DETROIT _ After facing Scott Tolzien and Christian Hackenberg in their first two exhibition games, the Detroit Lions held up Friday's third preseason game against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as a more realistic measure of where they stand heading into their Sept. 10 season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
By all accounts, they still have a long way to go.
Brady abused the Lions' starting defense for 24 first-quarter points, completing 11 of his first 12 passes, and the Patriots rallied for a 30-28 victory on Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal with 2 seconds to play.
Brady finished 12 of 15 passing for 174 yards and two touchdowns in just under a half of play, while the Lions' first-team offense committed two turnovers and managed a measly seven points against New England's top defense.
Matthew Stafford threw touchdown passes of 23 and 18 yards to Marvin Jones and Dwayne Washington, the later coming against Patriots backups, and left after one series in the third quarter.
He completed 15 of 22 passes for 190 yards with one interception, and is 25 of 35 for 310 yards with three touchdowns and two turnovers this preseason.
Stafford is not expected to play in next week's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills.
The Lions got off to a rough start tonight as Brady marched the Patriots quickly down the field for a touchdown.
Golden Tate lost a fumble on the Lions' first offensive play, the Patriots scored on 32-yard Brady-to-Chris Hogan pass one play later, and the Lions were booed off the field late in the first quarter down, 21-0, after consecutive three-and-outs.
The Lions finished the first quarter with seven penalties and one first down, and at one point had 12 yards of net offense to the Patriots' 196.
Ameer Abdullah had 60 yards rushing on 13 carries for the Lions, one of the few bright spots on the night, and backup quarterback Jake Rudock went 10 of 13 passing for 113 yards and briefly led the Lions to a 28-27 fourth-quarter lead.
Hogan had four catches for 70 yards for the Patriots, who lost star receiver Julian Edelman to a non-contact knee injury on the opening drive.
The Lions lost two players to injury as well, with Tahir Whitehead (knee) and Cole Wick (chest) both leaving in the first half.
