D.J. Reed was one on one with Tet McMillan, 30 yards from the end zone, wide side of the field, no help over the top. These are the matchups Reed is paid to win. These are the matchups he's won frequently in the past.
In this case, McMillan gained half a step on Reed to the outside as they raced down the sideline, created some extra separation with a subtle push-off as the ball came his way, and hauled in an uncontested touchdown as Reed dove haplessly at his ankles on the goal line. It was another frustrating moment for Reed an in increasingly frustrating season, and a costly play for the Lions in a 32-26 loss to the Panthers.
"He can help himself on a leverage there and then just stay a little more top shoulder, use your own speed," Dan Campbell said Monday. "That way you don’t get in one of these where it’s a wrestling match for the football."
Reflecting on the play a few days later, Reed agreed. He said that knowing he was by himself on a big-body receiver, "there's a pretty good chance that he was running the outside slot fade. I played it like he was going to get a back shoulder throw, which was an error on me."
My bad has been a theme of Detroit's defense so far, especially in coverage. You know the numbers. No need to rehash them here. But Reed's numbers are particularly alarming.
The Lions signed him to a three-year, $48 million contract two offseasons ago after corner Carlton Davis III departed for slightly more money (three years, $54 million) with the Patriots. Reed arrived with the credentials and statistics of a No. 1 corner: He had allowed a passer rating on coverage of 78.64 over the prior five seasons with the Jets and Seahawks. In New York, he shared the responsibility of guarding No. 1 receivers with Sauce Gardner.
And once Reed found his footing in a new defense in Detroit, he lived up to his tape. Then he suffered a severe hamstring strain in Week 4 that knocked him out for about two months. He wasn't close to the same player when he returned. He went to Panama in the offseason for stem cell treatment on the hamstring and said this summer that he had his burst back. It doesn't quite look like it. It hasn't helped optics, meanwhile, that Davis III has played really well for the Patriots -- to be fair, across from a bonafide CB1 in Christian Gonzalez.
While Reed says he's healthy, he's often been a step behind on crossing routes or deep shots. He's allowed a passer rating in coverage this season of 141.7, per PFF, fourth highest in the NFL among corners who've logged at least half their team's defensive snaps. In man coverage, Reed has allowed a perfect passer rating (158.3), albeit on just five targets. He's also been flagged three times for pass interference, once for holding.
He's been burned for big gains by the three best wide receivers the Lions have faced: McMillan in Week 4, Garrett Wilson of the Jets in Week 2 and Chris Olave of the Saints in Week 1. It might not be a coincidence that Reed's best game in coverage came when the best receiver on the other side, D.J. Moore, was injured early in Buffalo's demolition of Detroit in Week 2.
Of course, Reed has company. He's one of several culprits in a secondary that's been shredded since the second half of the Lions' season-opening win over the Saints.
"For everybody, including myself, as a defense we have been frustrated," Reed said Friday. "These first four weeks are not what we wanted to put on tape."
With each poor performance, the noise around Kelvin Sheppard has grown louder. There's a feeling that Detroit's defensive coordinator could be coaching for his job Sunday in Arizona. If the Lions can't stop Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals, Dan Campbell might have no choice but to make a significant change at the bye.
"For me personally, I’m not on social media and all that, I’m just looking at myself and pointing the finger at myself of, what I can do better?" said Reed. "What I can do better is a lot of things. For one, my coverage. My coverage has not been to my standard by any means this year, so that’s what I’m focused on. I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m sure they feel the same way as me. We’re not pointing fingers."
There's also a clamor for the Lions to add a cornerback by the Nov. 10 trade deadline. It feels like the top item on the to-do list of Brad Holmes. While Holmes insisted the Lions were comfortable with their corners when the season began, their recent pursuit of Joey Porter Jr. says just the opposite. They were "very much in on" Porter Jr., Campbell said the day after the star corner was dealt to the Cowboys, and will remain on the hunt for help.
It was an open acknowledgement of Detroit's deficiencies in the secondary. Was it also a message to the defensive backs on hand?
"Quite honestly, the secondary, corners, safeties, the first four weeks we’ve been struggling, so knowing that, that’s just how the business goes," said Reed. "If you’re not doing your job how you’re supposed to be doing it, they find replacements. That’s part of the business. That’s why we’re the one-percenters in the world. That’s just what comes with it. It wasn’t a shot, to me.
"Shoutout to JP, man. That’s my boy from Bakersfield (Calif). Lot of respect for JP."
Reed, who turns 30 in November, says his hamstring is fine: "It hasn’t given me any problems this year." He played through a foot injury in Week 2 and a rib injury in Week 4, "bang-ups, just like everybody else, where I thugged it out and played."
"Like I say, if I’m out there, I’m out there and you’re considered healthy. It doesn’t matter. It’s no excuses," said Reed. "I just gotta be better."
The Lions' transition to a zone-centric scheme in year two under Sheppard has given their secondary trouble. They have always been a man-oriented defense under Campbell, which played a part in the cornerbacks they acquired via free agency, trades and the draft. As Ennis Rakestraw said this week, without any spite or agenda, "I was drafted here to play man." Now they're playing more zone than ever.
While every good corner should be flexible enough to thrive in any system, it's fair to wonder whether Detroit's sudden and rather drastic schematic shift has created more problems in the secondary than it's solved. Zone requires chemistry and communication, and both have been lacking so far for the Lions.
"For me, I’ve played zone, I’ve played in all sorts of coverage," said Reed. "But when you play zone, you have to work with guys, you have to know where guys are going to be, you have to trust where guys are going to be. And I feel like that’s been a big thing, not knowing that guys are going to be there for sure. It’s created a little bit of gray area. But that just comes back to everyone doing their job, doing their 1/11th.
"But like I said, those four weeks are behind us and I'm looking forward to this week."
The next challenge is Michael Wilson. The top receiver for the Cardinals is coming off his first 1,000-yard season and on pace for another. He's a long, fast, physical pass-catcher, one of the most "underrated" receivers in the league, said Reed. If the Lions don't keep a lid on Wilson (and Trey McBride) on Sunday, their defense will be in for another long day.
"A lot of guys don’t talk about him, but when you watch his target tape, his film, he’s a big-body receiver that’s not only a big body, he’s explosive, he’s good after the catch, he can run intermediate routes, he can run deep ball routes. He’s a go-to guy for them," said Reed, "so we’re looking forward to the challenge."
To be taken seriously as a defense, the Lions know they need help at corner. What Holmes does, or doesn't do, at the deadline could go a long way toward determining their fate this season. But they also need more from the players on hand, Reed in particular. That would go an even longer way toward getting this defense back to a functional level.
Campbell's message to Reed?
"Just keep swinging," he said. "You can’t lose confidence. Quarterback and cornerbacks, they gotta be willing to have some losses here and there, and bounce back and learn from the last rep. And your wins are gonna come."
For Reed, they can't come soon enough.
