What are the odds the Detroit Lions go 0-17?

Last week, we polled our SB Nation Reacts community to see when they thought the Detroit Lions would pick up their first win of the 2021 season. An overwhelming amount of responses—79 percent—picked last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

In that same poll, one of the options was that the Lions would not pick up a win this season in Dan Campbell’s first year as head coach. Only four percent of fans picked that option.

But with arguably the Lions’ best opportunity at a win now in the rear-view mirror, how realistic is it that the Lions manage to go winless yet again?

0-17 has already become a huge topic in Detroit—a reality I both absolutely loathe and am currently only reinforcing by writing this. Safety Tracy Walker mentioned it in his postgame press conference, without even being prompted by a question.

“We have to fix it right now, because obviously, it ain’t going to fix itself, or we’re going to be 0-17,” Walker said.

Meanwhile, Dan Campbell was peppered with 0-17 questions both in his Monday press conference and his Tuesday appearance on 97.1 The Ticket. Unfortunately, this is where things are at. A winless season is currently on the table.

According to Vegas, the odds aren’t all that long that it could happen, either. The current odds at DraftKings Sportsbook for the Lions to finish with the first 0-17 season in NFL history gives a payout of +450—meaning a $100 bet would net a $450 profit if correct. To put it simpler, the odds imply a probability of 4.5-to-1 or 18.2 percent chance of it happening.

Those are humbling numbers, as the season isn’t even halfway over yet. Looking ahead, there are certainly winnable games on the table. Of the nine remaining games, only three have a record above .500 currently (Steelers, Cardinals, Packers).

The Lions have obviously come extremely close—with a couple missed extra-long field goals—of picking up a couple of wins already this season. But with the way in which they lost two of their past three games—getting completely blown out by both the Bengals and Eagles—it’s understandable why the conversation has turned the way it has.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.