Lions vs. Bears Week 13 Scouting Report: Turkey Day Troubles
Special Teams
Matt Prater missed his first field goal attempt from less than 40 yards this year in Sunday’s loss, albeit in windy conditions. Of course, it came back to bite the Lions, as the final margin turned out to be three points. In his career for Detroit, Prater is a perfect 10-10 kicking field goals on Thanksgiving.
His Bears counterpart, Eddy Pineiro, has struggled in his rookie season. He’s been unable to provide the stability at the position that the Bears desperately sought this offseason after last year’s heartbreak at the hands of their placekicker. He has missed five of his 19 field-goal attempts as well as two extra points. Pineiro has yet to kick indoors this year.
The Lions’ painful special teams gaffes that plagued them early in the season crept back into the fold against Washington and were the main factor in their loss. Prater’s miss aside, Marvin Hall‘s decision to bring a punt out of the end zone only to be tackled at the 2-yard line and generally reliable special teamer Dee Virgin‘s penalty were silly hiccups.
The Lions also surrendered their first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2012 after Mike Ford missed a tackle on Steven Sims deep in Washington territory, allowing him to go 91 yards for the score. The fact that Sims hit paydirt even after muffing the catch was symbolic of the unit’s overall ineptitude on the day. A similar showing from the third phase against the Bears would be costly.
Jamal Agnew appears likely to miss his second straight game with an ankle injury, and Hall is also questionable with a foot ailment. J.D. McKissic, Danny Amendola and Ty Johnson could all see return snaps in their stead.
The Bears have one of the NFL’s most dangerous returner tandems in Cordarrelle Patterson and Tarik Cohen. Patterson has already housed a 101-yard kickoff return this year and Cohen ranks second in the NFL with a 10.3 yard per punt return average.
Sam Martin is quietly enjoying another solid season for the Lions, with a 40.8-yard net punting average and 21 punts dropped inside the opposition’s 20. Pat O’Donnell has almost identical numbers for the Bears; 40.5 and 19, respectively.