What is the longest winless streak in NFL history? Detroit Lions extend streak
The most scrumptious Thanksgiving feast will likely do little to whet the appetites of NFL fans in Detroit.
The Detroit Lions' winless streak reached 15 on Thursday as a last-second field goal doomed them to a 16-14 loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears. The loss dropped the Lions to 0-10-1 on the season, their only non-blemish being a tie with Pittsburgh on November 14. If they fail to defeat the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday (1 PM ET, CBS), the Lions will have gone over a full calendar year without a win, having lost their final four games of last season.
If there were ever a clip representing a team it might be this one. #CHIvsDET https://t.co/ORSGMScf4w
Ice in his veins. 🥶
@cairosantos19 | #CHIvsDET https://t.co/RIGQLG0Olj
Are the Lions close to the longest winless streak in NFL history?
Though Detroit is no stranger to NFL infamy — in the 2008 edition they were one of two teams to achieve an imperfect 16-game mark — they have some "work" to do in terms of catching up to the longest winless streak in NFL history.
The Lions' latest Thanksgiving loss (their fifth in a row) has created the 16th winless game in a streak of at least 15 games, but the record currently sits at 29 and partly belongs to a bizarre incarnation of what is now the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinals, then based in Chicago, went nearly three calendar years without a win, dropping 29 consecutive contests from October 1942 through October 1945. When they finally ended the pain with a win over crosstown rivals the Bears, it was their only win of the season.
Part of the losses the Cardinals suffered were obtained through an unusual shared effort with the Pittsburgh Steelers: in 1944, the NFL was going through major player shortages brought about by the enlistment in the World War II effort. The Chicago and Pittsburgh franchises thus merged into a one-year union that was known as "Card-Pitt". Alas, the team was perjoratively referred to by NFL fans as the "Carpets," as they went 0-10 during the campaign. The average margin of defeat was 22 points and only one game, their opener against the Cleveland Rams, was decided by one possession.
Even the longest losing streak in the NFL's Super Bowl era might require a little more ineptitude than what the Lions are currently used to: that dubious mark belongs to the original version of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost the first 26 NFL contests in franchise history, infamously going 0-14 during its inaugural season in 1976. Tampa Bay finally broke through with a win over New Orleans in 1977.
If Detroit's streak were to reach these dire levels, they would end this season with no wins over their last 22 games, which would put them in sole possession of the third-longest denial of all-time.