the lions went 0 and 16 in 2008.
when did the lions go 0 and 16?
2008
on november 2, 2008, espn reported that he had agreed to terms on a two-year deal contract with the detroit lions and would join the team the following week. after passing a physical, culpepper officially signed with the lions on november 3. the lions assigned culpepper number 11, the number roy williams had worn before he was traded to dallas on october 14. culpepper played four games with the lions before suffering a shoulder injury. on december 28, 2008, the lions became the first team in nfl history to go 0–16. the only other teams since the afl–nfl merger to have a winless season were the 1976 tampa bay buccaneers, who went 0-14 (the nfl did not extend the schedule to 16 games until 1978), the 1982 baltimore colts, who went 0–8–1 during that strike-shortened season, and subsequently the 2016 cleveland browns and 2017 cleveland browns, who went 1–31 over two seasons.
daunte culpepper
after barry sanders retired, the 1999 season shockingly saw the lions make it the playoffs with a 8–8 record, before being dispatched by the washington redskins 27–13 in the wild card round. nine games into the 2000 season, bobby ross would resign as head coach following an embarrassing loss to the miami dolphins. he was replaced by assistant head coach gary moeller. the lions had an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth in the final game of the season if they defeated the chicago bears. however, paul edinger would kick a 54-yard field goal with two seconds left to give the bears a stunning 23–20 win. as a result, the lions missed the playoffs, finishing at 9–7. following the season, the lions hired matt millen, a former player and broadcaster, as team president and ceo. with his first act as team president, millen fired gary moeller as head coach, replacing him with marty mornhinweg. the lions fell apart in 2001, leading many to believe that they might become the first team to go 0–16 in a season. after starting 0–12, the lions finally managed to win a game on december 16 by defeating their rivals, the minnesota vikings. after two more losses, the lions played their final game of the season on january 6, 2002. in what was to be the final game played at the pontiac silverdome, the 1–14 lions hosted the 5–10 cowboys. despite there not being much hype or any playoff implications to the game, 77,512 fans came out to watch the lions defeat the cowboys 15–10.
history of the detroit lions