Others have been close. Just last year the "new" Cleveland Browns went 1-15.
True, the Lions have company in the winless season department. If one sets their wayback machine to the year 1976, they would discover the Tampa Bay Buccaneers posting an 0-14 record. But that was their first season in the league, and they were populated by aging cast-offs from other teams, and free agents that nobody else wanted -- the only players they could get. They were predictably truly terrible as a result.
But 0-16 remains the gold, or more appropriately horse manure standard for futility. Until and unless the NFL lengthens its regular season, which has been discussed (see two fewer exhibition games and two more "regular" ones), but yet to be adopted, 0-16 can be equaled but not surpassed.
This is not exactly a record a team would be proud to have.
But chances are very good, almost a lock, that the Lions will get a partner in the all-time chump department next week.
That would be the very same new Cleveland Browns, who aren't exactly new at all. When the original team, which was very good, multiple champions even, back in the pre-Super Bowl era, packed up and moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens after the 1995 season, Cleveland was without an NFL presence. Briefly. Because in 2000, when the league expanded again, Cleveland got another franchise. So they've been at it for the better part of two decades. And all the while, they've stunk it up, just worse some years than others.
As we know, the Browns currently sit at 0-15. In order to escape the infamy of joining the 2008 Lions as the ultimate league laughingstock, they would have to win next week.
But guess who their opponent will be?
The Pittsburgh Steelers -- in Pittsburgh. As this is written, the Steelers are 11-3 and playing the Houston Texans. Which they are predictably clobbering. So let's make that 12-3 going into their last regular season game -- against the woeful Browns.
While the Steelers have already sewn up the AFC Central Division title, they still have something to play for in their regular season finale.
Going into that game, they'll be tied with the New England Patriots for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The only way they get that is by winning and hoping the Pats get knocked off. That's because if they finish with the same record, Bellichick and the Brady Bunch hold the tie-breaker, having defeated the Steelers in head-to-head competition just last week. That was a game the Steelers know they should have won, but let slip away, at home, in the waning seconds.
So yeah, Mike Tomlin, Big Ben, and THAT bunch will likely rout the Browns. Even if they DIDN"T have anything to play for, and used their 2nd and 3rd stringers throughout, the Steelers would still be a good bet to spank Cleveland.
[BTW, the Patriots will be hosting the plankton-esque NY Jets in their season finale. Though it's conceivable the Jets could pull an upset, it's also theoretically possible Las Vegas will get a foot of snow and suffer temperatures of 10 below zero. It's safe to say that's not a very good bet either. So chalk that up as a win for the Pats, as well. Which means the Steelers will likely have to face them in Foxborough somewhere down the road to get to the Super Bowl. Choking that game away last week could very well come back to haunt them when it matters most.]
Nonetheless, while the Lions were finally put out of their misery (again and what else is new?), they could get some back-handed good news in just another week.
They have a partner as the biggest chumps in the history of the NFL.
It doesn't rank right up there with getting to, much less winning a Super Bowl, but at least it's something.
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