1986 Detroit Lions season

1986 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coach	Darryl Rogers
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1986 Detroit Lions season was their 57th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 7–9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight year with a 5–11 record. The highlight of the season was first round draft choice Chuck Long’s first pass for a TD against Tampa Bay. Long would start in a Monday Night game against Chicago.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1986 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	12	Chuck Long	QB	Iowa
2	29	Garry James	RB	LSU
3	69	Joe Milinichik	OT	North Carolina State
4	92	Devon Mitchell	S	Iowa
5	119	Oscar Smith	RB	Nicholls State
8	205	Allyn Griffin	WR	Wyoming
9	231	Lyle Pickens	DB	Colorado
10	258	Tracy Johnson	LB	Morningside
11	290	Leland Melvin	WR	Richmond
12	317	Allan Durden	DB	Arizona

Roster

1986 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Eric Hipple 16 Chuck Long 12 Joe Ferguson Running backs (RB) 30 James Jones 32 Garry James 36 Herman Hunter 24 Alvin Moore 38 Scott Williams 25 Oscar Smith Wide receivers (WR) 89 Jeff Chadwick 82 Pete Mandley 80 Carl Bland 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends (TE) 81 Jimmie Giles 87 David Lewis 84 Rob Rubick

Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Lomas Brown T 70 Keith Dorney G 53 Kevin Glover C 52 Steve Mott C 71 Rich Strenger T 72 Chris Dieterich T 61 Scott Barrows G 73 Harvey Salem G 63 Steve Kenney G 60 Tom Turnure C/G 64 Eric Sanders Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Eric Williams DE 77 Keith Ferguson DE 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 68 Steve Baack DE/DT 66 Leon Evans DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 Mike Cofer OLB 58 James Harrell ILB 57 Vernon Maxwell ILB 59 Jimmy Williams OLB 92 Angelo King OLB 51 Shelton Robinson 96 Paul Butcher 50 August Curley 54 James Johnson Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}} Special teams 11 Mike Black P  3 Eddie Murray K  6 Jim Arnold P

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7	at Minnesota Vikings	W 13–10	54,851
2	September 14	Dallas Cowboys	L 31–7	73,812
3	September 21	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–20	38,453
4	September 28	at Cleveland Browns	L 24–21	72,029
5	October 5	Houston Oilers	W 24–13	41,960
6	October 12	at Green Bay Packers	W 21–14	52,290
7	October 19	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–10	50,992
8	October 26	at Chicago Bears	L 13–7	62,064
9	November 2	Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–17	52,423
10	November 9	Minnesota Vikings	L 24–10	53,725
11	November 16	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–11	54,568
12	November 23	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 38–17	30,029
13	November 27	Green Bay Packers	L 44–40	61,199
14	December 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 27–17	45,042
15	December 15	Chicago Bears	L 16–13	75,602
16	December 21	Atlanta Falcons	L 20–6	35,255

Season summary

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 0 14 0 7 21 Packers 0 7 0 7 14 Date: October 12 Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 55° F, wind 13 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 2 DET Garry James 41 yard run (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 7–0 2 DET Scott Williams 1 yard run (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 14–0 2 GB James Lofton 5 yard pass from Randy Wright (Al Del Greco kick) Lions 14–7 4 DET David Lewis 2 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 21–7 4 GB Dan Ross 6 yard pass from Randy Wright (Al Del Greco kick) Lions 21–14

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears(2)	14	2	0	.875	7–1	10–2	352	187	W7
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	398	273	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	277	326	L4
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	3–5	3–9	254	418	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–13	239	473	L7