Lions vs. Bears: Who gets the game ball?

After an ugly game, it seems like a fool’s errand to give out a game ball, but there were some performances worthy of recognition. But before we get into this week’s game ball candidates, here’s a look at the game ball standings after 13 weeks:

20 - Matthew Stafford
7 - Matt Prater
6 - Theo Riddick
6 - Darius Slay
5 - Sam Martin
5 - Marvin Jones
5 - Eric Ebron
4 - Rafael Bush
4 - Golden Tate
3 - Andre Roberts
2 - Kerry Hyder
1 - Devin Taylor
1 - Ameer Abdullah
1 - Johnson Bademosi
1 - Miles Killebrew
1 - Anquan Boldin

This week’s candidates:

Matthew Stafford

Stafford had his second two-interception game of the year, and one of them was a back-breaking pick six that gave the Bears the lead in the fourth quarter. However, he quickly made amends by leading the team to a go-ahead drive with just about three minutes left in the game. Overall Stafford finished the game 21-35 for 223 yards, two touchdowns (including one rushing) and two INTs. Not a great day from him, but not a great game from anyone on Sunday, and it got the job done.

Matt Prater

On a day of disappointing performances, the perfect kicker gets recognition. Prater had a perfect day of kicking, including two extra points and a 54-yard kick.

Jeff Triplette

It was a horribly officiated game on both sides of the ball. Graham Glasgow got called for a hands to the face penalty for getting hands to his own face. But there were two huge holding calls on the Bears’ final drive that sent Chicago backwards, eliminating two big plays. The Bears couldn’t recover.

Marvin Jones

Jones finally had a breakout performance he’s been itching for for several weeks now. Though he only had four catches for 67 yards, he drew a couple of key pass interference penalties that really helped a struggling offense.

Kerry Hyder

The defense held another opponent below 20 points, but it wasn’t exactly a great day for the unit as a whole. However, when Ezekiel Ansah went down with an injury, they were desperate for some pass rush and Hyder answered the challenge. He tallied one sack that was mostly a cleanup sack, but he provided key pressure on several other plays, almost forcing a Tahir Whitehead interception at one point. He’s probably the Lions’ best edge rusher right now, whether Ziggy is in the game or not.