1984 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season

The 1984 Detroit Lions season was their 55th in the National Football League. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 9–7, winning only four games.[1] The team missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Like the previous season, the Lions started 1–4, but unlike 1983, the Lions couldn't come back. In a season littered with numerous key injuries, the most painful was star running back Billy Sims suffering a career-ending knee injury in a game against the Minnesota Vikings. In just five seasons in the NFL since joining Detroit in 1980, Sims had set the Lions career rushing mark at 5,106.[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position College
1 20 David Lewis TE California
2 47 Pete Mandley WR Northern Arizona
3 62 Eric Williams DT Washington State
3 74 Ernest Anderson RB Oklahoma State
3 75 Steve Baack DE Oregon
4 106 Dave D'Addio RB Maryland
6 160 John Witkowski QB Columbia
7 178 Jimmie Carter LB New Mexico
7 187 Renwick Atkins OT Kansas
8 214 David Jones C Texas
9 246 Rich Hollins WR West Virginia
10 259 William Frizzell CB North Carolina Central
10 273 James Thaxton S Louisiana Tech
11 300 Mike Saxon P San Diego State
12 327 Glenn Streno C Tennessee

Roster

1984 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

  • 11 Mike Black P
  •  3 Eddie Murray K
 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 2 San Francisco 49ers L 30–27 0–1 56,782
2 September 9 at Atlanta Falcons W 27–24 (OT) 1–1 49,878
3 September 16 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 21–17 1–2 44,560
4 September 23 Minnesota Vikings L 29–28 1–3 57,511
5 September 30 at San Diego Chargers L 27–24 1–4 53,509
6 October 7 Denver Broncos L 28–7 1–5 55,836
7 October 14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 13–7 (OT) 2–5 44,308
8 October 21 at Minnesota Vikings W 16–14 3–5 57,953
9 October 28 at Green Bay Packers L 41–9 3–6 54,289
10 November 4 Philadelphia Eagles T 23–23 (OT) 3–6–1 59,141
11 November 11 at Washington Redskins L 28–14 3–7–1 50,212
12 November 18 at Chicago Bears L 16–14 3–8–1 54,911
13 November 22 Green Bay Packers W 31–28 4–8–1 63,698
14 December 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 38–17 4–9–1 62,441
15 December 10 Los Angeles Raiders L 24–3 4–10–1 66,710
16 December 16 Chicago Bears L 30–13 4–11–1 53,252
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 2, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

[3]

Week One: San Francisco 49ers at Detroit Lions
Period 1 2 34Total
49ers (1–0) 7 7 31330
Lions (0–1) 7 6 7727

at Pontiac Silverdome • Pontiac, Michigan

  • Date: September 2, 1984
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: indoors
  • Game attendance: 56,782
  • Referee: Bob Frederic
  • TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator)
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Team Category Player Statistics
SF Passing Joe Montana 16/25, 188 YDS, 1 TD
Rushing Wendell Tyler 16 CAR, 87 YDS, 2 TDs
Receiving Freddie Solomon 4 REC, 61 YDS
DET Passing Gary Danielson 17/24, 177 YDS, 2 TDs
Rushing Billy Sims 17 CAR, 69 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving Leonard Thompson 3 REC, 58 YDS, 1 TD
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP SF DET
1 4:50 Lions Sims 2-yard touchdown run, Murray kick good 0 7
1 0:00 49ers Monroe 5-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 7 7
2 11:07 Lions 39-yard field goal by Murray 7 10
2 5:01 49ers Tyler 2-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 14 10
2 0:03 Lions 43-yard field goal by Murray 14 13
3 6:36 Lions Jones 2-yard touchdown reception from Danielson, Murray kick good 14 20
3 0:50 49ers 42-yard field goal by Wersching 17 20
4 10:29 49ers 53-yard field goal by Wersching 20 20
4 8:25 49ers Tyler 9-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 27 20
4 5:01 Lions Thompson 49-yard touchdown reception from Danielson, Murray kick good 27 27
4 0:04 49ers 22-yard field goal by Wersching 30 27
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 30 27
  • Point spread: 49ers by 2½
  • Over/Under: 43.0 (over)
  • Time of Game:
49ers Game Statistics Lions
24 First downs 19
32–124 Rushes–yards 28–132
188 Passing yards 177
16–25–0 Passes 17–24–0
2–14 Sacked–yards 2–11
174 Net passing yards 166
298 Total yards 298
198 Return yards 98
2–45.5 Punts 4–44.0
2–1 Fumbles–lost 0–0
2–32 Penalties–yards 6–45
30:44 Time of Possession 29:16

Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons

Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Lions 10 7 70327
Falcons 0 10 77024

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: Sunday, September 9
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 70 °F or 21.1 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

First quarter

  • Lions – Billy Sims 9 yard run (Eddie Murray kick) – Lions 7–0
  • Lions – Eddie Murray 46 yard field goal – Lions 10–0

Second quarter

  • Lions – David Lewis 11 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick) – Lions 17–0
  • Falcons – Gerald Riggs 1 yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick) – Lions 17–7
  • Falcons – Mick Luckhurst 51 yard field goal – Lions 17–10

Third quarter

  • Falcons – Billy Johnson 45 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Mick Luckhurst kick) – Tie 17–17
  • Lions – Leonard Thompson 11 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick) – Lions 24–17

Fourth quarter

  • Falcons – Stacey Bailey 29 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Mick Luckhurst kick) – Tie 24–24

Overtime

  • Lions – Eddie Murray 48 yard field goal – Lions 27–24

Lions

  • Gary Danielson
    21/32, 250 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
  • Billy Sims
    23 Rush, 140 Yds, TD
  • David Lewis
    4 Rec, 68 Yds, TD

Falcons

  • Steve Bartkowski
    24/28, 299 yds, 2 TD
  • Gerald Riggs
    19 Rush, 78 Yds, TD
  • Billy Johnson
    8 Rec, 116 Yds, TD

Week 14: at Seattle Seahawks

Period 1 2 34Total
Lions 3 14 0017
Seahawks 7 14 01738

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

  • Date: December 2
  • Game time: 1:02pm local
  • Game weather: indoors
  • Game attendance: 62,441
  • Referee: Red Cashion
  • TV announcers (CBS): Jim Hill and John Dockery
  • Gamebook
Game information

First quarter

Second quarter

  • DET – Ken Jenkins 25-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 1:59 (DET 10–7)
  • SEA – Steve Largent 13-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 5:24 (SEA 14–10)
  • DET – James Jones 15-yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick), 11:51 (DET 17–14)
  • SEA – Daryl Turner 4-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 14:24 (SEA 21–17)

Third quarter

  • No scoring plays

Fourth quarter

  • SEA – Daryl Turner 51-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 1:43 (SEA 28–17)
  • SEA – Norm Johnson 36-yard field goal, 5:06 (SEA 31–17)
  • SEA – Mike Tice 5-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 8:03 (SEA 38–17)

Top passers

Top rushers

  • DET – Ken Jenkins: 12 car, 73 yds, 1 TD
  • SEA – David Hughes: 7 car, 46 yds

Top receivers

  • DET – James Jones: 6 rec, 42 yds, 1 TD
  • SEA – Steve Largent: 8 rec, 104 yds, 2 TD

Team – pass – rush – total – to

  • DET – 139 – 108 – 247 – 2
  • SEA – 275 – 113 – 388 – 2

Standings

NFC Central
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Chicago Bears(3) 10 6 0 .625 7–1 8–4 325 248 W1
Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 .500 5–3 8–4 390 309 W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 10 0 .375 3–5 5–9 335 380 W2
Detroit Lions 4 11 1 .281 3–5 4–7–1 283 408 L3
Minnesota Vikings 3 13 0 .188 2–6 3–9 276 484 L6

References

  1. ^ 1984 Detroit Lions
  2. ^ Season summary and stats a Sports E Cyclopedia
  3. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jun-20.
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  • Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1928–1933)
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Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933)
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory
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