ARLINGTON, Texas -- As he did following the season-opening loss to the New York Jets on Sept. 11, Tony Romo took the responsibility for the Cowboys’ 34-30 loss to Detroit on Sunday.

After a nearly flawless first half, Romo was intercepted three times and had two returned for touchdowns (Bobby Carpenter, Chris Houston) which started Detroit’s comeback from a 27-3 deficit.

Romo’s final pick set up the Lions’ game-winning touchdown on a pass from Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson with 1:39 to play.

“The game turns obviously on turnovers,” Romo said. “It is the most important stat there is in a game. That’s why you protect the ball. It’s my No. 1 job and I didn’t do a well enough job of that today. For a lot of the game we did. I’m not taking anything away from them. They made a play when they had to. I shouldn’t have allowed them to have that chance.”

On his last turnover Romo tried to loop the pass over linebacker Stephen Tulloch to tight end Jason Witten on first down with 4:13 to play and the Cowboys holding a 33-30 lead.

“My feet I didn’t feel quite as set as they need to be to push it down as far as it needed to be,” Romo said. “I want to watch the tape to see what it was. It’s disappointing because he was coming open past all the linebackers and there’s no safety help to that side. I wish I could have that throw back and just throw it further.”

Romo, who took a pain-killing injection for the second straight week because of a fractured rib, finished with 331 yards on 34-of-47 passing with three touchdowns and a passer rating of 86.4.

“Each game is different,” Romo said when asked if this loss was similar to the one against the Jets. “Today is just tough because we were in a position to win. I’m not going to try to figure out in exact terms the feel of it. I just know the turnovers matter. And when we have a lead like that, that is really the most important aspect of it. I’ll look at why that happened and get it corrected.”