1984 Detroit Lions season

1984 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coach	Monte Clark
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	4–11–1
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

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. 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.

Schedule

1984 would prove the last time until 1996 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers. 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.

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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Lions	10	7	7	0	3	27
Falcons	0	10	7	7	0	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

Quarter	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 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
	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