Nolan Bianchi and Richard Silva preview Lions’ game against the Los Angeles Rams
The visiting Lions are 5.5-point underdogs against the L.A. Rams on Sunday.
Allen Park — Even if All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph gets healthy in time to play Sunday, the Lions will still be shorthanded following season-ending losses of cornerback Terrion Arnold (shoulder) and safety Brian Branch (Achilles). Safety Thomas Harper (concussion) is back at practice and could be trending toward playing, but in any case, the Lions’ secondary depth will be tested.
As it pertains to Branch, who sustained his injury in Detroit’s last game, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said there won’t be many schematic adjustments to make up for his absence. Avonte Maddox played 80 snaps in place of Harper last week and was arguably the best defender on the field.
Sheppard challenged Maddox to once again rise to the occasion against a Rams passing offense that ranks third league-wide (249.2 yards per game).
“Avonte Maddox, a local Detroit kid (King High), played absolutely lights-out,” Sheppard said. “Like, you take away the jersey number, you take away all that stuff, and you show me that performance from the safety position, that is winning football, and we can win with that type of performance.
“I don’t see us changing anything that we do schematically, really. Having trusted guys like Avonte allows me to do that, so I do want to give him a lot of love and credit here. Because I know the first thing people are saying, ‘Are you going to have to change up the way you play because BB used to do this, BB used to do that?’
“Now, it’s the next man up. And I hope that Avonte’s hearing this interview right now, and guys doubting or asking if I got to change my scheme, and him going out and proving why I don’t.”
The Lions face a stiff challenge in quarterback Matthew Stafford and his band of weapons at receiver and running back. Sheppard knows Stafford well; not only did the two play together during Sheppard’s one season in Detroit as a player (2018), but Sheppard, who went to LSU, also remembers Stafford from his Georgia days.
Sheppard’s Tigers played Stafford’s Georgia team in 2008, when Stafford and the Bulldogs offense “beat the brakes off of us,” 52-38. Stafford threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns in the win, and Sheppard learned a valuable lesson that he’s passing down to his team this week: His eyes lie.
“I tell the guys in zone coverage, don’t trust his eyes. Because he’s going to lie to you. Do not trust his eyes,” Sheppard said.
Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone doubled down on Sheppard’s comments, saying he needs to be cognizant of every receiver’s route to ensure Stafford doesn’t have any windows to hit open receivers.
“You can’t really go off where he’s looking, because he’s smart enough to process zone droppers. … You kind of have to take a peek at what routes are opposed to you, as opposed to some other quarterbacks, who are clearly going through progressions,” Anzalone said.
‘CFL football’
Given how the Rams have run through their schedule this year, it should not be a surprise that they do pretty much everything well on both sides of the ball, and that especially holds true on defense. They rush the passer (tied-sixth in sacks), they stop the run (tied-fourth in Expected Points Added per rush), and they play sticky coverage (tied-seventh in average separation).
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said the Rams “apply pressure” in the sense that they try to dictate the terms of engagement. While the Lions will certainly try to be the aggressor against L.A., Morton predicted that it could be a dink-and-dunk kind of game.
The primary concern is avoiding negative plays that could derail drives. Detroit did a masterful job of that last week, getting to third down just eight times over 11 drives and scoring 44 points.
“We’ve got to be manageable. We can’t have any of these pre-snap penalties, can’t do that against this team. Can’t be behind that eight ball. We’ve got to be third-and-short and -medium. Got to be able to do that,” Morton said.
“Last game we — I call it CFL football. It’s first (down), second (down), first, second, first, second. We didn’t have a lot of third downs. So, that’s the way we’ve got to play. Can’t get behind the chains, it’ll be tough. Might be a boring game, might be a dink-and-dump game. And we just take what the defense gives us, be smart just like we have been all year and we’ll be just fine.”
Kennedy has ‘No fear’
Veteran Tom Kennedy, the second-longest-tenured Lions player, has been a revelation in the return game since he was signed to the active roster in late November. He’s averaging 33.5 yards per return on six kick returns and 21 yards per return on two punt returns, his efforts going a long way toward helping Detroit play some of the best complementary football of its season in the win over Dallas.
Lions wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery on Wednesday said the quality that makes Kennedy a good kick returner is “no fear.” Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp confirmed Thursday that the plan is for Kennedy to continue returning kicks, even as Kalif Raymond (ankle) gets healthy. Raymond, a two-time Second Team All-Pro as a returner, will still man punts.
“He’ll be back there on kick return. Obviously, punt return’s tough because most of the time you can only put one guy back there. … I would see (Raymond) returning punts for sure,” Fipp said.
Mills in the house
The Lions added safety Jalen Mills to the active roster on Wednesday, claiming him off waivers from the Houston Texans. Mills, 31, is a 10-year veteran who’s played in four games this season after spending most of it on Houston’s practice squad.
Sheppard obviously loves that Mills is an “LSU guy,” but more than that, what he likes about this specific kind of depth player is that they can quickly catch up to the scheme because of their ample time on task.
Mills has been a starter in 92 of his 119 career appearances. He has one interception and 59 pass breakups on his resume.
“It’s a guy that’s been playing football, that’s the thing that I like about it. … It’s easy to bring in a vet, but if he’s been on the couch all year, that’s kind of hard to kind of get him acclimated,” Sheppard said.
“Now it’s just about from the neck up with Jalen, and he knows coverages. … It’s just about terminology now and getting him up to speed with that terminology and then getting him out on the grass and seeing how he moves and kind of acclimates into what we do here. But I love the addition.”
Watch out for Landman
Rams linebacker Nate Landman has been one of the league’s best stories this season. Landman, a 2022 undrafted free agent, spent three seasons in Atlanta before signing a one-year, $1.1 million deal this past offseason.
By November, the Rams would feel comfortable enough to sign him to a three-year, $22.5 million extension. He has 108 tackles, one interception, six pass breakups, and — most notably — four forced fumbles.
Landman is tied with Lions edge defender Aidan Hutchinson for the second-most forced fumbles, and he and is ahead of Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (three) for the league lead among off-ball linebackers.
“He’s a good player. I’ll say this, he does a really good. You know how (Jack) Campbell likes punching the ball out? This guy does the same thing. They’re almost pretty similar,” Morton said. “But he’s the captain of that defense, he gets guys lined up. It was a good addition for those guys. He’s a really good player. But we’ve got to be aware of him because of that.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi