ALLEN PARK Isaac Nauta Jersey 2019 , Mich. (AP) — The first loss of the season for the Detroit Lions may have actually given them more legitimacy as playoff contenders.The Lions battled the Kansas City Chiefs all the way to the final minute Sunday before finally losing 34-30.Along the way, Detroit made some colossal blunders, fumbling inside the Kansas City 10-yard line twice in the third quarter. Those mistakes cost the Lions dearly, but in spite of all that, Detroit re-took the lead twice in the second half.“I think this is an extremely tough, mentally tough team,” coach Matt Patricia said. “I think they fight, I think they’ll play, I think they go out and compete, and I am proud of them for that. But we’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t win the game.”There’s little time for moral victories in a 16-game NFL season, but if the Lions were criticized for some of their shortcomings in wins over the Chargers and Eagles, they can certainly receive credit for much of what they did Sunday, even in defeat. Matthew Stafford threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, with receivers Kenny Golladay Color Rush Isaac Nauta Jersey , Marvin Jones and Marvin Hall all making crucial catches.“I don’t think we need to prove anything to anybody,” Stafford said. “We love the way we practice, the way we work, the way we come out and play. We’re a good football team. We lost to another good football team.”Kerryon Johnson ran for 125 yards, although the fumbles by him and Stafford deep in Kansas City territory put Detroit in a hole. Johnson’s fumble was returned all the way back the other way for a touchdown.The Detroit defense held up pretty well despite being without injured defensive back Darius Slay. The Lions forced three fumbles — two forced by the defense and one on special teams — in that third quarter.Detroit outgained Kansas City 447-438. Against a top opponent, in a matchup of unbeaten teams, the Lions looked mostly like they belonged.WHAT’S WORKINGThere was a lot for the Lions to like about their defensive performance. They held Patrick Mahomes without a touchdown pass — and the Chiefs as a team only scored one offensive TD through three quarters. Detroit couldn’t hold off Kansas City for 60 minutes, though. The Chiefs scored two touchdowns in the fourth, and that was enough to win the game.WHAT NEEDS HELPBall security. Those two third-quarter fumbles weren’t flukes. Stafford said he was trying to do too much on his, and Johnson pretty much admitted the same.Every team in the league makes mistakes, but the Lions learned the hard way how costly turnovers such as that can be against an elite opponent.“The first four games, I think we’ve talked a lot about September football and what that looks like in the NFL. There are a lot of bad plays out there,” Patricia said Monday. “There are some good plays and a lot of really important situational plays. I think those are the ones we’re trying to learn from. We’ve done well in some of those situations and we’ve done not so well in others.”STOCK UPJ.D. McKissic, a 5-foot-10 running back Cheap Isaac Nauta Jersey , had 30 yards on four carries and also added an 11-yard catch. It will be interesting how the Lions use his versatility going forward.STOCK DOWNAfter missing the first two games of the season with ankle problems, linebacker Jarrad Davis forced a fumble in Week 3 at Philadelphia. He had a quiet game Sunday, though.INJUREDSlay (hamstring) and WR Danny Amendola (chest) were inactive, and the Lions also lost T.J. Hockenson (concussion) and S Quandre Diggs (hamstring) during the game. Hockenson took a scary fall when he appeared to be trying to hurdle a defender.KEY NUMBER29 — The number of first downs for both the Lions and Chiefs on Sunday, which underscored how even the game was.NEXT STEPSThe Lions have this coming weekend off, then head to Green Bay for a Monday night matchup Oct. 14 that will be Detroit’s first game within its division. SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — A blowout loss at home followed by a spirited comeback attempt by Matthew Stafford that fell just short.Matt Patricia’s coaching tenure in Detroit hasn’t gotten off to an impressive start and things look only to get tougher for the Lions following a 30-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.Detroit (0-2) dug a deep hole with another rough third quarter and wasn’t able to pull off a comeback in part because of a key penalty. Now the Lions will look for their first win under Patricia next week when they host his former team, the New England Patriots.“It’s the NFL. You don’t have time to hang your head,” defensive tackle Sylvester Williams said.“We’ve got seven days. We’ll be on the field again in seven days, so no one has any time to hang our head. We’ve got to get back in there, and learn from our mistakes and come back from them.”Patricia was hired in Detroit after a long run as defensive coordinator of the Patriots. But his team has allowed 78 points through two games after losing 48-17 to the New York Jets in the opener .That’s the third-most points ever allowed by the Lions through two games, ranking behind only the 82 points given up by an 0-16 team in 2008 and 80 by a three-win team in 2002.But there were plenty of problems across the board for the Lions. There was a breakdown on defense that left Kendrick Bourne wide open on San Francisco’s first touchdown. The special teams allowed a 90-yard kickoff return by D.J. Reed to start the second half, setting up the second touchdown for the 49ers.Patricia mismanaged the clock late in the first half, costing the Lions nearly 40 seconds that contributed to a field goal instead of a possible touchdown.Then there were 10 penalties for 105 yards Isaac Nauta Jersey Womens , including a hold away from the play that turned a potential game-changing interception into a San Francisco first down and a personal foul on LeGarrette Blount that led to an ejection for coming off the sideline to shove a 49ers player.“It bothers me a lot when that happens,” Patricia said of the litany of mistakes. “We have to do a better job. We had some breakdowns in all three phases. We had some opportunities in all three phases too that we didn’t capitalize on. I think that’s the biggest thing right now.”Despite all that, Detroit was in position to pull off a comeback late after Stafford threw touchdown passes to Marvin Jones Jr. and Michael Roberts to cut a 17-point deficit to 30-27 with 3:27 to play.The defense then appeared to come up with the game-changing play when Tracy Walker stepped in front of a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo for an interception that he returned to the San Francisco 7.But the officials called a holding penalty away from the play on Quandre Diggs, giving the 49ers a first down instead. The defense still managed to come up with a stop, but the offense didn’t get the ball back until there was 1:08 to play and the Lions were at their 16.Stafford moved the ball out to the 39 before three straight incompletions led to a turnover on downs and another Detroit loss. Stafford finished 34 for 53 for 347 yards and three touchdowns .“The guys we have on this team, the way that we fight, we’re never out of it,” he said. “I can appreciate that. We just have to make a few more plays, whether it be earlier in the game or later. There’s a million plays throughout the game we can clean up and be better, and it starts with me.”