ALLEN PARK — On Sunday in Los Angeles, the Detroit Lions were gashed on the ground repeatedly en route to a devastating 41-34 loss to the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Lions coach Dan Campbell admitted as much earlier this week.
“We did not own the ground, and that makes it extremely difficult defensively to defend those guys if you cannot even corral or limit their run game,” Campbell said.
But Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard apparently doesn’t see it that way, even though the Rams had the sixth-highest first-down rushing success rate by any team in the last 10 seasons, according to TruMedia. From a Lions’ perspective, TruMedia’s success rate ranked it second-worst in the Campbell era. It was also the seventh-highest rushing success rate by any team this season.
Sheppard asserted that the Rams’ rushing total of 159 yards (a season high for the Lions’ defense) and their average of 5.5 yards per carry (also a season high) are misleading statistics. If you take out runs of 24, 19 and 11 yards, “they’re standing at 4.0 a carry, which around this league in the NFL, that’ll sit you right around the top 10 and right where you want to be,” Sheppard said.
This has been a common theme in Sheppard’s press conferences this season, particularly when assessing the run defense. After the team’s Week 9 loss to Minnesota, Sheppard said the Vikings’ 4.9 yards per carry benefited from a swing pass that was ruled a 31-yard rush, indicating the real rushing average was actually much lower. He did not, however, account for the three kneel-downs by J.J. McCarthy to end the game. If you also remove those numbers, they’d be back up to 4.6 per carry in that contest.
“The run game, that’s kind of a façade, it’s not real, those numbers that showed up,” Sheppard said back in November. “Because I was trying to search for where were those yards, and then I found out they added a 31-yard screen in as a run play. You take that out, they’re at 3.9 (yards per carry) on the day.”
Regardless of what the team’s game-long rushing average was, the Rams averaged 6.7 yards per carry on 10 first-down runs, and put the Lions’ defense on its heels all game long.
“I’m not going to sit here and act like … that anybody’s just lined up and made us like their run game because that’s never happened,” Sheppard said. ” … Outside of those three, four plays in the game, I liked where we stood as far as fitting the run.”
Sheppard took ample responsibility for the team’s deficiencies in the passing game and total points allowed, which makes it puzzling that he so adamantly denied any sort of shortcomings in the run game, despite the fact that his head coach admitted as much earlier in the week.
He promised minor scheme and personnel changes as the team looks to cut down on explosive passing plays, of which they’ve allowed more (54) than any other team in the league. Half of those 20-plus-yard completions have come in the last four weeks.
“The first thing I did with the unit, I went in and I took myself and held accountability to myself. Can’t be hard-headed and say, ‘We have a system,’” Sheppard said. “This is what we’re going to do. You either do it or you’re not playing.’ No, that’s B.S. in my opinion, that’s not coaching. Coaching is identifying what your players do well and regardless of what’s your system, it’s players over scheme.”
Added Sheppard, “There will be some changes, whether that’s schematically, whether that’s personnel-based. and these guys are all in on it. There are some guys that need to play better. They said that, not me. And then just me as the coordinator, seeing the big picture of where we’re at right now and what it’s going to take week-to-week to win games.”
Though the pass coverage has been a focal point of Detroit’s defensive struggles, its run game has undoubtedly begun to slip as well. Five of the 100-yard rushing performances the Lions have allowed this season came in their last seven games.
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) is tackled by Los Angeles Rams cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (CAROLINE BREHMAN — AP Photo)
Rushing troubles
Unwillingness to acknowledge a larger problem in the run game was also a theme on the opposite side of the ball. Lions offensive coordinator John Morton, asked if the continued rushing inconsistencies surprise him at this point in the season, he argued that “it was just really one game last week.”
Across the Lions’ five losses this season, the Lions are averaging 3.5 yards per carry. On Sunday in L.A., they were right at 3.5. Morton said the rushing attack on Sunday was largely derailed by negative plays, such as holding penalties and other big losses.
“We need to come off the ball, for one. And knowing exactly the communication, which has been better,” Morton said. “We’ve had some negative plays where we had some holding calls. Technique, it’s just technique. It’s a lot of technique stuff. The scheme is here, it’s good. We just have to make sure we use the right technique coming off the ball so we don’t get beat … that’s the biggest thing.”
Bates business
After a highly successful rookie season, kicker Jake Bates has seen his accuracy slip in 2025. Following a miss on the opening series against the Rams, Bates has now missed six of his 27 attempts this season, his completion rate falling from 89.7% as a rookie to 77.8% in Year 2.
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp understands why others might be concerned with this development, but he is not. According to Fipp, Bates is the most accurate practice kicker he’s ever charted. And generally speaking, that translates over to games — even if the small sample size of an NFL season doesn’t necessarily tell that story.
Bates’ miss on Sunday, from 43 yards, was his shortest miss of the season. Two of them have been blocked (from 45 and 52 yards), and he’s also missed from 54, 55 and 67 yards.
“A lot of my faith is based on the fact that I’ve seen him kick a million kicks and we’ve charted a lot of them, so we have hundreds of kicks charted now on him. And he’s hitting field goals at a higher percentage than any kicker that I’ve ever had overall,” Fipp said.
Asked how he evaluates a kicker’s body of work, Fipp said, “For me, it’s pretty easy.”
“Number one, just look at the big picture. I mean, do you have a good player or not?” Fipp said. “I mean to me, clearly, we have a very, very good player. If you put him on the streets, there would be a bunch of teams claiming him right away. And the truth is, we’d have a really hard time finding a guy even near the same player as him.”
Takeaway tightrope
Just by looking at the numbers, the Steelers’ 8-6 record is a bit confusing. They’re 27th in total offense and 28th in total defense. On offense, they’ve managed by being highly efficient in the red zone. On defense, they’ve covered for their shortcomings by coming up with 24 takeaways, tied for third-most in the league.
When it comes to facing the Lions’ offense, those takeaways might be tough to come by. Detroit is protecting the ball better than anybody in the league, with just eight turnovers through 14 games.
Morton said ball security is one of the biggest points of emphasis in practice each week, “So we’re very aware of that.”
“All the best defenses in the league every year, they’re the best in turnovers, creating turnovers,” Morton said. “Those are the teams that are in the playoffs all the time. So, we just have to continue that. We always talk about it. And when you talk about things and you do things a lot, you get the results. So, it’s going to be a great matchup.”