0-16 Lions QB recalls 2008’s Great Recession as he describes Detroit’s rise from “embarrassment”

The Detroit Lions have come a long way from their miserable 2008-09 season.

Fifteen years ago, they "achieved" one of the most notorious feats in NFL history, going 0-16 - the first winless season since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' debut in 1976-77. Fast forward to 2023-24, and they now have their first division title and NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991, during the era of the great Barry Sanders.

Dan Orlovsky, the primary starting quarterback during that ignominious period, cannot be any more overjoyed at this transformation. Speaking on Monday's episode of First Take, he called the Lions "the best story" of the playoffs so far:

"This organization and this team have given this city something that it's kind of desired or begged for forever: pride and respect. I was there when it wasn't good. It was the economic downturn. Um, we stunk as a football team. There was a lot of embarrassment. And this fanbase has just stayed with it."

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Lions' Divisional Round defeat of Buccaneers drew historic ratings for NBC

Sunday was a good time to be a Detroit Lions fan, both on the field and in the house. In that same segment, Orlovsky called the atmosphere inside Ford Field "electric" and "spectacular to watch", and it proved the same on television.

On Monday, NBC, which aired the team's 31-23 Divisional Round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, announced that the game had averaged 40.4 million viewers. This was the highest attendance for a Divisional Round game since Jan. 16, 1994, when Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Houston Oilers 28-20. The peak figure was at 49.1 million viewers, around the time of the Buccaneers' abortive game-tying final drive.

The Lions' wild card meeting against the Los Angeles Rams was also a major ratings draw for the network, averaging 35.8 million viewers, with a peak viewership of 38 million. It thus became one of NBC's three most-watched Wild Card games since 1988 and the most-watched primetime program since Super Bowl LVII last February on Fox.

Fox will also broadcast Sunday's NFC Championship Game, with pits Jared Goff and company against the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is at 6:30 PM ET.