The 1976 Bucs can no longer be considered the NFL's worst thanks to former Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and his 0-16 Detroit Lions.

Maybe lost in the dreadful Bucs choke job is the fact that the Bucs franchise can never again hold the tag as the NFL’s worst team. With the Lions losing to the Packers today, the Lions went winless, 0-16.

The first team go lose all 16 regular season games.

One former Bucs player who played for the 1976 Bucs, which went 0-14, is glad of it. In a story posted two days ago on NFL.com, former Bucs defensive end Pat Toomay is pleased to see a group other than him and his Bucs teammates be mocked for eternity.

“The luster wears off,” said Toomay, a defensive end on the expansion team that was shut out five times and outscored 412-125 in the franchise’s inaugural season.

“I would like the torch to be passed,” he added. “At the same time, you don’t want to wish that on anybody.”

One could argue the Bucs were worse than the Lions, but the Bucs that season were an expansion team in a time where there was no free agency and expansion teams only had the rookies they drafted or signed, and castoffs from other teams.

One can’t say that about the 2008 Lions, which was full of high draft picks and free agents.

In short, the Lions were absolutely dreadful. How Rod Marinelli is still employed is beyond Joe.