The Detroit Lions fell to 0-2 on the season after a come-from-behind bid against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday fell short, 30-27.
It's obviously a less than ideal position to be in for first-year head coach Matt Patricia and his team.
"I think we're trying to get better, we're trying to improve, we have a lot of work to do, we know that," Patricia said. "We're up for the task. Like I mentioned before, we're a team of blue collar—we're a blue-collar team that's going to go to work every single day and try to get better."
Patricia spoke to the media Monday following Sunday's loss, and here are the key questions from that session:
The odds of making the playoffs after an 0-2 start are a little better than 10 percent over the past decade or so. New Orleans was the most recent team to do it last season.
What gives Patricia and Co. confidence the Lions can turn this thing around and get back into contention?
"For us, it's week-by-week, that's the way we have to look at it," Patricia said. "I can't predict the future, I can't tell you what's going to happen two months from now. But, what we have to do right now is fix the mistakes that we made yesterday and get ready to play another game this week."
Why did the team stay in San Francisco an extra night instead of flying home immediately after the game, which is usually customary?
The team's Week 2 west coast trip was sandwiched in between two night games -- Monday Night Football Week 1 and next Sunday night's game at Ford Field against the Patriots.
"Obviously a difficult situation, one that we talked about as soon as the schedule came out with our opportunities here in the first three weeks of the season to try to maximize our rest and our ability to not lose too many nights of sleep," Patricia said.
"I think what happened coming off the Monday night game, obviously you lose a night of sleep with the Monday night game. Then you have a west coast travel, we have another Sunday night game coming up, so that's another night of sleep of that you're going to lose. And it's really to try travel back from the west coast, back to the east coast, get in on time and be rested. We thought it would better just to kind of get a good night's sleep, get everything corrected again and take off today."
Does Patricia and the team have a sense of the frustration among the fan base with the 0-2 start?
There was obviously a lot of optimism heading into the year with Patricia and his staff taking over a 9-7 team from a year ago. The Lions haven't gotten off to a good start, but there is a lot of season left. There's time to turn it around, just not a lot of time.
"I would say that the fans are obviously the ones that we're trying to go out and work the hardest for," he said.
"And I certainly understand their frustration and we're doing everything we can possible to make sure we get this turned around. I expect to win every single week and go out and we work extremely hard to make sure we get that done, and we have to keep pushing forward."
View team photographer Gavin Smith's best stylized photos from the Detroit Lions' Week 2 game vs. San Francisco 49ers.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay (19) catches a 30-yard touchdown pass during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay (19) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson (91) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions cornerback Jamal Agnew (39) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay (19) catches a pass during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions linebacker Jarrad Davis (40) sacks San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. (11) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. (11) catches a touchdown during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions cornerback Jamal Agnew (39) returns a punt during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson (33) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions running back Theo Riddick (25) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions linebacker Devon Kennard (42) celebrates a sack during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin (27) makes a tackle during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions defensive back Quandre Diggs (28) celebrates a stop during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. (11) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay (19) celebrates a touchdown catch during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions fan in the stands during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) reaches for a first down during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand (93) makes a tackle during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions running back Theo Riddick (25) catches a pass during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions linebacker Eli Harold (57) celebrates a sack during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
Detroit Lions cornerback Jamal Agnew (39) during a NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Detroit Lions via AP).
On the play where Darius Slay suffered a concussion, was that a case of an offensive player lowering his head to initiate helmet contact?
"No," Patricia said. "I think there was a situation where I think after the tackle, again I'm not 100 percent sure, but it looked like maybe there was a leg that might have gone to side of his head."
For the second straight week the Lions have allowed a long touchdown run of 60-plus yards. How frustrating has that been to watch?
The Lions are the only team in the NFL after two weeks to have allowed two runs of 40-plus yards. The Jets and 49ers combined to average 179.5 yards per game on the ground the first two weeks.
"Well usually when plays like that happen it's a combination of all of it," Patricia said of the defensive breakdowns on the long runs. "They are obviously doing a good job executing the scheme that they want to try to run and we're obviously not doing a good job with our fits and our fundamentals and our techniques.
"Again, in long run situations it's total team defense. It goes from the line to linebackers to the secondary. And we have to finish the play better, we have to do a good job of stopping that. We can't let that happen and we have to go out and execute that better next time."
