Lions remove beast of burden

— Matthew Stafford held his head down on the bench for the final snap.

Dominic Raiola couldn't watch, either, fearing a 20th loss in a row and 100th setback of his nine-season career.

When Detroit's leaders looked up and saw Washington was out of time, they saw what they were hoping to see Sunday.

Lions 19, Redskins 14.

Believe it.

Finally.

"We not only got the monkey off our back, we got King Kong off our back," Lions owner William Clay Ford said. "I'm hoping that this gets us over that hump and gives us a winning attitude."

Detroit (1-2) hadn't won since Dec. 23, 2007 and its 19-game skid matched the second longest in NFL history. The Lions no longer have to hear about Tampa Bay's record 26-game losing streak.

Raiola blew kisses to the crowd of 40,896 after time expired with Washington stalled at the Detroit 24. The crowd was the smallest at Ford Field and the fewest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years.

"I've always watched, but I've never been in this situation before," Raiola said. "Noteam has been in this situation before. No one has gone 0-16 and then had to try to win a game the next year."

The one benefit of losing every game last season was it gave Detroit the No. 1 pick in the draft and it chose Stafford hoping he would be the franchise quarterback it has lacked for decades. The Lions have won one playoff game and had one Pro Bowl QB since winning the 1957 NFL title.

Stafford threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson in the first quarter, drew a 47-yard pass interference penalty to set up a fourth quarter score and didn't turn the ball over after throwing two interceptions in his first two games.

Stafford smiled as often as any long-suffering Lions fan did on Sunday, playfully sticking out his tongue toward the Detroit sideline, and looked like a 21-year-old kid having a blast.

"I'm having fun," he said. "It's a great game we get to play."

First-year coach Jim Schwartz held a brief meeting then sent his players back to the field to celebrate nine months after becoming the first NFL team to have an 0-16 season.

"We went a whole season without feeling like this, so you have to take it in and enjoy," Raiola said.

Washington doesn't have the burden of a long losing streak. It does, though, have plenty of problems.

"You either want it or you don't. A lot of these guys don't want it," Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "They want the other stuff."

The Redskins (1-2) pulled within five points on Jason Campbell's second TD pass with 2:36 left in the game, but couldn't prevent the Lions from picking up a first down that ran time off the clock and cost them three timeouts.

Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth saiid he is prepared for another week of second-guessing and speculation concerning the job security of embattled coach Jim Zorn.

"It don't matter if Joe Gibbs was here or any All-Star coach, they're still going to point fingers," said Haynesworth, who hurt his right hip in the first half and returned to play in the third quarter.

Do the Redskins still support Zorn?

"I hope so, you only have one head coach," Haynesworth said. "I can't speak for everybody else, but I am."

Sports, Pages 16 on 09/28/2009

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