The Detroit Lions have set a new benchmark for National Football League futility as they completed the first ever 16 loss season with defeat to the Green Bay Packers 31-21.
Detroit join the 1976 Tampa Buccaneers, who went 0-14, as the only winless teams in the Super Bowl era.
Two years later, the league expanded to a 16-game season, paving the way for Detroit's dubious achievement.
The Lions showed some intensity in their attempt to avoid humiliation rallying from a pair of deficits to enter the fourth quarter with the score knotted at 14-14.
But there was no reprieve, as Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to seal Detroit's fate.
Meantime New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has failed in his bid to become the NFL's all-time leader for passing yards in a season.
Brees needed to pass for 402 yards against the Carolina Panthers to surpass Dan Marino's record but managed only 386 in the Saints' 33-31 loss to the NFC South champions.
He completed 30 of 49 passes and tossed four touchdowns but needed 16 additional yards to break the record.
Brees, however, became only the second quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards in a season.
Marino, a Hall of Fame quarterback with the Miami Dolphins who retired following the 1999 season, passed for a record 5,084 yards in 1984.
