he finished with a 59.9 overall grade and an 84.0 tackling grade, solid work for a rookie learning a position on the fly.
The catch is Brian Branch. Branch and center Cade Mays returned to practice Oct. 7, and the Packers game is the target for both. A healthy Branch starts. What Abney gave Detroit is a third safety it can trust, and this defense needed one.
How long will Devin White and Tom Kennedy be out?
White broke his forearm late in the first quarter. “I think Devin’s going to need surgery, broken forearm,” Campbell said, per Pro Football Talk. Trevor Nowaske and Malcolm Rodriguez picked up most of his snaps.
Kennedy’s news is worse. Campbell first described a knee sprain, but NFL Network reported Monday that Kennedy has an MCL injury that requires surgery and ends his season. He’d averaged 13.2 yards per punt return and 24.8 per kickoff return.
Amon-Ra St. Brown filled in on punts and ripped off a 31-yard return that set up a touchdown. Detroit probably doesn’t want its top receiver absorbing those hits all year, so a practice-squad option such as Dominic Lovett or Lawrence Keys could get a look after the bye.
Can Jahmyr Gibbs really chase LaDainian Tomlinson?
He’s on pace to get close. Gibbs piled up 207 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns Sunday, giving him nine total touchdowns through five games. Stretched over 17 games, that’s a pace of about 30, one shy of the 31 Tomlinson scored in 2006.
“Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I’m trying,” Gibbs said after the game when asked about the record.
He already owns one. His 58th career touchdown broke Barry Sanders’ mark for the most by a player before turning 25, and Gibbs doesn’t hit that birthday until March. The workload is the thing to watch. We noted last week that Gibbs was down nearly a yard per carry, and he answered with 151 yards on 25 carries in Arizona. Two weeks off should help.
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