The World Is Flat! A Look Back at the Detroit Lions' Dubious Streak.

So...what now?

As a pessimistic Lions fan, I began to look forward to each showdown during their 19-game losing streak. Not because I had hope they'd win. I wanted to see how they would manage to lose that week's game.

This was a team that invented new ways to lose each Sunday (or Thursday for Thanksgiving). It may not have been much, but at least the Lions were the best at something. Now that it's over, I don't know how to react. I'm having mixed emotions; I'm both happy and sad.

For nearly two years I could count on three things: death, taxes and the Lions losing. It brought order to my life. By winning, Detroit has me questioning everything I believe in. While I gather my thoughts, let's take a look back at their failures.

It started with them getting waxed by the Packers at the end of the '07 season, but they didn't hit their stride until their first game against Green Bay in '08 (third loss of the streak). Jon Kitna's three interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) after the Lions actually held a fourth-quarter lead showed that these guys were serious about losing.

Here's some other highlights of the losing streak:

In the opening game of the 2008 campaign, the Falcons ran for over 300 yards and Matt Ryan's first pass as an NFL quarterback went 62 yards for a touchdown in a 34-21 Atlanta victory.

Tennessee ran for nearly 300 yards on Thanksgiving and humiliated the Lions 47-10 in Detroit's only nationally-televised game of the season.

At the Metrodome in '08, Dan Orlovsky committed one of the most infamous bonehead plays of all-time by running out of his own endzone for a safety. The final margin in that loss to Minnesota? Two points, 12-10.

In Week Nine, a fourth-quarter lead was erased on a QB sneak by Rex Grossman, giving the Bears a 27-23 victory. Another late lead vanished when the Lions came from ahead and lost 20-16 in Week 14.

They kept it close with the Colts (or more likely, Indy was toying with them) before eventually falling to them 31-21 in Week 15.

2008 ended with the Lions entering the final quarter of their season tied with the Cheeseheads at 14. It appeared promising on the surface, but fate intervened and made sure Detroit finished an epic campaign 0-16, on their way to 19-straight defeats. 

To lose that many games in a row takes a certain combination of bad luck, lack of effort, and a serious amount of ineptitude. The Lions had all of that in spades over the past 21 months and will go down as one of the most memorable teams of my lifetime. It might be for all the wrong reasons, but in a twisted way, they made me happy.

Their victory over the Redskins makes me a little angry, because it should not have taken this long to win a game. Most people believe the Lions have a losing culture and that's a big reason why they're terrible year in and year out.

Well, they've beaten people like myself to the point of not caring about the team anymore, too. Let's see if changing that is what's next for the franchise.