![](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/11223354\/USATSI_27549507-1024x685.jpg?width=1248&quality=70&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Matthew Stafford and Kelvin Sheppard were born just one month apart, each navigating very different lives in the NFL at age 37. They\u2019ve competed in this league as players, and eventually, in practice as teammates with the Detroit Lions. But Sheppard can\u2019t help but think back to those SEC days.<\/p>\n
In 2008, Stafford\u2019s Georgia Bulldogs met Sheppard\u2019s LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, La. A quarterback in Stafford, and a quarterback of the defense in Sheppard \u2014 a middle linebacker. Two cerebral players, a pair of top-25 teams and a much-anticipated meeting. What more could you want?<\/p>\n
Except, well, a win \u2014 if you\u2019re Sheppard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey beat the brakes off of us,\u201d Sheppard said Thursday, recounting the 52-38 thrashing at the hands of Stafford.<\/p>\n
The chess match between Stafford and Sheppard will be at the forefront of Sunday\u2019s meeting between the NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams (10-3) and the No. 8-seeded Detroit Lions (8-5) at SoFi Stadium. These teams are in need of wins, for very different reasons. The Rams are trying to lock up the No. 1 seed in the final four weeks of the season, hoping to fend off the Seattle Seahawks (10-3) along the way. The Lions, meanwhile, are scratching and clawing just to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
What happens between Stafford\u2019s offense and Sheppard\u2019s defense could define this game. And perhaps Detroit\u2019s season.<\/p>\n
Stafford leads the galaxy in touchdowns with 35. The gap between Stafford at No. 1 and the quarterbacks tied at No. 2 (Jared Goff and Dak Prescott with 26) is larger than the gap between No. 2 and No. 16. The addition of Davante Adams (league-leading 14 touchdown receptions \u2014 nine inside the 5-yard line) to pair with Puka Nacua (second in the NFL in receiving yards) has brought out the best in Stafford, who has thrown just four interceptions.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s putting together an MVP-caliber season at the ripe age of 37.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to be in the conversation is something that\u2019s humbling to me, knowing the people that have played this game before me and the guys that have helped me get to where I am,\u201d Stafford said.<\/p>\n
This is a Rams offense with few holes. Stafford is a veteran. His deceptive eyes fool opposing defensive backs, or make them second-guess long enough to rip one over the middle right by them. His arm talent has always been elite, as folks in Detroit know, and the trick-shot nature of his game has elevated in Los Angeles. Stafford gets the ball out quickly to make sacks hard to come by, and L.A.\u2019s offensive line has allowed the fourth-lowest pressure rate in the NFL. The Rams have offensive balance, marrying the run and pass with a rushing tandem of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum \u2014 who\u2019ve together helped the Rams rank first in offensive rushing success rate and second in EPA per rush.<\/p>\n
An added wrinkle, though, has made this offense even tougher to defend this season.<\/p>\n
The Rams deploy more 13-personnel looks (one running back, three tight ends) than any team at 21.4 percent, per TruMedia. Defenses don\u2019t face this personnel package that often. Naturally, they don\u2019t practice defending it often, either. The way the Rams use it, they can dictate the game on their own terms. Their tight ends \u2014 Colby Parkinson, Terrance Ferguson and Davis Allen \u2014 have varying skill sets. They can size you up if you go small or take advantage of heavier personnel when defenses aren\u2019t accustomed to it.<\/p>\n
![\"Lions-Rams](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/12\/11223709\/USATSI_27548338-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Colby Parkinson scores a TD off a Matthew Stafford pass earlier this season. Rams\u2019 tight ends have combined for 70 receptions and 10 TDs this season. (Kyle Terada \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
It presents a limited menu for the defense, and an all-you-can-eat buffet for the offense, if you have the players to run it. It\u2019s precisely why a coach like Sean McVay, a former tight ends coach, has leaned into it as much as he has.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s helped to give us an identity,\u201d McVay said this week. \u201cI do think the multiple personnels and the more multiple we can be while taking advantage of our players, and then how does that ultimately give us matchup and tactical advantages both from a personnel and a schematic standpoint against the upcoming opponent, are all the factors. It\u2019s an organic evolution based on some things that ended up happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times in this league, 13 personnel, you don\u2019t see it \u2026 so you don\u2019t practice it a lot,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have a big menu for it, and Sean knows that. So, he gets you in it and he\u2019s going to dictate off of what you put out there. \u2026 I know it says 13 personnel, but you look at some of those plays, it\u2019s playing like 11 personnel. It\u2019s playing like 12 personnel. So, he can morph that 13 into anything he wants, depending on what you put out there. I think it\u2019s a brilliant thing, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the challenge Sheppard, a first-year defensive coordinator, faces this week. No pressure, rook.<\/p>\n
However, the way this Lions defense operates under Sheppard just might have what it takes to hold up against arguably the NFL\u2019s most complete offense.<\/p>\n
Considering this: The Lions rank top 10 in defensive rushing success rate (64 percent) and explosive run rate allowed (5.5 percent). On paper, they have the personnel to go toe-to-toe with L.A.\u2019s 13 personnel, considering Detroit plays three linebackers on 59 percent of its defensive plays this season (first in the NFL). The trio of Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes has proved to be the heart and soul of the defense this year, and those three will be counted on this week to counteract the Rams\u2019 secret sauce.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guys see how we view base defense here,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cI firmly think that\u2019s how Sean views 13 personnel from an offensive perspective. He thinks that he can dictate to you, and quite frankly, you can in certain instances if you don\u2019t see it a lot. \u2026 He\u2019s kind of, in my mind, what I am as a defensive coach. He wants to have the pen last, and he\u2019s going to force you into things and understand once I force you into those things, it\u2019s either here or here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m thinking, when I hear a lot of 13 personnel, that they\u2019re trying to dictate stuff,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cBecause you only have a limited menu on it. \u2026 You\u2019re going to get base out there, you\u2019re going to probably get three linebackers, which we play the majority of the time. \u2026 I feel like it makes it really simple, makes it easy to get in and out of reads for everyone. \u2026 So, you get some 13-personnel stuff that looks like 12 and can play like 12, I feel like you can get some 13-personnel stuff that can look and can play like 11, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got some variety in what they do. So, I mean, it\u2019s going to be a challenge, but at the same time, it\u2019s not really, in my opinion, going to affect us terribly, just because I feel like we\u2019re used to playing with three linebackers already. (We) could have some calls into that, we can mesh it, and the guys who are out there are versatile players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Truthfully, this is not an easy task. If the Lions can take the run game out of the equation, their linebackers rise to the occasion and the defense tightens up in the red zone with physicality in man coverage, they might have what it takes to hold the Rams below their standards. With an offense like Detroit\u2019s, that might be enough to sneak out a hard-earned victory.<\/p>\n
A win vs. a familiar face in Stafford would do wonders for Detroit\u2019s playoff hopes \u2014 increasing its current chances from 39 percent to 60 percent, ahead of a crucial three-game finale.<\/p>\n
One way or another, we\u2019re about to learn if Sheppard\u2019s defense has what it takes to defend Stafford.<\/p>\n
Sheppard\u2019s hoping history doesn\u2019t repeat itself Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Rams like to dictate things on offense by running 13 personnel. Kelvin Sheppard’s linebacker-heavy group could be suited to defend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-39567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions","tag-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n