Offensive coordinator John Morton, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Monday ahead of Detroit's Thursday night matchup against the Dallas Cowboys at Ford Field.
Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. Sheppard seems to be embracing the current situation the Lions find themselves in.
"The same reason I don't panic when I lose three starters in my backend," Sheppard said. "Because I see an opportunity ahead of us. I see an opportunity where we're back in that realm of being doubted.
"I see an opportunity where everyone is not looking at us as the class of the NFL. So that's why I said we're right where we want to be. It's right where I like to live. Right here in the back, just lying in the weeds waiting to bite somebody's (butt)."
2. Morton said the one thing that has stood out studying Dallas' defense this week is the pressure they generate with their defensive line. Dallas has arguably the top defensive tackle duo in the NFL in Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark and Morton said Jadeveon Clowney is playing pretty good football right now on the edge as well. The interior of Detroit's offensive line will certainly be tested this week and they will have to play well for the offense to succeed.
3. What stands out about Dallas' special teams units? Fipp said No. 9 (KaVontae Turpin) jumps out right away when the tape comes on. Turpin is one of the most dynamic returners in the NFL and is one of those rare players who Fipp said makes everyone around them better. Fipp and his cover units need to have a good plan for Turpin and rally around him when he has the ball in his hands.
4. The Lions have allowed over 600 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns the last two games. Sheppard didn't mince words when asked Monday if he thought they were affecting opposing quarterbacks enough to play the kind of coverage they want in the back end.
"I don't think we've affected the quarterback to play any style," he said.
Sheppard said it's not good enough moving forward to be close to getting the quarterback on the ground or being in phase in pass defense and being close to making the pass breakup. Sheppard has challenged his defenders this week to make more plays with their one-on-one opportunities both in the pass rush and in coverage.
5. Detroit could be down their top two tight ends again this week with Sam LaPorta (back) and Brock Wright (neck) dealing with injury. Veteran offensive tackle Dan Skipper has lessened the blow a little bit in terms of his ability to block in the run and pass games as a sixth offensive lineman, but he's not a threat as a pass catcher. Morton said they've been working on some different packages and personnel groupings this week to try and help stem the loss of LaPorta and Wright from a receiving perspective.
6. What created that crazy left to right movement on Jake Bates’ 59-yard kick at the end of regulation two weeks ago against the Giants to force overtime? Fipp said the movement on the ball is typically based on where a kicker strikes it. The higher up the foot hits the ball, the more movement it will typically have.
7. Dallas has arguably the top receiving duo in the NFL this season in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Sheppard said Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys' offense do a good job making defenses cover the entire field by keeping Lamb and Pickens on opposite sides. It makes it hard to focus extra attention on both players and leaves defenses having to rely on their players winning one-on-one matchups, which is no easy task against those two.
8. Watching the tape of Detroit's slow starts offensively the last few weeks and their inability to convert on fourth down, Morton said most of their issues are errors in execution - bad technique or fundamentals, off throws or drops. Those are things he believes they can and will correct.
9. Lions punter Jack Fox and Dallas punter Bryan Anger are the only punters in the NFL with at least 35 punts on the year and not having a touchback. Fox has 43 punts with a 45.7-yard average with 23 punts inside the 20-yard line and no touchbacks. Fipp said it's an area Fox has worked hard to improve over the last few years and he has become a really important field position weapon for the Lions.
10. Sheppard was particularly discouraged by the too many and too few men on the field incidents against the Packers on Thanksgiving. He said it's been addressed and won't happen again. He also talked about having to be better on fourth down with an opportunity to get off the field and give the ball back to the offense. Green Bay was 3-for-3 on fourth down last week and all three were critical plays.
There are things he said he plans to switch up schematically and personnel-wise against Dallas this week in hopes of creating more opportunities for players to win one-on-one battles.
