After a month of heat aimed at Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Shepard, the game plan he brought to Arizona was getting a very different kind of reaction.
The Cardinals came away from their Week 5 loss calling Detroit’s approach “unique” and “fascinating,” with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett pointing specifically to the way the Lions handled Arizona’s top two targets, WR Michael Wilson and TE Trey McBride.
“That was pretty unique,” Cardinals offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said of the Lions bracketing both WR Michael Wilson and TE Trey McBride. “I’ve been doing this a while- and it’s funny, the closest thing I ever saw was, we were playing the Ravens with Davante Adams, and I think there were, like, two to three guys on him the whole time.
We were working on all these things we thought were going to happen, but they said, ‘nope, we’re going to take him away.’ […] But yeah, it was fascinating.”
Arizona came into the matchup with McBride and Wilson carrying the offense. McBride had accounted for 38% of the Cardinals’ offensive targets this season, with Wilson next at 30%. No other Cardinals offensive player was above 9.5%.
Detroit’s answer was clear on the money downs. When the Cardinals got into third-and-long, Shepard leaned into bracket coverage on both players and made Jacoby Brissett find someone else. Outside of the opening drive, it worked.
On one second-quarter sequence - a third-and-7 late in the first quarter - Jack Campbell lined up in press against McBride, while Chuck Clark handled the over-the-top and inside help. On the other side, Wilson was doubled up too, with D.J. Reed on the outside and Keith Abney providing the over-the-top and inside coverage.
Detroit kept pressing the point. On the next third down, Arizona needed 12 yards, and the Lions dropped into a deeper zone. On the two third-down snaps after that, they went right back to bracket coverage.
The result was stark. Detroit’s coverage on McBride and Wilson pushed the Cardinals toward other options, and Arizona failed on 10 of 18 third-down tries, including five straight three-and-outs.
Shepard has taken his share of criticism for how the Lions’ defense has looked through five weeks. But against the Cardinals, his plan gave Detroit exactly what it needed.
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