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ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions were in a familiar spot, down a few points with time running out -- only this time, they couldnt get the ball back.Thats the problem with putting yourself in that position too many times.There would be no Matthew Stafford-led comeback at the end of Sundays 20-13 loss to the Houston Texans. Instead, the Lions fell back to .500, which seemed appropriate given how many of their games could have gone either way. Detroit hasnt had a game decided by more than seven points this season.Despite last weekends loss, the Lions (4-4) are certainly in a better spot than at this time last season, when they had dropped seven of their first eight games. This season, Detroit has recovered from a 1/3 start, so the second quarter of the schedule went considerably better than the first.We had a 3-1 quarter. We had a little hiccup at the end, coach Jim Caldwell said Monday. Were getting ready to start all over again just in terms of our next quarter coming up against obviously a very tough opponent. So what I tell you is that weve made some improvement.The Lions play at Minnesota on Sunday, the last game before Detroits open date. At the midway point, the Lions are certainly in the playoff race, but in all four of their victories, the winning points came in the final two minutes. They were certainly cutting it close.Against the Texans on Sunday, Detroit kicked a field goal with 2:53 left to pull within a touchdown. After an unsuccessful onside kick, the Lions couldnt stop Houston, allowing two first downs that let the Texans run out the clock.Obviously, we wanted to get on the field, it just didnt work out, wide receiver Golden Tate said. Weve got to do a better job of not putting our team in that situation, where we need to be playing from behind like that.The Lions held Houston to only 23 yards rushing in the first half before allowing 82 in the second, and although the Texans didnt score much after taking a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, they moved the ball enough to hold on for the win.I just think there were some situations there where they just did a little bit better job at the end than we did, Caldwell said. They blocked us up in a couple situations and maybe a couple situations where we missed a tackle here or there. There were a few things, there wasnt just one thing. They did a better job down the stretch.Detroit beat Indianapolis in its season opener on a field goal with 4 seconds left, and its victory over Washington two weekends ago came on a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining. The Lions have had some close losses as well, but their defeat against Tennessee was the only one in which the lead changed late. Theyve been on the right side of most of their exciting finishes so far, and it was always fair to wonder if that would be sustainable.Stafford has been very good, and the addition of receiver Marvin Jones has helped Detroit withstand Calvin Johnsons retirement, but its going to be hard for the Lions to reach the postseason if they need last-minute comebacks in so many of their games. That was one of the main lessons from the loss to Houston.Youll have games like that against good defenses that play well against you, Caldwell said. You know, you may not light it up every single time, but we certainly expect to be a little bit more potent than we were.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Naby Keita Jersey . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Simon Mignolet Liverpool Jersey . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Simon-Mignolet-Liverpool-Jersey/ . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Danny Ings Liverpool Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Xherdan Shaqiri Liverpool Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. MACOMB, Ill. -- Jake Kolbe threw a career-best four touchdown passes and Anthony Warrum had two TD catches for the second consecutive game, helping Illinois State outlast Western Illinois 31-26 on Saturday.After an opening three-and-out, Kolbe found Warrum, who had seven receptions for 152 yards, for a 58-yard score. Later he connected with Anthony Fowler from 15 yards out as the Redbirds (5-5, 3-4 Missouri Valley) led 14-0 after the first quarter.Western Illinois (6-3, 3-3) scored on Lance Lenoirs 54-yard punt return and a Sean McGuire TDD pass to Jamie Gilmore in the second, sandwiched between Warrums second TD catch, this one for 50 yards.ddddddddddddAfter a Western Illinois field goal cut Illinois States lead to 21-19, Kolbes fourth TD pass -- a 7-yarder to Christian Gibbs with 3:20 left in the third -- increased the Redbirds cushion to 28-19.McGuires second TD pass in the fourth quarter cut the lead 31-26. He finished with 312 yards passing. ' ' '