Lions- 0-16

[Oiler35]

GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- The Detroit Lions heard the raucous crowd at Lambeau Field and their heads sank as the chants of "0-and-16" grew louder. The final seconds of the Lions' 31-21 loss Sunday to the host Green Bay Packers hadn't even vanished from the game clock, and already the pain was settling in.


Humiliation didn't begin to describe what the Lions felt at that moment.

"You hope something like this doesn't happen but what do you do?" said Lions kicker Jason Hanson afterward. "Nobody is going to feel bad for you in this league. Look at the fans here. They were cheering at the end of the game and it wasn't for Green Bay."

Here is the lesson we can glean from the worst season in NFL history: There is no reason to feel sorry for the Lions. They don't want the pity and, to be honest, they really don't deserve it. They had 16 opportunities to earn a victory this season, the same as every other team in the league. They failed to take advantage of that opportunity 16 times, and now they have to live with this stigma for the rest of their lives -- they are the first team to go winless over a 16-game season.


To their credit, the Lions accepted that infamous place in history with as much honor as anybody could muster after a season of complete failure. They didn't sneak out of their locker room to avoid the media. They didn't point fingers at each other or complain about the frigid weather conditions. They simply acknowledged their lack of achievement and braced for the body blows. As Lions head coach Rod Marinelli said, "Our record speaks for itself. That's all I can say."



"It really is unexplainable," said Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky. "Until you go through something like this, you just don't think it can happen. Right now we're completely embarrassed but it's not like everyone didn't try. We did everything we could. We just didn't do enough."



The most disturbing part of all this for the Lions is they know they didn't sleepwalk their way through a winless season. They went through the offseason workouts, the minicamps and the training camp practices with the same hope as other teams had in the offseason, that this year would be successful. But outsiders don't get to see offseason workouts, and they surely don't matter when the losses pile up. In the end, all people remember are the results.



Even Sunday's game offered some evidence the Lions still had some fight left in them. Aside from a few unsportsmanlike conduct penalties -- "Self-control is everything in this game and we didn't have it today," Marinelli said -- the Lions didn't implode when this game could have gotten out of hand. After all, the Packers scored their first touchdown on a 73-yard touchdown run by DeShawn Wynn and they led 14-0 when the first quarter ended.


That would have been as good a time as any for the Lions to start thinking about next season.


Instead, Detroit battled back. Orlovsky threw two touchdown passes to Calvin Johnson and the score was tied at 14 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. The Lions were so pumped at that moment that they believed this was going to be their day. What they eventually did, however, was remind everybody why they haven't had a pleasant afternoon playing football this year.


Green Bay, which finished 6-10, scored 10 points early in the fourth period. The Packers weathered a Detroit rally to within 24-21 when Kevin Smith scored a touchdown with 7:32 left. Just 16 seconds later, the Packers delivered the dagger when Aaron Rodgers hit Donald Driver with a 71-yard touchdown pass.


When the Lions look back on this game, they'll see the same problems that plagued them all season: the mental breakdowns, the mistakes at the worst possible times, the inability to take care of the small details that lead to positive results. They'll also see a defense that allowed two 100-yard rushers (Wynn and Ryan Grant), two 100-yard receivers (Greg Jennings and Driver) and a 300-yard passer (Rodgers).

By Jeffri Chadiha
ESPN.com

 

[jarrod2323]

last year's best regular season ever to this year's worst.. who woulda thought?

 

[X-Factor]

I saw this Packer fan have a sign saying

"0-16...so easy the Lions can do it."

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

Pretty pathetic how the fans got to rub it in but whatever. Lions don't deserve any credit for what they did but they kept fighting and came up short.

 

[.GR]

Congrats Lion fans.

 

[Oiler35]

I just called my friend who's a Lions fan... his dad picked up and he said "I haven't seen Connor since yesturday.... He might be in his room crying"


lmfao.

 

[DC4]

I saw this Packer fan have a sign saying

"0-16...so easy the Lions can do it."

I tried googling it to see it again lol

 

[kdogg]

I just find it hilarious that we won all are preseason games (like in blowout fashions) but then we go 0-16 in regular season. Shows how much preseason means lol.

 

[RipCity32]

Maybe next season?

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

Maybe next season?

Maybe next season has been continuous now for years with the same results.

 

[kdogg]

Maybe next season has been continuous now for years with the same results.

It's only been one year recently even close to this lol.

They usually get about 5 wins at least.

 

[A.E]

Bobby Layne is rolling over in his grave right now & Matt Millen should be tied to a tree, with each Detroit Lions' fan permitted to throw at least 1 heavy object at him.

Good news for Lions' fans is the fact that they have 3 of the first 33 picks in next year's NFL draft...and Millen won't be around the draft WR's with any of them.

Do yourself a favor William Clay Ford...hire a defensive minded head coach, and make sure whoever is calling the shots on 2009 draft day selects either Drew Stafford or Sam Bradford first overall.

 

[RipCity32]

Bobby Layne is rolling over in his grave right now & Matt Millen should be tied to a tree, with each Detroit Lions' fan permitted to throw at least 1 heavy object at him.

Good news for Lions' fans is the fact that they have 3 of the first 33 picks in next year's NFL draft...and Millen won't be around the draft WR's with any of them.

Do yourself a favor William Clay Ford...hire a defensive minded head coach, and make sure whoever is calling the shots on 2009 draft day selects either Drew Stafford or Sam Bradford first overall.

I hope you mean Matt Stafford, Drew is a NHL player

I guess it's Detroit though, you never know. LMAO.

 

[Yankees2772]

Trade 1st overall... If you need to think about which QB is best, he isn't worth the pick.

Browns? Pats? A Team with a spare QB...

 

[A.E]

Trade 1st overall... If you need to think about which QB is best, he isn't worth the pick.

Browns? Pats? A Team with a spare QB...

Looking at the top 10 right now, the Lions might actually benefit from trading that top pick and moving down. About 90% of the league is set on a QB & I think the Browns can move down to the middle of the first round & still get Stafford or Bradford. They could also opt for a LT and bank on one of the top QB's to still be around by that 24th pick they got in the Roy Will trade.

 

[High.Flyer88]

Lions promoted Mayhew, that means the Lions will be more screwed than ever. this is a bad, bad franchise right now. Poorly run.

 

[Lake Louise]

If only they won the last game, than I could`ve said they could pull a this years Dolphins, but now, well, I cant really say anything except, they better make some big moves in the draft & offseason.

 

[VC15]

Shows how much preseason means lol.

Now I wonder who said that before the regular season started...

 

[Dice-J]

Wonder who they draft. I'm guesing a QB, but no one knows which top QB's are going pro. McCoy is stayin, no one knows about Tebow, and I think Bradford is declaring, but not sure.

 

[Lake Louise]

If Bradford doesn`t declare, than they should go for Matt Stafford, or some other QB`s that can do wonders for them. Although, they do really need someone to accompany Calvin pretty nicely, and who knows how long Maclin will be out there, which would be there best bet with their 2nd 1st round pick, if they went QB first.