1984 Detroit Lions season

1984 Detroit Lions season
Head Coach	Monte Clark
Home Field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	4–11–1
Place	4th NFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1983	1985

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. In a Lions 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 during the season. 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	School
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

72 Chris Dieterich T
70 Keith Dorney G
65 Amos Fowler C
67 Don Greco G
73 Don Laster T
64 Larry Lee G/C
52 Steve Mott C
71 Rich Strenger T

Defensive linemen

66 Mike Cofer DE/OLB
78 Doug English DT
79 William Gay DE
62 Curtis Green DE
76 Eric Williams DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

33 William Graham FS
35 Alvin Hall SS
21 Demetrious Johnson S
29 Bruce McNorton CB
34 Dan Wagoner DB
27 Bobby Watkins CB

Special teams

11 Mike Black P
3 Eddie Murray K

Reserve lists

Practice squad

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1984	San Francisco 49ers	L 30–27	56,782
2	September 9, 1984	at Atlanta Falcons	W 27–24 OT	49,878
3	September 16, 1984	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 21–17	44,560
4	September 23, 1984	Minnesota Vikings	L 29–28	57,511
5	September 30, 1984	at San Diego Chargers	L 27–24	53,509
6	October 7, 1984	Denver Broncos	L 28–7	55,836
7	October 14, 1984	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 13–7 OT	44,308
8	October 21, 1984	at Minnesota Vikings	W 16–14	57,953
9	October 28, 1984	at Green Bay Packers	L 41–9	54,289
10	November 4, 1984	Philadelphia Eagles	T 23–23 OT	59,141
11	November 11, 1984	at Washington Redskins	L 28–14	50,212
12	November 18, 1984	at Chicago Bears	L 16–14	54,911
13	November 22, 1984	Green Bay Packers	W 31–28	63,698
14	December 2, 1984	at Seattle Seahawks	L 38–17	62,441
15	December 10, 1984	Los Angeles Raiders	L 24–3	66,710
16	December 16, 1984	Chicago Bears	L 30–13	53,252

Game summaries

Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	10	7	7	0	27
Falcons	0	10	7	7	24

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Date: Sunday, September 9
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 70°F, wind 10 mph
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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	14	0	0	17
Seahawks	7	14	0	17	38

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

SEA – Steve Largent 3-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 10:44 (SEA 7–0)
DET – Eddie Murray 45-yard field goal, 14:51 (SEA 7–3)

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

DET – Gary Danielson: 11/20, 117 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
SEA – Dave Krieg: 27/38, 294 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT

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
view · talk · edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears	10	6	0	.625	325	248	W1
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	390	309	W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	10	0	.375	335	380	W2
Detroit Lions	4	11	1	.281	283	408	L3
Minnesota Vikings	3	13	0	.188	276	484	L6

^[3]

References

↑ 1984 Detroit Lions
↑ Season summary and stats a Sports E Cyclopedia
↑ (PDF) 2010 NFL Record and Fact Book. National Football League. p. 383. http://www.nfl.info/download/2010%20NFL%20Record%20and%20Fact%20Book.pdf. Retrieved February 18, 2011.

1984 NFL seasonv · d · e
AFC	East	Central	West	East	Central	West	NFC
	Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
	Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
	Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
	New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
	NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay
1984 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl XIX

[1] 1984 Detroit Lions

[2] Season summary and stats a Sports E Cyclopedia

[3] (PDF) 2010 NFL Record and Fact Book. National Football League. p. 383. http://www.nfl.info/download/2010%20NFL%20Record%20and%20Fact%20Book.pdf. Retrieved February 18, 2011.

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