December 28, 2008: The NFL's 1st 0-16 Season

December 28, 2008: The Detroit Lions lose to the Green Bay Packers. It completes the NFL's 1st 0-16 season.

Having been moved from Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans, in 1934, the Lions were wearing commemorative patches in honor of their 75th Season, even though the next season was their 75th Anniversary. Their 75th season would be their worst.

They had won the NFL Championship in 1935, 1952, 1953 and 1957. Then they got stuck behind the Vince Lombardi dynasty in Green Bay, finishing 2nd in the NFL Western Division in 1960, 1961 and 1962. On Thanksgiving Day 1962, they dealt the Packers their only loss of the season, but it wasn't enough.

They made the NFC Playoffs in 1970, then not again until the strike-shortened season of 1982. They won the NFC Central Division in 1983, 1991 and 1993; and made the Playoffs as a Wild Card in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999, and just missed in 2000.

But the team fell apart. They finished 2-14 in 2001, their last season playing home games at the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac, Michigan. They went 3-13 in 2002, their 1st season in the new Ford Field in Detroit in 2002. On December 23, 2007, they beat the Kansas City Chiefs at home, 25-20, then closed out the season by losing to the Packers, 34-13 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

No one knew it yet, but that win over the Chiefs would be their last win for a long time -- and not just because the NFL's off-season runs from early February to early September. The Lions won all 4 of their 2008 exhibition games, but those didn't count. They started the season in Atlanta, losing to the Falcons, 34-21. They lost to the Packers at home, 48-25. And they lost away to the San Francisco 49ers. Then they had a bye week. If they thought that would help, it didn't: Their next game was a 34-7 home loss to the Chicago Bears.

After this game, general manager Matt Millen, once a good linebacker and a good broadcaster, was fired. Head coach Rod Marinelli, however, was kept. Their next few games were more hopeful: They lost 12-10 away to the Minnesota Vikings, 28-21 away to the Houston Texans, 25-17 home to the Washington Redskins, and 27-23 away to the Bears. They were 3 touchdowns (with 1 two-point conversion) and a field goal away from being 4-4.

Except that loss to the Vikings, on October 12, included a play where Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky, standing in his own end zone with the ball on the Lions' 1-yard line, took the snap, saw defensive end Jared Allen coming at him, and stepped back, not realizing that he was now out of his end zone. That's a safety, and that's 2 points, and that made the difference in the game. Ever since, mistakenly running the ball out of your own end zone has been known as "pulling a Dan Orlovsky."

Referee Tony Corrente signals, Orlovsky goofs, Allen celebrates

But they couldn't get that first W. They lost 38-14 home to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They lost 31-22 away to the Carolina Panthers, 38-20 home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 47-10 home to the Tennessee Titans. They were 0-12.

They came close on December 7, at home to the Vikings. They led 6-3 at the half, and closed to within 17-16 with 5:44 to go. But Ryan Longwell kicked a 50-yard field goal with 22 seconds left, and the Vikings won, 20-16. That seemed to be it: They lost 31-21 away to the Indianapolis Colts, and 42-7 to the New Orleans Saints in their home finale.

There was little hope going into Lambeau Field for the season finale. The Packers took a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter. In the 3rd quarter, the Lions managed to tie it, 14-14, thanks to 2 touchdown passes from Dan Orlovsky to Calvin Johnson. With 7:32 left in the 4th quarter, Kevin Smith scored a touchdown, and the Lions were within 24-21. But on the Packers' 1st play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Aaron Rodgers threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver. That made it 31-21 Packers, and the score held to the end. The Lions had finished 0-16.

The Columbus Panhandles had gone 0-8 in 1922. The Columbus Tigers went 0-9 in 1925. An NFL team named the Cincinnati Reds were 0-8 in the middle of the 1934 season, before folding. The Lions themselves went 0-11 in 1942. The Chicago Cardinals went 0-10 in 1943, then merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers for 1944, and went 0-10 again. If that '44 season is counted, they had a 29-game losing streak, the longest in NFL history. Also in 1944, the Brooklyn Tigers went 0-10.

In their 1st season, 1960, the Dallas Cowboys went 0-11-1. In their 1st season, 1976, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14, and stretched that streak to 0-26, the longest real losing streak in NFL history, before winning in 1977. The Baltimore Colts went 0-8-1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

But the 2008 Lions had the 1st 0-16 season in NFL history, and they didn't even have the excuse of being an expansion team or a wartime manpower drain. The Cleveland Browns would match them in 2017: A 4-0 preseason, and an 0-16 regular season.

New general manager Martin Mayhew fired Marinelli, and hired Jim Schwartz as the new head coach. At first, it didn't seem to work: They lost 45-27 away to the Saints, and 27-13 at home to the Vikings. But on September 27, 2009, they took a 19-game losing streak into Ford Field, and beat the Washignton Redskins, 19-14. They finished 2-14. By 2011, they had made the Playoffs again.

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December 28, 2008 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day -- and note that there was no Thursday night game, which would have been on Christmas Day, and there was also no Monday night game:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 20-19 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The aforementioned Ryan Longwell kicked a 50-yard field goal on the last play to win it.

* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 24-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys, 44-6 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-7 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-27 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-24 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 33-31 at the Superdome in New Orleans. John Kasay kicked a 42-yard field goal with 1 second left to win it.

* The Houston Texans beat the Chicago Bears, 31-24 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 13-0 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 31-0 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 16-6 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 23-0 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 34-21 at the University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 52-21 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* And the San Francisco 49ers beat the Washington Redskins, 27-24 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

There was 1 college football game that day: Louisiana Tech beat Northern Illinois, 17-10, in the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Denver Nuggets, 117-110 at Madison Square Garden. Future Knick Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points for the Nuggets.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat, 93-86 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. LeBron James scored 33 points.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Indiana Pacers, 105-103 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* There was a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. First, the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 98-76. Then, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 130-113. Kobe Bryant scored 31 points.

* And the Boston Celtics beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-63 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. No, that is not a typo: One hundred and eight to sixty-three. The Celtics were the defending NBA Champions, and raised their record for the 2008-09 season to 28-4. The Kings fell to 7-24.

There were  6 games played in the NHL:

* The Washington Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators, 5-2 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-0 at General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Hampshire team Portsmouth, 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.