Kelvin Sheppard spits hard truths about the Lions' lacking pass rush

The Detroit Lions pass rush has not been effective in recent weeks. That much is obvious to anyone who has watched opposing offenses pick apart a good Detroit secondary because the Lions aren't generating enough pressure, or doing it quickly enough, for it to matter to the quarterback.

The man in charge of the Detroit pass rush, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, certainly sees it. Sheppard is not happy about it, either.

In his press conference on Monday, ahead of Thursday's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys in Ford Field, Sheppard made no bones about it: The pass rush isn't good enough and he's got to find ways to make it more effective, more impactful.

“I don’t think we’ve affected the quarterback to play any style these last couple of weeks," Sheppard proclaimed. "I don’t care what kind of style we want to play. And the guys understand that and again, that starts with me."

A fired-up Sheppard was just getting started.

"I’m not going to just point the finger, ‘You’ve got to win the one-on-one.’ Yeah, no (expletive). Yeah, you’ve got to win your one-on-ones in this League. But I also got to find ways to try to maximize what we do have to our disposal and put these guys in optimal position to be able to win, give them tools to win. I told the room, it’s our job to eliminate any gray, any hesitation in play and it’s their job to go out and execute. And that’s coach-to-player, player-to-player on the field. So, no, obviously we haven’t affected the quarterback at the rate that we were earlier in the year."

Sheppard promised some personnel and schematic changes to help jumpstart a pass rush that has produced just four sacks in the last four games. That includes zero sacks and just two QB hits in the Thanksgiving loss to the Packers — one each for DTs Alim McNeill and Tyleik Williams. Detroit also failed to sack Jalen Hurts in the Week 11 loss to the Eagles.

Aidan Hutchinson leads the Lions with 8.5 sacks, though just 2.5 of those have come in the last six games. Hutchinson also has 24 of the team's 68 QB hits, per NFL stats. Next in line is Al-Quadin Muhammad with 12, and just two of those have come since the Week 8 bye. No other Lions have more than five, the total for each of the team's three starting LBs: Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes and Jack Campbell.

The pass rush will need to step up quickly. The Cowboys bring the NFL's most productive passing attack to Detroit in Week 14. Dak Prescott and his Dallas offensive mates lead the NFL in passing yards and first downs, ranking second in touchdowns and total points as well.

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Kelvin Sheppard spits hard truths about the Lions' lacking pass rush