dave birkett, carlos monarrez, jeff seidel and shawn windsor, detroit free press
Since the NFL adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978 (and went to 17 games in 2021), there have been 80 winning streaks of at least eight games in the league. The San Francisco 49ers have done it nine times. The New England Patriots, eight. Even the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday’s visitor to Ford Field, have done it once (an 11-gamer in 1999).
But not the Detroit Lions; the franchise’s longest run over that span is seven games, achieved in 1995 and then again this season.