Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was lauded for his coaching performance two games into the season, even earning some extremely rare credit from one of his harshest critics.

That changed in the third game of the year.

After earning praise for Arizona’s 2-0 start, Kingsbury is being questioned and critiqued for his team’s 26-23 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, a loss that put the Cardinals at 2-1 on the season.

Lion Wire’s Jeff Risdon was among those slamming Kingsbury’s coaching in the Week 3 NFL game, calling it “bad.”

“As awesome as it felt when Matt Prater’s game-winner sailed comfortably through the goalposts as time expired, the Lions should feel very fortunate they didn’t get the ‘A’ game from Cardinals QB Kyler Murray or coach Kliff Kingsbury,” Risdon wrote on the site, which is part of the USA TODAY Sports Network. “It might not even have been their ‘C’ game. Not that Matt Patricia and the Lions coached a great game either, but this win had more of a feel of Arizona trying a little bit harder to lose it than anything the Lions did very well.”

MORE: DeAndre Hopkins leads all receivers on unusually quiet day for Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald

Risdon was baffled by a lot of Kingsbury’s moves.

“The Cardinals scheme and plan of attack made little sense,” he wrote. “With the Lions secondary struggling with both injuries and staying on task, and with DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald at their disposal, coach Kingsbury continually dialed up throws to…KeeSean Johnson. Fitzgerald had one catch for zero (yes, zero) yards. Johnson caught just two of his seven targets, often being covered by the Lions best cover man, Amani Oruwariye. Murray’s final three passes went to Johnson, not Hopkins or Andy Isabella, who torched the Lions for two too-easy touchdowns on the day. It was a head-scratching day for the Cardinals.”

He was especially confused by Kingsbury’s fourth-down move.

“Then there was a fourth down call where Kingsbury pulled Murray off the field,” Risdon wrote. “Arizona wound up committing a false start to make it a moot point, but here is an MVP candidate, a guy who can escape a crowded phone booth untouched, and Kingsbury decides Arizona’s better chance is without him on the field?!? It’s a good reminder for Lions fans used to suffering from coaching foibles of their own that it can happen to other teams, too. On this day, Matt Patricia did enough to help his team win and Kingsbury did not. Revel in it, but don’t get used to it, Detroit…”

MORE: Star Watch: Kyler Murray has up-and-down game in loss to Lions

Kingsbury shouldered the blame in Arizona’s loss to Detroit.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” he told reporters after the game. “I said all week they’re going to come in and play a great game. They had their backs against the wall and they came in and found a way to beat us. We didn’t play particularly well and I think you can see that. It starts with me not getting us ready to play. I didn’t call a very good game, we turned the ball over three times, they didn’t turn it over any, we had 12 men on the field, things of that nature. Those will get you beat and that’s what happened today.”

As for Fitzgerald’s lack of involvement, Kingsbury said: “Yeah, that’s on me. I should have done a better job of finding ways to get him the football. He’s the heart and soul of this team and when he’s getting the football, good things happen.”

Detroit entered the game 0-2 on the season. Arizona had been a 5.5 point favorite in the game and most predictions from NFL experts had the Cardinals winning against the Lions, with some of them having them get the victory fairly easily.

MORE: Cardinals vs. Lions: What we learned

Others also questioned Kingsbury’s coaching in the loss to the Lions.

The Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman gave Kingsbury a C- for his coaching job against the Lions.

He wrote: “Again, it’s understandable when game plans change during the flow of a game, but it would have been nice to see Kliff Kingsbury try to stick it out a little longer with the run game. You can’t really fault him too much on Arizona’s first failed possession of the fourth quarter because the team was backed up against its own end zone. But the two straight deep pass calls to KeeSean Johnson that ended Arizona’s second possession were a bit of a head-scratcher. Especially considering the way Hopkins was catching everything coming his way.”

The Arizona Republic’s Kent Somers wrote that Kingsbury outsmarted himself against the Lions.

He wrote: “Kingsbury blamed himself for the Cardinals’ first loss of the season. Didn’t have the team ready, he said. Called a bad game. Has to get the ball to Fitzgerald more often. Needs to communicate better with quarterback Kyler Murray. Kingsbury is correct on all counts. Including Kingsbury, the Cardinals were all over the map on Sunday. Kingsbury’s a gifted play caller, but he outsmarted himself  too often on Sunday. Like when he took Murray out and put backup Chris Streveler in on fourth and one in the third quarter. The Cardinals were late lining up, called a timeout, and then tight end Dan Arnold was called for a false start. Why take Murray out on fourth down? Especially after the brilliant touchdown 1-yard touchdown run he made in the second quarter? And why later in the quarter did Kingsbury call three consecutive pass plays after Kenyan Drake had rushed for 15 yards and a first down?”

MORE: Cardinals Report Card: Some head-scratching calls from Kliff Kingsbury

Somers wrote that Kingsbury should shoulder some of the blame for the loss.

He wrote: “This loss is on coach Kliff Kingsbury, too. The Lions were the worst rush defense in the NFL yet Kingsbury too often got away from the run. Like when he called a string of pass plays after Kenyan Drake had gained 15 yards on first down. Or when the Cardinals were so discombobulated on a fourth down attempt that they had to call timeout. And then they were penalized for a false start after the timeout. Or, when second year receiver KeeSean Johnson is targeted seven times and Larry Fitzgerald only twice. Sometimes, a play caller needs to stay with the basics and save the creativity and the cuteness for another day.”

In contrast, the Detroit Free Press wrote that Lions coach Matt Patricia outcoached the Cardinals in the game.

Shawn Windsor wrote: “Patricia deserves credit for this. His team may have given up yards, but it didn’t give up big plays. In fact, it made them when it needed to have them. This time, it was the other guys doing the imploding like when the Cardinals false-started on fourth-and-1, and threw the interceptions, and committed pass interference on the final drive of the game.  

MORE: Instead of being 3-0, Cardinals know they have a lot of work left to do after loss

Dave Birkett, also of the Detroit Free Press, gave Patricia an A- for his coaching job against the Cardinals.

He wrote: “Give Matt Patricia and his staff a ton of credit for their game plan Sunday. They flustered Murray with coverage and made it hard for him to make plays in both the passing and running games. The Lions seemed to play more zone than usual, and they juggled personnel. Okudah played right cornerback and Amani Oruwariye left corner for the first time this season, and Vaitai played right guard after spending all of training camp at right tackle. Offensively, the Lions did their best to keep Murray and Arizona’s potent offense off the field with a balanced attack, and Patricia made the right call when he passed on a 58-yard field goal and counted on Fox to pin Arizona’s offense near its own goal line. The Lions’ defense came up with a key stop, and Stafford and the offense responded with the game-tying field goal drive.”