DETROIT — Alex Henery took full blame for the Lions losing their second game of the season, which will likely lead to the team’s third kicker of the season.
Henery missed three second-half field goals including a 50-yarder with :21 left in the fourth quarter that would’ve given the Lions a three-point lead. Instead, Henery could only watch as Buffalo’s Dan Carpenter hit a 58-yarder with :04 left to give the Bills a 17-14 win.
Henery was signed by the Lions two weeks ago after the team cut 2014 seventh round draft pick Nate Freese, who struggled in three games with Detroit.
The game was dominated by both defenses. Detroit held Buffalo to just 23 yards in the first quarter and Rashean Mathis intercepted a Kyle Orton pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter to give the Lions a 14-0 lead. Buffalo got some offense going in the second half, accumulating 226 yards of total offense and rallying from a 14-3 halftime deficit.
The Lions offense struggled to get anything going for most of the day. Matthew Stafford hit Golden Tate for a nine-yard score late in the first quarter to open the scoring. Stafford struggled the rest of the day, completing 18 of 31 passes for just 221 yards. Stafford was intercepted once as well which led to the Bills first points of the game.
The man in charge of running the Bills’ defense was the man in charge of running the Detroit Lions last year. Jim Schwartz made his return to Ford Field since being fired as the Lions’ head coach. After win, Schwartz was carried off the field by two Bills players.
With the loss, Detroit falls to 3-2 overall. The Lions visit the Minnesota Vikings next week.
