1985 Detroit Lions season - Misplaced Pages

NFL team season

1985 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Russ Thomas
Head coach	Darryl Rogers
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
AP All-Pros	None
← 1984 Lions seasons 1986 →

The 1985 Detroit Lions season was their 56th in the National Football League. In Darryl Rogers first year as head coach, the team improved upon their previous season's output of 4–11–1, winning seven games. The Lions beat four playoff teams at home, Dallas, San Francisco, Miami, and the New York Jets, but lost to Tampa Bay and Indianapolis on the road. The Lions stood at 5–3 at the halfway point of the season. However, despite their overall improvement, the Lions went winless in December (0–3) and missed the playoffs for the second straight year with a 7–9 record.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1985 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	6	Lomas Brown	OT	Florida
2	34	Kevin Glover	C	Maryland
3	62	James Johnson	LB	San Diego State
4	90	Kevin Hancock	LB	Baylor
5	118	Joe McIntosh	RB	North Carolina State
6	146	Stan Short	G	Penn State
7	174	Tony Staten	DB	Angelo State
8	202	Scott Caldwell	RB	Texas-Arlington
9	230	June James	LB	Texas
10	258	Clayton Beauford	WR	Auburn
11	286	Kevin Harris	DB	Georgia
12	314	Mike Weaver	G	Georgia

Personnel

Staff

**1985 Detroit Lions staff**
	Front office Owner – William Clay Ford Sr. General manager – Russ Thomas Head coaches Head coach – Darryl Rogers Assistant Head Coach – Don Doll Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Bob Baker Running backs – Ivy Williams Wide receivers – Paul Lanham Tight ends – Don Doll Offensive line – Bill Muir			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Wayne Fontes Defensive assistant coach – Don Clemons Defensive line – Rex Norris Linebackers – Mike Murphy Defensive backs – Willie Shaw Special teams coaches Special teams – Carl Battershell Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Don Clemons

Roster

**1985 Detroit Lions roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Eric Hipple 12 Joe Ferguson Running backs (RB) 30 James Jones 28 Wilbert Montgomery 32 Rick Kane 36 Mike Meade FB Wide receivers (WR) 86 Mark Nichols 89 Jeff Chadwick 82 Pete Mandley 80 Carl Bland 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends (TE) 87 David Lewis 81 Reese McCall 84 Rob Rubick 83 James McDonald		Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Lomas Brown T 72 Chris Dieterich G 70 Keith Dorney G 53 Kevin Glover C 67 Don Greco G 51 David Jones T 64 Larry Lee G 52 Steve Mott C 61 Ray Snell G 65 Mark Stevenson G/C 71 Rich Strenger T Defensive linemen (DL) 68 Steve Baack NT 78 Doug English NT 66 Leon Evans DE 62 Keith Ferguson DE 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 76 Eric Williams DE		Linebackers (LB) 95 Kurt Allerman ILB 54 Roosevelt Barnes 55 Mike Cofer OLB 50 August Curley ILB 57 Ken Fantetti 58 James Harrell 96 June James 92 Angelo King OLB 98 Vernon Maxwell ILB 59 Jimmy Williams OLB 97 Dan Bunz Defensive backs (DB) 42 John Bostic 26 William Frizzell CB 33 William Graham FS 35 Alvin Hall SS 21 Demetrious Johnson SS 29 Bruce McNorton CB 27 Bobby Watkins CB Special teams 11 Mike Black P 3 Eddie Murray K		Reserve -- Clayton Beauford WR (IR) —- Jim Browne RB (IR) -- Dave D'Addio RB (IR) 54 James Johnson LB (IR) 14 Mike Machurek QB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 8	at Atlanta Falcons	W 28–27	1–0	37,785
2	September 15	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–21	2–0	72,985
3	September 22	at Indianapolis Colts	L 14–6	2–1	60,042
4	September 29	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 30–9	3–1	45,023
5	October 6	at Green Bay Packers	L 43–10	3–2	55,914
6	October 13	at Washington Redskins	L 24–3	3–3	52,845
7	October 20	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–21	4–3	67,715
8	October 27	Miami Dolphins	W 31–21	5–3	75,291
9	November 3	at Minnesota Vikings	L 16–13	5–4	58,012
10	November 10	at Chicago Bears	L 24–3	5–5	53,467
11	November 17	Minnesota Vikings	W 41–21	6–5	54,647
12	November 24	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 19–16_(OT)	6–6	43,471
13	November 28	New York Jets	W 31–20	7–6	65,531
14	December 8	at New England Patriots	L 23–6	7–7	59,078
15	December 15	Green Bay Packers	L 26–23	7–8	49,379
16	December 22	Chicago Bears	L 37–17	7–9	74,042
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text

Season summary

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	0	14	14	0	28
Falcons	14	7	0	6	27

Date: September 8
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 37,785
Game weather: 79 °F or 26.1 °C; wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)

Scoring summary

Q1	10:42	ATL	Riggs 1 yard run (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 7–0

Q1	0:33	ATL	Brown 12 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 14–0

Q2	10:52	DET	Jones 8 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	ATL 14–7

Q2	3:45	DET	Chadwick 15 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	Tie 14–14

Q2	1:54	ATL	Johnson 35 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 21–14

Q3	7:29	DET	Chadwick 9 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	Tie 21–21

Q3	4:52	DET	Jones 21 yard run (Murray kick)	DET 28–21

Q4	14:56	ATL	Luckhurst 46 yard field goal	DET 28–24

Q4	7:15	ATL	Luckhurst 31 yard field goal	DET 28–27

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears	15	1	0	.938	8–0	12–0	456	198	W3
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	6–2	8–4	337	355	W2
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–9	346	359	L2
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	2–6	5–7	307	366	L3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	2–10	294	448	L4

References

Gainesville Sun. 1985 Sep 9. Retrieved 2017-Nov-01.
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-Nov-01.

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

1985 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
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

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