During the early part of Millen's tenure (2001–2003), the Lions failed to win a road game for three years (0–24) before opening the season with a win at the Chicago Bears in 2004. Overall, the Lions went 8–50 on the road during the Millen era. Millen himself admitted to an interviewer in 2008 that the team's record under his leadership has been "beyond awful". The "Wall Street Journal" said that NFL executives admit in private that Millen "has made more bad draft decisions than anyone else in two centuries".