Kelvin Sheppard: Outside of Three or Four Plays, I Liked Rush Defense

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator defends rush defense against the Rams.

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) runs for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard did not necessarily agree his unit's rush defense cratered against the Los Angeles Rams.

In Week 15, Detroit allowed 159 rushing yards and 5.9 yards per carry. Most notably, the Rams were able to secure 6.7 yards per carry on first down, giving Rams head coach Sean McVay a wide variety of options to call on second down.

Detroit's first-year coordinator has a habit this season of expressing publicly how statistical numbers are a little more favorable, if a handful of plays are not factored in.

“When we say step back, is that total yardage we’re saying? Because, I believe when you looked at it, they rushed the ball 29 times, 155 yards, if I’m not mistaken. You look there, they popped one, I believe it was 19 yards, where we pressured and had a misfit on the interior of it," said Sheppard. "When they cut back, the center folded, which created a misfit extra gap and they hit us for 19 there.

"And then towards the end of the game around a four-minute situation, the ball hit on the edge where Rock (Ya-Sin) has pinned the hip 100 times but took a bad angle," Sheppard added. "That generated 24 yards. And then down in the red zone where my man (Blake) Corum scored, I believe that was probably 11 or 12 yards there."

Sheppard took umbrage with the notion that teams have been able to run the football down the Lions throat this season.

"Again, 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 or made us like the run game," said Sheppard. "They popped the explosive run here and there, that’d generate that big number. But that 24, 19-yarder, take that out alone, 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."

Detroit's rush defense has been a staple this season, ranking 13th in the league, only giving up an average of 106.7 yards per game.

Veteran D.J. Reader expressed postgame he observed the Rams utilized an adjusted blocking scheme at times that he had not seen on film when preparing for the Week 15 contest.

As Sheppard noted, "Yeah, no. I thought outside of three, four plays in the game, I liked where we stood as far as fitting the run.”