If you have a nagging, lingering bad feeling about Sunday’s Vikings game against the Lions, there is good reason. It’s not just that the 0-12 Lions should have won earlier this season against the Purple. It’s not just that Minnesota fans know to expect the worst when things are going well. It’s not just the history of choking in games of monumental importance or games that are imminently (and/or eminently) winnable. No, the bad feeling comes from the fact that this has happened before. We present Exhibit A from seven years ago. These are the first five paragraphs of former Star Tribune staffer Kevin Seifert’s account of what happened in Detroit:

The clock was ticking Sunday afternoon, moving with impunity toward the worst fears of two franchises. On one sideline, the possibility of botching another game was growing with each flick of a scoreboard light bulb. Embarrassment loomed across the field; the idea of losing to the winless would sit well with no one.

The Detroit Lions had lost all 12 games this season, their past nine by an average of 4.2 points, typically finding a way to cough up a presumed victory. No team has finished 0-16, however, and the Vikings merely hoped to escape before history initiated the inevitable market correction.

The outcome of Sunday’s matchup was in doubt until three seconds remained on the clock. The Lions - avoiding implosion despite a game-long litany of gaffes - stopped the Vikings about 10 yards out of range for a potential tying field goal, sealing a 27-24 victory in front of a Silverdome crowd that quickly morphed from sardonic to delirious cheers.

“You feel snakebit for a minute,” Lions kick returner Desmond Howard said. “I’m thinking, ‘Are we ever going to win a game this year?’ “

While the Lions emerged as the most relieved team ever to be 1-12, the Vikings sunk to new lows in a season of disappointments.

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

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