Lions road-loss streak reaches record 24-straight at Carolina

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -- They own the record they didn't want.
The Detroit Lions surpassed the Houston Oilers' mark for futility away from home with a 24th straight setback on the road Sunday at Carolina.
Detroit has lost away from Ford Field and the Silverdome in just about every possible way the past three years: blowouts, near-misses, mental miscues and curious coaching decisions.
"It stinks," said tackle Jeff Backus, who hasn't won a road game since he was a senior at Michigan in 2000. "It's absolutely horrible.
"It's going to be there until we break it and that's just the way it is. As much as the coaches and the players say 'Don't worry about it, let's just play our game,' it's going to be there until we break it."
Steve Mariucci was San Francisco's coach while Detroit was winless on the road the past two seasons under Marty Mornhinweg, but stopping the streak was one of Mariucci's goals this year.
"We didn't get that one," Mariucci said Monday. "We're going to have to get it next year. Unless they extend our season to let us play somewhere else this year.
"Nobody likes it, but we're going to have to get that accomplished next year -- among other things."
The Lions have not just been bad on the road. During the past three years, they've been the worst team in the NFL -- anywhere -- and among the poorest in decades.
Unless they somehow upset the NFC-leading St. Louis Rams on Sunday at home, Detroit will have a three-season mark of 9-39 and will tie New England (1990-92) for the fourth-worst record over a three-year span since 1978.