Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Usually for threads like this, it's always which good/decent/above-average team was better. But in this case, I wanted to try something different.

Very rarely do you have two blatantly awful teams in the same season, but 2001 had two such teams- the Lions and Panthers.

Carolina famously lost 15 straight games after an opening week 1, Detroit seriously flirted with 0-16 past Thanksgiving.

Both teams lost their share of blowouts (Lions on Monday Night at home against the Rams, Carolina in the reg. season finale against New England), but also were involved in a lot of close games against decent teams.

Carolina- Final play loss against New Orleans, 49ers barely won at Charlotte, one point loss against playoff bound Jets

Detroit- Almost won at Tampa Bay, lost 9 straight games by 8 points or fewer (almost won road games against 12-4 49ers and 13-3 Bears, Tampa Bay needed a last minute TD to survive).

Which of these cellar-dwellers was more/less horrid?

Don't even get me started with the '01 Panthers! If Seif could have, so much, simply went 5-11 that year he'd be a HOFer! But because of what DID happen, he'll forever be boxed-out no matter what anyone ever does or says. He was in charge of the DBs for SF in '81, the secondary being...the STRONGEST PART of that very champion squad (practically all of them ROOKIES) and went on to be (the historically most UNDERRATED) DC for SF '83-thru-'88.

Many taking over for Walsh the 8 years after he retired wouldn't have been able to win a single SB in that time yet alone TWO. As much as I so respect the '85 Bears' D and feel they would have beaten Miami in a hypo-SBXX-rematch, I'd still rather take the '84 who walloped Marino or '89 Millen-led installments. And it's ALL Seifert!

Only SB-winning HC to not be carried off field as well. MAJOR injustice!

The 2008 Lions. 0-16. One of their quarterbacks accidentally ran out of the end zone. They made the playoffs a few years later but it's hard to say that franchise has fully recovered from Matt Millen.

Both were very close in awfulness. I will go with the Lions as being slightly better for no other reasons than they won one more game than the Panthers and they had a slight edge in point differential.