Getty Fans celebrate the 2008 Lions going 0-16 in Green Bay.
The Detroit Lions made some NFL history for their poor play in 2008 becoming the league’s only 0-16 team at the time, an indication of how bad they truly were on the field.
Could a team in 2020 actually be worse? According to one of the quarterbacks on the field during that season, the answer is yes. Recently, after watching the New York Jets, Dan Orlovsky proclaimed that his Lions, who were winless that season and one of the worst teams in the league, could beat this year’s edition of the Jets 16 times.
My 0-16 would beat the Jets 16 times
The Jets have been dreadful in their 0-3 start to the season, but have they been 0-16 bad? Many think that could be the case as the season wears on, and Orlovsky’s claim would likely make the Jets one of the worst teams ever to take the field in football history. Naturally, this claim brought plenty of strong takes Orlovsky’s way on Twitter.
There’s a long way to go on the 2020 season, so proclaiming the Jets destined for 0-16 could be premature. There’s only been a pair of teams to accomplish the feat recently, and it’s been tough to go completely winless historically without being a complete train wreck.
According to Orlovsky, he thinks the current Jets are enough of a train wreck to lose multiple times to one of the league’s true laughing stock teams on the field.
2008 Lions One of NFL’s Worst Teams
Proclaiming the 2008 Lions would beat anyone could be a serious stretch. The team struggled in a big way to do anything right that season other than lose, and had one of the worst offenses and defenses in league history. Many thought the record would never be matched, but the Cleveland Browns shattered it almost a decade later.
2020 Lions Made NFL History With Collapses
Coming into Week 1, entering a fourth quarter with a 17 point lead or more all but assured victory for a team in the last 14 years. That was the case until the Lions came along and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, something they’ve become accustomed to doing throughout their history.
As Warren Sharp pointed out, NFL teams had won an incredible 779 games since 2006 with such a commanding late lead. Detroit’s defeat was only one of less than a handful in that mark, which is a gaudy number to consider that proves epic comebacks aren’t exactly the norm in the NFL.
The Lions became just the 4th team since 2006 to blow a 17+ point lead entering the 4th quarter.
Teams had been 779-3 (99.6%) in that span.
If there was ever going to be a team that would fall into the worst possible 1% and lose, however, it would be the Lions. It’s true the team seems to invent new ways to frustrate and disappoint their fans, and this is just merely the latest example and quite possibly the cherry on top.
Even when there’s a 99% chance at victory thanks to a double digit lead, it can officially be said that the Lions don’t have things sewn up enough to feel comfortable. It’s a sobering thought for fans.
While the 2020 Lions might be inconsistent, they aren’t as bad as the 2008 edition, and might not even be as bad as the 2020 Jets.
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