The Lions lost again Sunday. This time it was 31-22 at Carolina.

In the third quarter, they were trailing, 24-16, when coach Rod Marinelli elected to punt instead of attempting a 58-yard field goal.

Now, no Lions kicker has ever made a 58-yard field goal - indoors or outdoors. But Jason Hanson had just blasted a 56-yarder in the same direction a quarter earlier, tying his team record for longest field goal and setting a team record for longest outdoor field goal.

Why not go for it?

Marinelli pointed out that a Panther had gotten a piece of a 40-yard field goal earlier, and the farther the attempt, the lower the trajectory of the kick and the higher the chance of a block. That didn't stop him from trying the 56-yarder.

But when Hanson blasted the 56-yarder, he had a strong wind at his back. Now the wind had died. And Hanson said the kick actually would have been 581/2 or 59 yards.

"That's really rolling the dice," Hanson said. "As confidently as I would like to say, 'Hey, I'd have a chance at making it,' I've said that lots of times and missed or been short. It's a pretty risky field goal. ...

"If I make it I'm a hero, but I mean, again, really, that's the ball game, actually. If I kick it and miss it, they have the ball at midfield. That's big trouble."

The Lions punted and pinned the Panthers at their 13.

"So I thought that was a good call for us," Marinelli said.

The Lions trailed by nine with 4:28 to go when they faced fourth-and-four at the Detroit 26. Marinelli elected to punt even though it was a two-possession game.

The three times Marinelli went for it earlier, the Lions were across the 50 trying to sustain drives. Now they were deep in Detroit territory, and Marinelli was trying to sustain the game.

"That's one play, I think, that if you don't get it, the game is over at that point," Marinelli said. "Where we were at on the field, I didn't want it to come down to one play when there's 41/2 minutes left in the game."

The Lions stopped the Panthers and got the ball back with 2:41 to go, but the Panthers pinned them on their 2 - after the Lions elected not to decline a delay of game penalty by Panthers punter Jason Baker, giving Baker more room to work and avoid a touchback.