The Detroit Lions are sliding in Week 4 power rankings, and the reason is hard to miss: their defense has become a mess, especially on the back end.
After a 41-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Lions are being treated as a team with a real problem rather than just a bad Sunday. One ranking put it bluntly: the back end “seems to be both” a scheme issue and a talent issue, while also calling Kelvin Sheppard’s situation an early “do-or-die scenario” with Detroit sitting at 1-1. Dan Campbell has moved quickly before when assistants have underperformed, and the question now is whether Sheppard can avoid that kind of fate.
The criticism keeps coming because the results keep giving it oxygen. Detroit already let a 21-0 lead slip away against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 before surviving in overtime at home, and the Buffalo game was even less competitive than the final score suggests. The Bills did what they wanted on the ground and through the air, and the Lions’ defense never really found an answer.
There’s a growing sense that this is more than a one-game problem. Another ranking noted that the Lions’ defense “stinks.
To high heaven,” pointing out that Detroit has now turned in back-to-back ugly defensive outings, particularly in the secondary. The same assessment also warned that the Lions can score in bunches, with 30-plus points in both games this season, but that living in shootouts every week is no way to make a deep playoff run.
Injuries are making the picture worse. S Avonte Maddox, who had already been pressed into the starting lineup, is out for the season with a foot injury. That led to another warning that GM Brad Holmes may need to make a move or two to help what has been described as the NFC’s worst pass defense through two weeks.
The numbers around the defense are ugly enough, but the broader concern is that this doesn’t look like a simple fix. One ranking said the team’s issues run deeper than just getting a few safeties back, citing the “brain drain” from losing both coordinators after the deep playoff run and the discipline problem that has shown up in the form of nine penalties per game.
Not everything around the Lions is dark. Jared Goff is still putting together a season that keeps strengthening his case as the greatest quarterback in franchise history.
Even with heavy pressure behind a banged-up offensive line, he’s stayed efficient in Year 11. He now has 25 straight games with a passing touchdown, the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest in Lions history, per ESPN Research.
In Buffalo, he also reached 40,000 career yards, tying Kirk Cousins and Dan Marino as the fourth-fastest player to hit that mark in NFL history at 153 games. Goff is in his sixth season in Detroit and continues to reach major milestones at 31 years old.
There are also signs that better days could be coming on the schedule. The Lions are set to face the Jets, Panthers, Cardinals and Packers next, which is why one ranking suggested they could be “big risers here soon.”
For now, though, the storyline is simple. Detroit can score with anybody. The problem is that the defense keeps making every game a shootout, and right now that’s a dangerous way to live.
In Other News...
Lions' Alex Anzalone Decision Looks Smarter With Every Week
When the Lions let Alex Anzalone walk and turned more of the linebacker room over to Derrick Barnes and Jack Campbell, it looked like a bet on youth and development. Early in the 2026 season, that choice has only gained support in Detroit, with Barnes flashing the kind of playmaking the Lions hoped for, including a two-sack opener that reminded everyone why the team was comfortable moving in a different direction.
Anzalone has settled into a tougher start with Tampa Bay, where missed tackles have been part of the early story even as Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles has stayed publicly confident in him. From the Lions side, it has been a clean validation of a personnel call that looked risky at the time, but now reads more like a prudent reset of the defense around younger, faster answers. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Defensive Collapse Is Fueling A Brad Holmes Debate
Two games into the 2026 season, the Lions defense has been pushed to the center of the conversation in Detroit after allowing 915 total yards and 71 points. The struggles have not just been about execution on the field. They have also reopened an old front-office debate about whether general manager Brad Holmes did enough in the offseason and through the draft to give this roster the kind of defensive depth it needed.
The concern goes beyond one bad stretch, because the roster holes are showing up in the same places again and again, especially at cornerback, safety and in the pass rush. Injuries to key safeties have only made the problem more visible, and with so much of the pressure falling on Aidan Hutchinson to create disruption, the Lions are leaning heavily on one star to cover for a unit that still looks short on answers. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Secondary Depth Is Suddenly A Real Concern Before The Jets
The Lions are heading into Week 3 with a secondary that suddenly needs help, and the front office is treating it like a real issue, not a minor patch job. General manager Brad Holmes is reportedly looking around for defensive depth, including possible additions from other teams practice squads, as Detroit tries to steady itself before the trip to face the Jets.
Dan Campbell confirmed Holmes is doing that work, which tells you the Lions are at least preparing for more than just a short-term adjustment. Among the names in play are Melifonwu, Hallett and Wisniewski, with the appeal coming either from prior familiarity with Detroits defense or the fact that they are available elsewhere, but the bigger question is how quickly the Lions can turn that search into something useful. [Read more 🡒]