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Lions Again Searching For Upgrade After Henery Misses Three FGs In Loss

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

FORD FIELD (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions kicker Alex Henery will almost certainly soon suffer the same fate as Nate Freese.

Henery, the veteran kicker brought in Sept. 22 to replace Freese, missed three more field goals Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. One kick bounced off an upright, another did not even come close to the goalpost, and the third fell short with the game tied and less than one minute remaining. Henery had also missed a kick the week before.

The Lions had jumped out to a 14-point lead Sunday but ultimately lost, 17-14.

"Any time you leave points on the table in this league, obviously it's bound to come back and haunt you," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said after the game. "In this league, there's no lead that's safe, and if you can't extend it, you're going to have some problems down the stretch. Had some difficulty, obviously, in our kicking game, which is obvious, which is an area we're certainly going to have to look at to continue to try to improve that. That's key."

The missed field goals loomed especially large given Detroit's offensive limitations due to injuries. The Lions entered the game without tight end Joseph Fauria or running backs Joique Bell and Theo Riddick. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson was used in a decoy role for the second straight week, and both he and starting running back Reggie Bush had to leave the game with injuries.

Over two games, Henery has now missed four of his five attempts with the Lions.

"It's a performance-based league, plain and simple, and you've got to perform," Caldwell said. "Anyone that doesn't, we take a look and see if we can improve that one way or another. That's our obligation to obviously our fans, our team, our organization, so we'll do just that."

The Lions cut Freese, their seventh-round pick this year, after he missed four of seven field goal attempts over the team's first three games.

Between Freese and Henery, Lions kickers are 4 for 12 this season. Both of Detroit's losses have included at least two missed field goals.

"It's so hard when you're moving the ball and you finally get down there, you get into field goal range, and the fact you don't come [away] with points, one time is tough," left guard Rob Sims said, "but then three times is, you know what I mean, it's very, very hard to overcome."

Since Henery's breakdown Sunday, fans have been clamoring for the Lions to pick up longtime Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater, who converted on 25 of 26 attempts in 2013.

Caldwell did not comment on that possibility Sunday.

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