DETROIT — Matthew Stafford held his head down on the bench for the final snap.

Dominic Raiola couldn't watch, either, fearing a 20th loss in a row and 100th setback of his nine-season career.

When Detroit's leaders looked up and saw Washington was out of time, they saw what they were hoping to see yesterday.

Lions 19, Redskins 14.

Believe it.

Finally.

"We not only got the monkey off our back, we got King Kong off our back," said Lions owner William Clay Ford. "I'm hoping that this gets us over that hump and gives us a winning attitude."

Detroit (1-2) hadn't won since Dec. 23, 2007 and its 19-game skid matched the second longest in NFL history. The Lions no longer have to hear about Tampa Bay's record 26-game losing streak.

Raiola, a Saint Louis School alum, blew kisses to the crowd of 40,896 that was the smallest at Ford Field and the fewest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years after time expired with Washington stalled at the Detroit 23.

"I've always watched, but I've never been in this situation before," Raiola said. "No team has been in this situation before. No one has gone 0-16 and then had to try to win a game the next year."

Detroit rookie Stafford threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson in the first quarter, drew a 47-yard pass interference penalty to set up a fourth-quarter score and didn't turn the ball over after throwing two interceptions in his first two games.

Washington (1-2) pulled within five points on Jason Campbell's second touchdown pass with 2:36 left in the game, but couldn't prevent the Lions from picking up a first down that ran time off the clock and cost it three timeouts.

The Redskins had their last of many chances to win from their 22 with 1:05 left and couldn't get inside the 20 before time expired.

"You either want it or you don't. A lot of these guys don't want it," Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said.