1983 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1983 9–7 1st NFC Central Monte Clark Ted Marchibroda Ed Beard William Clay Ford Sr. Pontiac Silverdome Lost Divisional Playoffs(at 49ers) 23–24 DT Doug English DT Doug English (2nd team) Lions seasons 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.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/det/lions.html Season summary at Sports E Cyclopedia March 31, 2012 December 30, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20071230202401/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/det/lions.html dead Offseason NFL draft 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 49 4 16 Gary Danielson 17 Eric Hipple 14 Mike Machurek 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Jenkins American football 30 James Jones running back, born 1961 y 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King American football 20 Billy Sims 38 Vince Thompson 89 Jeff Chadwick y 83 Robbie Martin 86 Mark Nichols American football 87 Freddie Scott American football, born 1952 39 Leonard Thompson American football 81 Reese McCall 80 Ulysses Norris 84 Rob Rubick 72 Chris Dieterich T 70 Keith Dorney T 61 Homer Elias G 65 Amos Fowler C 67 Don Greco G 64 Larry Lee G American football 52 Steve Mott C y 71 Rich Strenger T y 55 Tom Turnure C 66 Mike Cofer DE linebacker y 73 Mike Dawson DT defensive end 78 Doug English DT 74 Mike Fanning American football DT 79 William Gay DE/DT defensive lineman 62 Curtis Green DE 63 Martin Moss DE/DT American football 54 Roosevelt Barnes American football OLB 53 Garry Cobb OLB 58 Steve Doig MLB 57 Ken Fantetti MLB 51 James Harrell American football OLB 59 Jimmy Williams OLB linebacker 33 William Graham SS American football 35 Alvin Hall FS safety 23 Maurice Harvey FS 21 Demetrious Johnson SS American football y 29 Bruce McNorton CB 34 Dan Wagoner CB 27 Bobby Watkins CB cornerback 11 Mike Black P punter y  3 Eddie Murray K American football 41 James Caver WR IR no y 50 August Curley LB IR y 43 Al Latimer CB IR 82 Edward Lee no WR IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 4 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 11–01–0 62,154 2 September 11 Cleveland Browns L 31–261–1 60,095 3 September 18 Atlanta Falcons L 30–141–2 54,622 4 September 25 at Minnesota Vikings L 20–171–3 58,254 5 October 2 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–101–4 49,403 6 October 9 Green Bay Packers W 38–142–4 67,738 7 October 16 Chicago Bears W 31–173–4 66,709 8 October 23 at Washington Redskins L 38–173–5 43,189 9 October 30 at Chicago Bears W 38–174–5 58,764 10 November 7 New York Giants W 15–95–5 68,985 11 November 13 at Houston Oilers L 27–175–6 40,660 12 November 20 at Green Bay Packers W 23–20(OT)6–6 50,050 13 November 24 Pittsburgh Steelers W 45–37–6 77,724 14 December 5 Minnesota Vikings W 13–28–6 79,169 15 December 11 at Cincinnati Bengals L 17–98–7 45,728 16 December 18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–209–7 78,392Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 Lions 5 0 3 3 Buccaneers 0 0 0 0 September 4 Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida 1:00 p.m. 62,154 82 °F °C 1 or, wind 7 mph km/h knots Gordon McCarter CBS yes 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-23. Week 11 at Oilers Detroit Lions 1983 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Eleven: Detroit Lions (5–5) at Houston Oilers (0–10) November 13, 1983 1:00 p.m. Lions 0 10 7 0 Oilers 3 7 14 3 Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas 40,660 Indoors (dome) 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. left Detroit Lions Lions Houston Oilers Oilers Eric Hipple 17/29, 213 Yds, 3 INT Billy Sims 20 Rush, 105 Yds, TD Billy Sims 9 Rec, 90 Yds Oliver Luck 18/26, 189 Yds, 2 TD, INT Earl Campbell 28 Rush, 107 Yds Mike Renfro 7 Rec, 75 Yds DET HOU collapsed 1 8:02 Oilers FG 47 Florian Kempf 0 3 2 12:48 Lions RushTD Billy Sims 1 good Eddie Murray run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 3 2 3:48 Lions FG 35 Eddie Murray 10 3 2 0:50 Oilers RecTD Mike McCloskey Oliver Luck 13 good Florian Kempf run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 10 3 10:25 Lions RecTD James Jones Gary Danielson 3 good Eddie Murray run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 10 3 9:12 Oilers RecTD Chris Dressel Oliver Luck 13 good Florian Kempf run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 17 3 1:01 Oilers RushTD Larry Moriarty 4 good Florian Kempf run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 24 4 13:08 Oilers FG 21 Florian Kempf 17 27 17 27 Standings Postseason NFC Divisional Playoff, San Francisco 49ers 24, Detroit Lions 23 Lions 3 6 0 14 49ers 7 7 3 7 Candlestick Park, San Francisco 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST 59 °F °C or, sunny CBS Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil Pat Haggerty 59,286 References Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com Detroit Lions on The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Category:NFC Central championship seasons Detroit Lions