Lions now just 1 loss from first 0-16 season in NFL history

DETROIT - The Detroit Lions own a dubious piece of NFL history - with perhaps more on the way.

Detroit became the first 0-15 team ever when it was routed 42-7 by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The Lions will try to avoid a perfectly awful season in the finale at Green Bay, where they haven't won since 1991.

"It's very real," center Dominic Raiola said. "It's right there in front of us.

"It's pretty sad that its come to this."

Drew Brees threw for 351 yards and 2 touchdowns after four Saints ran for scores in the first half. Brees stayed in the game with a 35-point lead late in the fourth quarter to move closer to Dan Marino's single-season record for yards passing. He needs 402 at home against Carolina to break Marino's record of 5,084 set in 1984.

The Lions were outscored by a combined 176 points at home this season, smashing the previous NFL record of 146 set by the 1981 Colts.

"This is one big nightmare," Raiola said. "You want it to end, but it hasn't ended yet."

Fans got excited when the Lions finally fired team president Matt Millen following an 0-3 start and a 31-84 mark over seven-plus seasons, but the team hasn't been able to overcome the mess he left behind.

After the game, the Lions released a statement in which team owner William Clay Ford said he expects interim general manager Martin Mayhew and executive vice president Tom Lewand to return next season.

The Lions were routed in their first four games, had a shot to win each of their next four, then showed flashes of competitiveness and extended periods of poor play.

Expansion Tampa Bay set the bar low for NFL futility in 1976, when it finished 0-14, and Detroit is a loss away from making the Buccaneers inaugural season look a little better.

"I think this would be a lot worse," Raiola said.

Detroit seemed doomed early when Skyler Green returned the opening kickoff for 60 yards and Robert Meachem was untouched on a 20-yard end-around 21/2 minutes into the game.

The Lions seemed to tie it on the ensuing drive, but a 52-yard pass to Calvin Johnson was negated because rookie offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus was called for illegal procedure - his second penalty of the possession.

"It is inexcusable," coach Rod Marinelli said.

New Orleans went 97 yards on its next drive, taking a 14-0 lead on Deuce McAllister's 2-yard run.

It got so ugly fans mockingly in the half-empty stadium chanted "Jo-ey! Jo-ey!" in reference to New Orleans' third-string quarterback Joey Harrington, who was the first of many first-round busts Detroit drafted during its an eight-season stretch (31-95) that is the NFL's worst since 1950.

Since the Lions traded Harrington, their No. 3 pick in 2002, they are 10-36 and have won only one of their last 23 games.

"Who would have believed that I was here in the heyday?" Harrington joked. "Things have changed. When I was here, the fans brought 'Fire Millen' signs, but still cheered for the team. Now, the ones that do show up bring 'Hire Millen' signs and that doesn't help.

"No one deserves to go through this."