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1996 Detroit Lions season
Head Coach Wayne Fontes
General Manager Chuck Schmidt
Home Field Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record 5–11
Place 5th NFC Central
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Uniform
NFC-Throwback2-Uniform-DET
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1995 1997

The 1996 Detroit Lions season was their 67th in the National Football League (NFL). The team declined severely from their previous season's output of 10–6. Following a 4-2 start, the Lions would proceed to lose nine of their final ten games to finish 5-11, missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.[1]

Following the season, longtime head coach Wayne Fontes was fired and Bobby Ross was hired to be the team's head coach the following season.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

1996 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 17 Reggie Brown  Linebacker Texas A&M
1 23 Jeff Hartings *  Center Penn State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1996 Detroit Lions staff
Front office
  • Chairman and President – William Clay Ford, Sr.
  • Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr.
  • Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Chuck Schmidt
  • Vice President of Player Personnel – Ron Hughes
  • Vice President of Football Administration – Larry Lee
  • Director of Pro Scouting – Kevin Colbert

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator – Jim Eddy
  • Linebackers – Howard Tippett
  • Defensive Backs – John Fontes
  • Defensive Assistant/LBs and DBs – Don Clemons

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning/Special Teams Assistant – Bert Hill

Roster[]

1996 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics
Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

1996 was the first time since 1984 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers,[2] and the first time they had met the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season since 1986.[3] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.[4]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–13
52,972
2 September 8, 1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 21–6
54,229
3 September 15, 1996 at Philadelphia Eagles L 24–17
66,007
4 September 22, 1996 Chicago Bears W 35–16
70,022
5 September 29, 1996 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 27–0
34,961
6 October 6, 1996 Atlanta Falcons W 28–24
58,666
7 October 13, 1996 at Oakland Raiders L 37–21
50,037
8 Bye
9 October 27, 1996 New York Giants L 35–7
63,501
10 November 3, 1996 at Green Bay Packers L 28–18
60,695
11 November 11, 1996 at San Diego Chargers L 27–21
60,425
12 November 17, 1996 Seattle Seahawks W 17–16
51,194
13 November 24, 1996 at Chicago Bears L 31–14
55,864
14 November 28, 1996 Kansas City Chiefs L 28–24
75,079
15 December 8, 1996 Minnesota Vikings L 24–22
46,043
16 December 15, 1996 Green Bay Packers L 31–3
73,214
17 December 23, 1996 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–14
61,921

Standings[]

NFC Central
view · talk · edit W L T PCT PF PA
Green Bay Packers 13 3 0 .813 456 210
Minnesota Vikings 9 7 0 .563 298 315
Chicago Bears 7 9 0 .438 283 305
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 10 0 .375 221 293
Detroit Lions 5 11 0 .313 302 368

References[]

External links[]

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Indianapolis Cincinnati Kansas City Dallas Detroit Carolina
Miami Houston Oakland NY Giants Green Bay New Orleans
New England Jacksonville San Diego Philadelphia Minnesota St. Louis
NY Jets Pittsburgh Seattle Washington Tampa Bay San Francisco
1996 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XXXI
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