My first reaction to William Clay Ford's admission Sunday that Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand will return in some form atop the organization's front office was, “unbelievable.” Then I remembered, this is the Lions.

Nothing against Mayhew or Lewand. I've written and said this plenty of times before, but I thought the Lions needed to start anew, or at the very least conduct a thorough general-manager search this offseason. For the sake of the franchise.

Not only are the Lions the worst team in the NFL right now, perhaps in history – at 0-15, we'll find out next week when they travel to Green Bay – they've also done a fine job alienating their fans. If you've been to Ford Field lately, you know the place is a morgue. It's half-empty, it's lifeless and there's little reason to believe things are going to change.

Sure, a Mayhew-Lewand front office with whoever they hire as third wheel can produce a winner. Both men are bright, Mayhew proved to be a deft dealer with the Roy Williams trade, and I have no doubt he can evaluate talent. But I don't believe the Lions can afford to go down that road after this dreadful season, not without further eroding their fan base and becoming more of a laughingstock than they already are. Who in their right mind renews tickets next year? What reason does anyone have for hope with what they've seen so far?

Lewand was asked after Sunday's 42-7 loss to the Saints if he and Mayhew are just an extension of the God-awful Matt Millen regime. Since Millen took over in 2001 – he was fired in September and replaced by Mayhew – the Lions are a completely remarkable 31-96. Both Lewand and Mayhew were around for Millen's entire reign.

“I think it's safe to say that the way we've done things has not produced the results we've wanted on the field and clearly we have to do things differently,” Lewand said. “I think Martin said it at the outset when he was named general manager, that we need to make better decisions. And that carries throughout the organization and we're going to move forward under that mantra.”

Neither Lewand nor Mayhew was informed of Ford's decision before Tom Kowalski, my colleague at Booth Newspapers, broke the news after talking with Ford before the game. Mayhew declined comment after the loss.

Ford, a stubborn one-man band when it comes to decisions like this, indicated he wants a third person atop the management structure. He did not specify anyone's role, but he did say Lewand and Mayhew will join him on a three-person search committee that will make the new hire.

Since I can't see Lewand and Mayhew hiring their own boss – what respectable organization does that, even if it's a long-in-the-tooth, short-term GM like Ron Wolf who would mentor Mayhew for a few years? – I'll assume that means the Lions are looking for an assistant general manager this offseason. And that, of course, means you can scratch names like Scott Pioli, the imminently-qualified and well-respect Patriots vice-president of player personnel, off the list. No one of that ilk will come to the Lions in a subordinate role. Heck, most won't even be allowed to interview under NFL rules.

The Lions released a statement after Sunday's game that confirmed Ford's intentions and said “any decisions regarding the football operations and the coaching staff will be made after the season.” Those, too, likely will be at Ford's whim.

“That's up to him and we'll respect his decision-making process,” Lewand said. “We'll certainly be in close contact and discussion with him as he goes forward. But in terms of specifics, the only thing we need to worry about right now is trying to beat the Green Bay Packers next week.”

• The Lions clinched the first pick in April's draft with Sunday's loss. If they can't trade the pick – that's been hard to do in recent years, and the Lions will need to find a team that believes Sam Bradford or Matt Stafford is the next Matt Ryan (and that they're going to take him; expect Mayhew to publicly hint as much in the months leading up to the draft) – it'll be the first time they go 1-1 since 1980, when they took Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims of Oklahoma. Bradford, of course, is the most recent Heisman winner from the Sooner state.

• They also set a couple disgraceful records, beyond just the first 0-15 start in NFL history. The first team to not win a game at home since the 2001 Panthers, the Lions set records for largest home point differential (minus-176) and largest average margin of home defeat (22 points per game) in a season.

• Here's an amazing stat from Sunday: New Orleans finished 11-for-12 on third-down attempts. The only time the Saints failed to convert was the final play of the game, when Drew Brees took a knee.

• I don't know what was more embarrassing for the Lions Sunday, that several chants of “Jo-ey, Jo-ey” broke out (former Lion Joey Harrington is the Saints' third quarterback), or that New Orleans coach Sean Payton gave punter Glenn Pakulak a game ball – and he didn't even punt. Pakulak is a Lapeer native.

• Lions-Packers won't be the Sunday night game next week. Not that I thought the NFL would want its worst team playing in primetime with a chance to go 0-16, but NBC made it official today when it selected the Chargers-Broncos game which will decide the AFC West championship.