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.[1] 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. [2]
Schedule
1984 would prove the last time until 1996 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers.[3] 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.[4]
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
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
- Third Quarter
- 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
Game information |
- First quarter
- 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
- 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
- Top rushers
- Top receivers
- Team – pass – rush – total – to
- DET – 139 – 108 – 247 – 2
- SEA – 275 – 113 – 388 – 2
|
|
Standings
References
|
|
Franchise |
|
Stadiums |
|
Notable people |
|
Rivalries |
|
Lore |
|
Culture |
|
Division championships (9) |
|
League championships (4) |
|
Retired numbers |
|
Media |
|
Current league affiliations |
|