In head coach Aaron Glenn's return to Detroit, the Jets clawed back from a 14-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to force a 24-24 tie. But the Lions answered with Jared Goff's 11-yard TD pass to Jahmyr Gibbs with 2:25 remaining and the Jets' final comeback attempt fell short in a 31-24 loss. The Jets dropped to 1-2 while the Lions improved to 2-1.

"I like the way we fought, I love the men we have but obviously there's a way to go to get to where you're trying to get to," Glenn said postgame.

QB Geno Smith passed for 321 yards and 3 TDs and both rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq (7-105-1TD) and veteran WR Garrett Wilson (10-107-1TD) had 100-yard receiving days.

With 51 seconds left, Smith was sacked, fumbled the ball, and Detroit recovered and ran out the clock to end the game.

Detroit relied heavily on Gibbs who had 99 rushing yards, 7 receptions for 65 yards and scored 3 TDs including the game-winner with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. Goff was 25-of-32 passing for 269 yards and 2 TDs; one to Gibbs and the other to WR Amon-Ra St. Brown before halftime.

"They have a great offense," S Dane Belton said. "They have really good skill players, a really good, competent quarterback that has a great arm and puts the ball where he wants to. It makes it hard when they have skill players like that and an O-line that's really good. For us as a defense, we just have to be able to build on it."

The Lions led by 24-10 at the start of the fourth quarter before the Jets countered.

"In the first half, I didn't think we moved the ball well but man, in the second half I thought our guys got some momentum," Glenn said. "So that's a good thing to see."

Sadiq, who scored his first NFL receiving TD in the second quarter, pushed the Jets into Lions' territory with an open field in front of him after Smith connected with him for a 43-yard gain. Sacks pushed the Jets back to third-and-17 but when Smith targeted Wilson, former Jets CB DJ Reed was called for defensive pass interference.

The drive stayed alive and Smith continued to deliver to his TEs — Jeremy Ruckert was on the receiving end of a 4-yard score. The Jets 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

On the ensuing possession, the defense stopped Detroit from converting on fourth down with edge Kingsley Enagbare stopping Gibbs short of the line of gain to put the offense back on the field with 8:30 to go.

The Jets stayed aggressive, later keeping their offense on the field facing fourth-and-6. Glenn called a timeout and the Green & White set the play. Smith dropped back and with pressure in his face, fired 23 yards down the right sideline to Wilson falling into the end zone. He made a circus catch with Reed in coverage.

"That's just what Garrett does," Sadiq said. "That's an insane touchdown catch but the crazy thing is I don't think anybody expected anything less."

The game was momentarily tied at 24 after Sterling Shepard, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, caught the 2-point conversion.

Neither offense had a fast start with the first five possessions between the two teams resulting in punts. S Andre Cisco stormed through a gap up the middle and sacked Goff for a loss of 10 yards and Demario Davis later bounced off a block by Gibbs to reach Goff for a 9-yard sack.

Smith was sacked 5 times and in the third quarter, Detroit held the Jets to a 42-yard field goal made by K Jason Sanders. The points were set up by a 32-yard leaping catch by Wilson and a 12-yard rush to the left side by Hall put them in the red zone.

Detroit had scored first on a second-quarter field goal drive where Gibbs touched the ball on 6 of its 9 plays.

Without Adonai Mitchell in the lineup, the Jets relied on their TEs from the start. When countering the Lions' first move, Smith stretched the field with an explosive play down the left sideline, placing the ball within the reach of Jelani Woods, the 6-7 TE.

Sadiq was next. He ran a vertical route up the right side of the field and launched into the air, making a diving 24-yard TD catch. Sadiq is the first rookie TE in Jets history to record a rushing and receiving TD in the same season,.

"I think the one thing that really stood out is we had one of our top players that went down in [Adonai] Mitchell and man, those tight ends really stepped up and [Smith] looked to make sure that we gave the ball to our tight ends," Glenn said. "Obviously G [Garrett Wilson] did his thing and that's a really good sign for our offense."

Smith was 31-for-37 passing for 321 yards and 3 TDs. RB Breece Hall (thigh) and LG Dylan Parham (knee) each left the game with injuries. Wilson had a head evaluation but was cleared, according to Glenn.

"It's tough when you lose a game in this nature when, man, we thought we had it right there," Glenn said. "Our guys believe all the work that was put in in OTAs and training camp .... We're fighting our [butts] off to close that gap."