1983 Detroit Lions season - Misplaced Pages

NFL team season

1983 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
Head coach	Monte Clark
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 23–24
Pro Bowlers	DT Doug English
AP All-Pros	DT Doug English (2nd team)
← 1982 Lions seasons 1984 →

The 1983 Detroit Lions season was the 54th season in franchise history. Despite a 1–4 start, the Lions rallied to finish with a 9–7 record. They were able to rise to the top of a weak NFC Central (three of the other four teams went 8–8, and Tampa Bay tied for the NFL's worst record at 2–14), to claim their first division championship since 1957, made the playoffs in a non-strike season for the first time since 1970, and they would make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since playing for the NFL championship in 1952, 1953 and 1954. The Lions would not return to the postseason for another eight years and not do so in consecutive seasons until doing it three straight years from 1993 to 1995.

The offense ranked 15th in the NFL in points scored, leaving the defense to carry the load. The Lions’ defense turned out to be the second-best in the league in points allowed, keyed defensive tackle Doug English and his 13 sacks. English was the team's only Pro Bowler, though he also got some help from defensive end William Gay, who registered 13½ sacks of his own. In the NFC playoffs, the Lions lead the San Francisco 49ers late into the fourth quarter, until Joe Montana drove the 49ers down the field for a 14-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Solomon to give the 49ers a 24–23 lead. The Lions would have a chance to win the game, as Gary Danielson drove them into field goal range, but placekicker Eddie Murray missed a 44-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1983 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	13	James Jones	FB	Florida
2	40	Rich Strenger	OT	Michigan
3	67	Mike Cofer	LB	Tennessee
4	94	August Curley	LB	USC
5	115	Demetrious Johnson	S	Missouri
5	121	Steve Mott	C	Alabama
6	154	Todd Brown	WR	Nebraska
7	181	Mike Black	P	Arizona State
8	208	Bill Stapleton	DB	Washington
10	261	Dave Laube	G	Penn State
11	287	Ben Tate	RB	North Carolina Central
12	321	Jim Lane	C	Idaho State

Roster

**1983 Detroit Lions roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Gary Danielson 17 Eric Hipple 14 Mike Machurek Running backs (RB) 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Jenkins PR 30 James Jones FB 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King 20 Billy Sims 38 Vince Thompson Wide receivers (WR) 89 Jeff Chadwick 83 Robbie Martin 86 Mark Nichols 87 Freddie Scott 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends (TE) 81 Reese McCall 80 Ulysses Norris 84 Rob Rubick		Offensive linemen (OL) 72 Chris Dieterich T 70 Keith Dorney T 61 Homer Elias G 65 Amos Fowler C 67 Don Greco G 64 Larry Lee G/C 52 Steve Mott C 71 Rich Strenger T 55 Tom Turnure C/G Defensive linemen (DL) 66 Mike Cofer DE/OLB 73 Mike Dawson DT/DE 78 Doug English DT 74 Mike Fanning DT 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 63 Martin Moss DE		Linebackers (LB) 54 Roosevelt Barnes 53 Garry Cobb OLB 58 Steve Doig 57 Ken Fantetti MLB 51 James Harrell 59 Jimmy Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 William Graham FS 35 Alvin Hall 23 Maurice Harvey S 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 41 James Caver (IR) 50 August Curley LB (IR) 43 Al Latimer CB (IR) Rookies in italics 49 active, 3 reserve, 0 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 4	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 11–0	1–0	62,154
2	September 11	Cleveland Browns	L 31–26	1–1	60,095
3	September 18	Atlanta Falcons	L 30–14	1–2	54,622
4	September 25	at Minnesota Vikings	L 20–17	1–3	58,254
5	October 2	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–10	1–4	49,403
6	October 9	Green Bay Packers	W 38–14	2–4	67,738
7	October 16	Chicago Bears	W 31–17	3–4	66,709
8	October 23	at Washington Redskins	L 38–17	3–5	43,189
9	October 30	at Chicago Bears	W 38–17	4–5	58,764
10	November 7	New York Giants	W 15–9	5–5	68,985
11	November 13	at Houston Oilers	L 27–17	5–6	40,660
12	November 20	at Green Bay Packers	W 23–20_(OT)	6–6	50,050
13	November 24	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–3	7–6	77,724
14	December 5	Minnesota Vikings	W 13–2	8–6	79,169
15	December 11	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–9	8–7	45,728
16	December 18	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–20	9–7	78,392
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	5	0	3	3	11
Buccaneers	0	0	0	0	0

Date: September 4
Location: Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 62,154
Game weather: 82 °F or 27.8 °C, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
Referee: Gordon McCarter
Television network: CBS

Scoring summary

Q1	DET	Safety, Jerry Golsteyn tackled by Doug English in end zone	DET 2–0

Q1	DET	Eddie Murray 29 yard field goal	DET 5–0

Q3	DET	Eddie Murray 48 yard field goal	DET 8–0

Q4	DET	Eddie Murray 38 yard field goal	DET 11–0

Week 11 at Oilers

Week Eleven: Detroit Lions (5–5) at Houston Oilers (0–10)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	10	7	0	17
Oilers	3	7	14	3	27

at Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Date: November 13, 1983
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Indoors (dome)
Game attendance: 40,660
Referee: Bob Frederic
Box Score, Box Score

Billy Sims, rather than be tackled during a rushing attempt, ran at, jumped, and, while fully airborne, kicked Oilers cornerback Steve Brown in the head.

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Lions	Passing	Eric Hipple	17/29, 213 Yds, 3 INT
	Rushing	Billy Sims	20 Rush, 105 Yds, TD
	Receiving	Billy Sims	9 Rec, 90 Yds
Oilers	Passing	Oliver Luck	18/26, 189 Yds, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Earl Campbell	28 Rush, 107 Yds
	Receiving	Mike Renfro	7 Rec, 75 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	DET	HOU
1	8:02				Oilers	47-yard field goal by Florian Kempf	0	3
2	12:48				Lions	Billy Sims 1-yard touchdown run, Eddie Murray kick good	7	3
2	3:48				Lions	35-yard field goal by Eddie Murray	10	3
2	0:50				Oilers	Mike McCloskey 13-yard touchdown reception from Oliver Luck, Florian Kempf kick good	10	10
3	10:25				Lions	James Jones 3-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick good	17	10
3	9:12				Oilers	Chris Dressel 13-yard touchdown reception from Oliver Luck, Florian Kempf kick good	17	17
3	1:01				Oilers	Larry Moriarty 4-yard touchdown run, Florian Kempf kick good	17	24
4	13:08				Oilers	21-yard field goal by Florian Kempf	17	27
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							17	27

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	7–1	8–4	347	286	W1
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	429	439	L1
Chicago Bears	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–7	311	301	W2
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	4–4	4–8	316	348	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	241	380	L3

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff, San Francisco 49ers 24, Detroit Lions 23

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	6	0	14	23
49ers	7	7	3	7	24

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
Game weather: 59 °F or 15 °C, sunny
Game attendance: 59,286
Referee: Pat Haggerty
TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

References

Season summary at Sports E Cyclopedia
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-23.

v t e Detroit Lions
Founded in 1928 Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1928–1933) Based in Detroit, Michigan Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan
Franchise	Ownership: William Clay Martha Firestone Ford Sheila Ford Hamp Franchise overview Team history in Portsmouth, Ohio
Records	All-time roster (A–Las, Lat–Z) Coaches Draft history First-round draft picks Picks from 1936 to 1969 Picks from 1970 to present Lists of players NFL All-Decade Team selections Pride of the Lions Pro Bowlers Pro Football Hall of Famers Retired numbers 7 20 20 20 22 37 56 85 Seasons Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Universal Stadium University of Detroit Stadium Tiger Stadium Pontiac Silverdome Ford Field
Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day Paper Lion (film) "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye song) Home Improvement Beverly Hills Cop Axel Foley Cheerleaders
Lore	1932 NFL Playoff Game Curse of Bobby Layne 0–16 Miracle in Motown
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings
Division championships (9)	1935 1952 1953 1954 1957 1983 1991 1993 2023
League championships (4)	1935 1952 1953 1957
Media	Broadcasters Radio: Radio network Dan Miller Lomas Brown WXYT-FM TV: Television network WJBK Bally Sports Detroit
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1930–present) Conference: National Football Conference (1970–present) Division: North Division (2002–present)

v t e Detroit Lions seasons
Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933)
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

1983 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	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

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