The Lions’ defense hasn’t been impressive through the first three weeks of the 2026 season and things didn’t improve in Sunday night’s loss to the Panthers.
Carolina rushed for 445 yards in a 32-26 victory that marked the third time in four weeks that the Lions allowed at least 30 points to their opponents. It’s the first time they’ve done that in the first four weeks of a season since going 0-16 in 2008 and, unsurprisingly, it put the potential changes at the center of head coach Dan Campbell’s postgame press conference.
Campbell was specifically asked if he would consider firing defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. Campbell said he believes the team needs to find ways to improve what already exists internally.
“I am I’m not talking about all of that,” Campbell said. “I’m talking about getting better right now with what we have and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to find a way to improve with what we have.
Campbell said the Lions have been “tweaking” things every week and there are still more things to iron out as the Lions “exhaust everything here” trying to find a way to improve their defense. Some of these adjustments will need to pay off soon if Campbell wants to avoid upsetting his team.
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