Lions lose to Saints, making history as 0-15 team

DETROIT — The Detroit Lions somberly dressed after another defeat that was different than all the others.

This one made NFL history and set the stage for a perfectly imperfect season.

Detroit became the first 0-15 team when it was routed 42-7 by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

"Awful, embarrassing," Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. "We stunk. Any bad adjective you can use, throw it in there."

The Lions try to avoid the dubious distinction of finishing 0-16 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 two touchdowns after four Saints ran for scores in the first half in their first game since they were eliminated from playoff contention.

New Orleans was so effective it went 11-for-11 on third down until kneeling on the last play of the game, tied a team record with 32 first downs, and didn't punt.

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.

"I thought we handled that part of it well in just handling the game the way we're supposed to and that's to win," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "These guys get paid to play."

Brees needs 402 yards passing at home against Carolina to break Marino's record of 5,084 set in 1984.

"I think we're going do what it takes to win, first and foremost," Brees said. "I'm trying not to think about it as much as possible. It's hard to do because everybody wants to talk about it."

New Orleans (8-7) played its first game since being eliminated from playoff contention.

"We're playing for a lot," Brees insisted. "We're playing to finish the season the right way, with pride."

It's hard for the Lions to have any pride, especially at home.

Detroit broke NFL records by being outscored by a combined 176 points at home and by an average of 22 points. The 1981 Colts lost their home games by 146 points and the merged Steelers and Cardinals were defeated by an average of 21.4 points in 1944 with a depleted roster during World War II.