Quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense were unable to run a successful two-minute drill in the fourth quarter, and conceded a 25-21 loss to Arizona on Sunday.

Calvin Johnson led the Lions with 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

After a stand-out performance last week, Reggie Bush cooled off significantly with 25 yards off of nine carries and a lost fumble.  An injury to his left knee kept him on the sideline for the majority of the second half.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 248 yards and one touchdown.  Palmer threw one interception which was returned by DeAndre Levy for a touchdown — there were no flags on the play this time.

Life without Jason Hanson

Lions kicker David Akers was an imperfect 0/2 on field goal attempts Sunday, which made the narrow four-point loss hard to swallow.

His first attempt from the 52-yard was missed, but Akers had another shot from 47 after a penalty, and he missed again. Akers also had a 47-yard attempt blocked.

This is something Lions fans are not familiar with, as they were used to having a virtually automatic kicker in Jason Hanson.

Undisciplined

The Lions had eight penalties for 101 yards, 84 of which came in the second half.

The last chance for a Lions victory came on fourth-and-four, with just over a minute to play in the game. But a penalty ensued, and a three-yard reception by Nate Burleson the following play was not enough to move the chains.

Another Spartan next week

The Arizona Cardinal’s backup quarterback is former Spartan (and also former Lion) Drew Stanton, who did not see any action Sunday, but will be called under center if anything happens to starter Carson Palmer in future games.

The Lions hope to rebound next week versus the Washington Redskins, who also have a Spartan as their backup quarterback in Kirk Cousins. He will be ready if anything happens to starter Robert Griffin III.

Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm in Washington DC on Sunday.