They are on road to nowhere

Professionals who travel in first-class style should not perform as though they just jumped off a moving boxcar. Yet the Lions continue to treat road games as if they are visiting in-laws -- with minimum time and effort. You have to go back three years and three coaches to find Detroit's last win away from home, a 10-7 trumping of the Jets on Dec. 17, 2000. Yesterday's rollover, 45-17, in Kansas City, gave the Lions 23 straight road defeats, matching the pastel patsies known as the Houston Oilers of the early 1980s for NFL infamy.

It's a trend that has transcended into tragedy.

"It's hard, and we're one of a handful of teams that hasn't had any luck on the road this year," said Lions coach Steve Mariucci. "And that happens every year. It just so happens that it's been three years in a row here. And that's hard to deal with."

You'd have been hard pressed to find a soul who thought the skid would end on the Arrowhead Stadium turf, where Kansas City was going for a team-best 12th straight home win. And that was before the Chiefs buried Mariucci's crew by scoring on seven of their first eight possessions, averaging a mere 10.2 yards per play. Even when Detroit did something right (kicker Jason Hanson tripping up Chiefs returner Dante Hall with a touchdown in sight on the second-half kickoff), it followed with an error (allowing KC to go 46 yards in nine plays for a 35-10 lead).

That's a lot of baggage to bring to Carolina next weekend. At least Detroit managed to end another skid of sorts yesterday when Shawn Bryson gave the Lions their first 100-yard rusher in 20 contests.

"We've got to put a team on the airplane that is well schooled, well coached, and talented and capable of winning on the road," Mariucci said. "That's what we've got to do to snap that streak."

So what's the excuse in San Francisco? Dennis Erickson's team fits all the above requirements, yet is 0-7 on the road. The 49ers racked up 502 yards and 31 first downs yesterday in Cincinnati, but were looking up in the end, 41-38. Sent into playoff oblivion at 6-8, there's no disguising San Francisco's downfall.

"We've been looking for that answer all season long," offered Jeff Garcia, who threw for 344 yards and led a failed fourth-quarter comeback. "Somehow we need to show up on the same page on the same day, the offense and the defense."

Guess which one failed to appear against the Bengals. Cincinnati ran for 186 yards in the second half, 225 overall, and Rudi Johnson became the first Bengals running back to have three 150-yard games in a season. That's how you score 38 points and lose.

"We were getting run over," defensive end Chidi Ahanotu said. "We didn't do a good job of adjusting to the changes they made at halftime."

At least the Seahawks can blame their latest road defeat on officiating. Not a bad call, per se, but a bad fall. Trailing at St. Louis, 27-22, Seattle receiver Bobby Engram had plans for a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. Matt Hasselbeck's 45-yard offering was already in the air when Engram, who had a step on the Rams' Tommy Polley, tripped over fallen back judge Greg Steed near the end zone.

"I thought I had it," Hasselbeck said. "We liked the matchup, one-on-one, Bobby on a middle linebacker who's kind of turned around. It's just a real bad break for us."

It not only gift-wrapped the NFC West for St. Louis, it left Seattle stewing at 8-6, just 1-6 away from home. The Seahawks' probable path to the postseason still has one more pit stop -- in San Francisco. That gives coach Mike Holmgren two weeks to work on his game plan and travel itinerary. But it's tough to figure out which will be more important.

Pass and fail

You can go an entire season without finding a discrepancy such as this: Kansas City's Trent Green shredded Detroit for three touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating; Washington's Tim Hasselbeck was manhandled by Dallas for four interceptions and a Delta House-esque 0.0 quarterback rating. Gushed Green, "It was a pretty special effort by the offense. That quarterback rating is reflective of just the overall offensive effort." Same can be said of Hasselbeck's outing, in which the Redskins totaled 161 yards in a 27-0 whitewashing, Washington's first home shutout in 10 seasons and the first in 32 years in the rivalry. "It isn't about quitting, it's about getting embarrassed. We got embarrassed," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "We stunk it up out there. I apologize to all the Redskins fans -- every one of them." . . . It's anyone's guess whom he called, but Saints receiver Joe Horn certainly put out the wrong signal when, after making a touchdown grab in a 45-7 romp over the Giants, he used a cellphone teammate Michael Lewis had stashed in the padding around the goal post. Horn immediately received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a tongue-lashing from coach Jim Haslett. Hopefully, Horn used 10-10-220 to lessen the hit on the impending fine . . . Welcome back to the NFL head coaching ranks, Wade Phillips. Just don't get comfortable. Promoted from Falcons defensive coordinator when Dan Reeves was gassed midweek, Phillips watched his 3-11 team cave in Indianapolis, 38-7. It's not a good sign when a dome-oriented offense sputters to 154 total yards on turf. And it's doubly ominous when Atlanta's offensive line allows Michael Vick to be sacked four times and hit on numerous other occasions before the quarterback is yanked in the fourth quarter after a 6-for-19, 47-yard debacle, one he called "the worst game I ever had." "My worst fears came to being," Phillips said. "Coach [Reeves] gets fired in the middle of the week and there's a letdown." From what? The team Christmas party?

Material from wire services was used in this report.