Detroit may be worst in the NFL

Only Tampa Bay in 1976 lost every game and the Lions could beat that this year.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — The winless Detroit Lions are clearly the NFL’s worst team this season.

They might be the worst in the league’s modern era, earning a spot in the conversation with the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1980 New Orleans Saints, 1986 Indianapolis Colts and last year’s Miami Dolphins.

“It’s hard, but it’s fair,” Detroit running back Kevin Smith said.

Detroit (0-13) seems destined to make NFL history as the first 0-16 team with a game Sunday at Indianapolis and a home finale against New Orleans before closing the season at Green Bay.

If the Lions seal the deal by losing their last three games, at least one former Buc from the infamous 0-14 team will not be popping champagne to celebrate.

“It’s a tough situation,” said Vikings linebacker coach Fred Pagac, who played for Tampa Bay in its inaugural season. “I hope something works out for them.”

After the Bucs went 0-14, three teams threatened to join them in league infamy before Detroit dropped into the bad company this season.

The 1980 Saints lost their first 14 games before finishing 1-15. The 1986 Colts started 0-13, then won their next three games. The 2007 Dolphins began 0-13 last year and ended 1-15.

Tampa Bay, though, set the bar low for awful teams during its expansion year three-plus decades ago.

Clad in ghastly creamsicle uniforms and helmets bearing a winking pirate logo, the Bucs stumbled and bumbled their way to the modern standard for NFL futility.

Tampa Bay was shut out five times and outscored on average by three touchdowns with rookie defensive lineman Lee Roy Selmon and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier.

“There is a kind of reverse immortality that comes with playing on a team like that,” former Buc defensive end Pat Toomay has said.

Even if the Lions follow up their awful season with another, they will be hard pressed to match the Bucs’ 26-game losing streak between the 1976 and ’77 seasons, which still stands as NFL record.

Detroit is, however, in the midst of the worst eight-season stretch since 1950 by winning just under 25 percent of its games since 2001.

Smith expects the Lions to find a way to win a game, just as the Dolphins did last season.

The rookie said he would be a “coward” and would let his teammates down if he believed otherwise.