2008 Detroit Lions season
| 2008 Detroit Lions season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Rod Marinelli |
| General manager | Martin Mayhew |
| Owner | William Clay Ford Sr. |
| Home field | Ford Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 0-16 |
| Division place | 4th NFC North |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | none |
| Uniform | |
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The 2008 Detroit Lions season was the 79th season for the franchise in the National Football League. The Lions entered their third season under head coach Rod Marinelli and were looking to improve on the 7-9 record they put together in 2007. Instead, the Lions had one of the worst seasons in pro sports history. The team lost all sixteen of their games in 2008, becoming the first team since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to end an NFL season with no wins and no tied games as well as the first team to do it since the schedule was expanded to sixteen games. The Lions were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by Week 11, when they stood 0-10. The team's victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 of 2007 stood as their last until Week 3 of the 2009 season. From the time the Lions recorded a win over the Denver Broncos in 2007 to reach 6–2, the team went 5–47 over their following fifty-two games (including all of 2008 and 2009) before winning four games in a row at the end of the 2010 season. As of 2017, this is the only team in NFL history to finish a season with a 0-16 record.
The Lions gave up 517 points during the season, coming within 16 of matching the 1981 Colts’ record of 533 points allowed. The Lions’ 32.31 points per game allowed on defense is the third worst of any NFL team since the 60's, bettering only the 1966 Giants (35.79 PPG) and the aforementioned 1981 Colts (33.31 PPG). Embattled team president and CEO Matt Millen, who had served in those roles since 2001 was fired on September 24, 2008. Marinelli was fired after the season ended along with most of his staff.
To celebrate their 75th year playing as the Lions (they had been known as the Portsmouth Spartans their first four seasons), the Lions wore special throwback uniforms for two home games, a replica of the ones used in 1934, the first year as the Lions. The uniforms had blue jerseys with silver lettering, solid silver pants, blue socks, and solid silver helmets (As helmets were leather back then). This replaced their black alternate jersey used in the 2005–2007 seasons.
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