It's the kind of matchup that doesn't come around all that often. The planets have to be aligned just right — and so do the losses. But it's here, Sunday at high noon (St. Louis time) at Ford Field in Detroit.

The 0-7 Rams and the 1-5 Lions in a compelling battle of the beatens ... the Stupor Bowl!

Last season, the Lions became the first team to go winless since the advent of the NFL's 16-game schedule in 1978. A loss Sunday puts the Rams at 0-8 and in the express lane towards duplicating that dubious feat.

Since the start of the 2008 season, the Rams are 2-21. Since the start of '08, the Lions are 1-21.

Detroit ended a 19-game losing streak in Week 3 of this season by defeating visiting Washington 19-14.

The Rams have lost 17 in a row, with one of the losses coming at Washington in Week 2 by a 9-7 score.

In the parity-driven NFL, those are losing streaks of epic proportions. Only five teams in NFL history have lost 18 consecutive games or more. The Rams will be in that neighborhood with a loss Sunday.

"I'm not keeping track," defensive tackle Clifton Ryan told reporters. "I know you guys are. But we need a win for the city, for ourselves, for the franchise, for our head coach — so he can get his first professional win as a head coach. They say winning cures all, and we need a win, desperately."

On this Halloween weekend, the scariest thought of all is what happens if the Rams run the table — in reverse — and finish 0-16. They would thus end the season with 26 consecutive losses, tying the all-time NFL futility record set by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976-77.

With a loss to the Lions, 0-16 doesn't seem all that far-fetched. Not when you consider the Rams' remaining schedule:

— A Nov. 15 home game against unbeaten New Orleans following the Rams' bye week.

— Two NFC West contests against defending NFC champion Arizona.

— Return engagements at home against NFC rivals Seattle and San Francisco. The Rams lost to the Seahawks and 49ers by a combined 63-0 in road contests in the first month of this season.

— Road games at Chicago and winless Tennessee in December, followed by a Dec. 20 home contest against improving Houston.

So if the Rams lose to the Lions, it might be Tennessee or bust. Few observers expected the rebuilding Rams to win many games this season, but nobody expects 0-16.

"We just need that first one," quarterback Marc Bulger said. "Even at the start of the season, Coach (Steve Spagnuolo) was talking about just the first win. So until we get that, we feel like we're in this rut we can't get out of. But once we get that first one, I think the guys will start believing more. It'll make work a lot less stressful, and a lot more fun."

Media pundits near and far are having fun with the Rams-Lions matchup. But it's no laughing matter at Rams Park. For the first time this season, it's apparent that the losing streak is wearing on the players. The locker room isn't a happy place.

"It's like anything," defensive end James Hall said. "When things are going good, it always seems to be easy. And when it's going bad, it's a little bit more of a struggle. But that's why they call us professionals. We can handle it."

Hall has been tested on this more than most. He spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions before signing with St. Louis as a free agent in 2007. After going 9-7 as a Lions rookie in 2000, Hall's career record is a staggering 29-106.

The last time the Rams and Lions met, in 2006, Hall was a starter for Detroit. So was linebacker Paris Lenon, who has his own cross to bear in terms of losing streaks.

Lenon started all 48 games for Detroit from 2006-08, before leaving as a free agent. So his personal losing streak is a whopping 23 games — six this season for the Rams (he wasn't signed until Week 2); all 16 games last season with Detroit; and the last game of the '07 season with Detroit.

"It's been a while," Lenon said. "I'm just looking forward to this opportunity."

It may be the Rams' best opportunity to win in 2009, albeit on the road and against a Lions team that is rested after its bye week. It's an opportunity that Spagnuolo doesn't want to see squandered.

At the end of Friday's practice, the last full-scale practice of the week, Spagnuolo asked the half-dozen or so reporters in attendance to leave the indoor practice facility for the final few plays.

No, Spagnuolo wasn't running some super-secret plays. Team sources told the Post-Dispatch that he asked the media to leave because he chewed out the team at the end of practice. The topic? Intensity, effort, playing hard — or the lack thereof.

Because even against the woeful Lions, it might take every last drop of effort to end the Rams' losing streak.