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Cleveland Browns: A hypothetical matchup against the winless 2008 Lions

By Steven Kubitza

Oct 30, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson watches warmups before a game against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson watches warmups before a game against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Browns were one loss away from joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only team to finish 0-16 in an NFL season.

As the Cleveland Browns move past an atrocious 1-15 season, there are fans in one city who were not lucky enough to escape the ownership of an 0-16 season.

Detroit Lions fans must live with the reality of an 0-16 finish in 2008, still being the only team to hold that mark after the Browns were able to pick up a single win in 2016.

And before you want to fight me for bringing this up, rest easy, as I was recently asked my opinion on who would win a matchup between the 2016 Browns and the 2008 Lions by Mike Payton of Pride of Detroit.

I ultimately went with the Browns, as the team was able to muster at least one victory. The Lions were a historically bad team in 2008, record aside, allowing 517 points, compared to 472 points allowed by the 2016 Browns. The article goes more in-depth with the statistics for both teams.

The similarities began in the 2016 preseason when Cody Kessler ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety, mirroring what Dan Orlovsky did for the Lions, although his safety came during the regular season.

This matchup is one that Lions fans may say their team would have won, while Browns fans would laugh at such a possibility. Luckily, this sad matchup will never happen.

While Lions fans must always live with the embarrassing mark of 0-16, Browns fans can look at the 1-15 record as the first step of a rebuilding process. One win is not ideal, but it is infinitely better than no wins.

The season was expected to be tough from the outset, but picking up that single win gives the young team some momentum heading into the 2017 season, when the team will continue to add more talent through the NFL Draft.

Next: What should the Browns do at QB?

The Lions have moved on from that 0-16 season to become a playoff team, which is something the Browns are looking to do in the near future. And luckily for the Browns, the absolute rock bottom of 0-16 didn’t have to be felt before the ultimate turnaround takes place.

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