The History of the Detroit Lions , an American professional football franchise based in Detroit, Michigan, originated in 1929 when they played in Portsmouth, Ohio as Portsmouth Spartan. They will start their 89th season in 2018, and is one of the oldest National Football League franchises.
Video History of the Detroit Lions
Portsmouth Spartans (1929-1933)
The Spartan was originally formed in 1929 in Portsmouth, Ohio, attracting players from professional and independent semi-pro teams who died in the Ohio-Kentucky-West Virginia tri-state region. They soon made an impact by beating Ironton Tanks twice, a team of independent independent professionals who have been regularly playing NFL team members since the early 1920s with great success. Residents of Portsmouth agreed to fund the construction of the Universal Stadium, a place comparable to those in neighboring communities along the Ohio River, prompting the NFL to offer league membership in 1930. Portsmouth became the second smallest city of NFL, just above Green Bay. During the first year of the team in the league, he compiled a 5-6-3 record in the league contest. In 1931, Dutch Clark, an assistant coach at Colorado College, was granted leave and joined the team for the 1931 season which took them to a 11-3 record, second in the league behind the Green Bay Packers contender.
In 1932 the Spartans played the famous "iron man" game against the Packers. In the game, Spartan coach Potsy Clark refused to make any substitutions against the NFL defending champions who forced the same 11 players to play all matches. Portsmouth won the game 19-0 and ended the year with a 6-2-4 record equal to the Chicago Bears. The tie pushed what in retrospect became known as the first NFL Playoff Game in between. The game was originally intended to be played at Wrigley Field but because of the condition the blizzard had been moved into the room to the Chicago Stadium which was only allowed to field 80 yards. Portsmouth lost the game 0-9 and once again fell short of the first world championship franchise, but the resulting interest led to the formation of East and West conferences and championship matches played every year.
At the start of the 1933 season, the Lions added to Ernie Caddel's setbacks to the list, but despite his team's 5-1 lead, the team failed in the second half of the season by completing 1-4 for the final 6-5 notes which is only good for second place in the Territory West. After the season, the financially struggling Spartans were bought by a group led by Detroit radio executive George Richards for $ 7,952.08 and moved to Detroit where they renamed the Detroit Lions. Richards chose his name as a nod to the Detroit Tigers and because he said Lion is the king of the jungle and he wants his team to be king of the NFL.
Maps History of the Detroit Lions
Game NFL playoff pertama
At the end of the 1932 season, Spartan tied for first place in the league with the Chicago Bears. It encourages what in retrospect becomes known as the first NFL playoff game. The condition of a blizzard in Chicago means the game was moved from Wrigley Field indoors to the Chicago Stadium, allowing only 80 yards of field. The game was won 9-0 by the Bears, with a breakthrough pass from Bronko Nagurski to Red Grange. The resulting interest led to the formation of East and West conferences and regular championship games beginning in 1933.
Move to Detroit and early success (1934-1938)
The Lions played their first season in Detroit in 1934 starting the season with 10 consecutive wins including 7 shutouts, but they lost in the last 3 games of the season to Green Bay and Chicago and ended in second place behind the Bears in the west, once again coming short to their rivals. In 1935 Dutch Clark led the NFL with 55 points while Ernie Caddel led the league by 621 yards and 6.4 yards per lead as they took the Lions to a second 7-3-2 record in the West behind the 8-4 Packers but due to a winning percentage (.700 to the Packers.667) The Lions advanced to the 1935 NFL Championship Game against the New York Football Giants who are the three-time Eastern Conference champions and the surviving NFL Champions. The game was played at 2:00 pm on December 15, 1935 in front of 15,000 fans in Detroit. The Lions won the 26-7 game to win the first World Championship team that was also part of the Detroit City of Champions for the 1935-1936 sports season. The Tigers won the 1935 World Series and the Detroit Red Wings also won the 1936 Stanley Cup.
After the season ended, Lions played the NFL All Stars team in an exhibition match on 1 January 1936 and won in a 33-0 victory. They also played 3 other exhibition matches, winning 67-14 over Westwood Clubs Los Angeles on January 13, a 42-7 victory over the Los Angeles All Stars on January 20 and a 10-3 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Over the next two years, Detroit completed a score of 8-4 and 7-4, but finished in 3rd place at the Western Conference, two years, again for Bears and Packers. After falling one short Packers game in 1938, both the Dutch Clark and Ernie Caddel decided to retire from professional football. Dutch Clark was then inducted into the famous Detroit Lions building and has # 7 retired by the club.
Fighting (1939-1949)
In 1939, Detroit's first year without their superstar players, the Lions only managed to win 6 games, a disappointing season that set the tone for the next decade. The year 1940 is not the highest point of the Lions history. They won a total of 35 games, averaging 3.5 seasons, including 0-11 in 1942. The 1942 team's offense was very bad, scoring only 5 goals all season and never scoring more than 7 points in one game. By choosing 1st overall in 1943 Draft Lions composed Frank Sinkwich of Georgia, who won the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 1944 while leading Detroit from 1-3-1 to start 5 wins to end the year with Detroit's first winning record since 1939. On the 7th November 1943, the Lions and New York Football Giants played with a 0-0 tie in Detroit - until the last time the NFL match ended with a goalless tie.
Detroit improved on that record in 1945 which ended 7-3, 2 in the Western Division behind the Cleveland Rams. The Lion was less successful in the second half of the decade; in 1946 Detroit only managed to win 1 all year and in 1947 only won 3. The Lions fortune began to turn in 1948. By choosing overall 6 in the NFL Draft 1948 Lions composed a quarterback Y.A. After all, he never signed a contract with the team, instead of joining the San Francisco 49ers. In the same concept, three picks before the Lions compose Tittle, the Chicago Bears drew up the design of Bobby Layne, who built a famous career hall in Detroit just three years later, and then Detroit took the Les Bingaman tackle and Don Bow's defensive back into Pro Bowlers.
Detroit only won 2 matches in 1948 but continued to build a roster of quarterback names Johnny Rauch's draft to the New York Bulldogs in exchange for the draft rights Doak Walker. In 1949, the Lion increased to 4-8 absences in the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons.
Team 50s (1950-1958)
In the early 1950s Lions had a list to compete for the championship but still needed quarterback franchises. To address this need, buy Bob Mann wide receiver to New York Yanks for midfielder Bobby Layne. After a disappointing 6-6 finish in 1950, head coach Bo McMillin was dismissed and replaced by Buddy Parker who previously played for the Lions in the mid 1930s including being part of the 1935 championship team. In 1952 the Lions finished with a tied 9-3 record with the Los Angeles Rams to first at the National Conference NFL and thus for the first time in 17 years Detroit returned to the playoffs.
In the National Championship Championship Game, the Lions beat Rams 31-21 in front of nearly 50,000 spectators at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, playing in the rain and fog. The win also sent the Lions back to the NFL Championship Game against Paul Brown, Cleveland Browns, who was the first of four championship games and five playoff games played between the two teams in a decade. Detroit won the game with a score of 17-7 to win the second title in franchise history. The next season Lions enjoy the biggest season in franchise history composing the future hall of fame midfielder Joe Schmidt in the 1953 NFL Draft to add a team of 7 future farmers' halls. The Lions won 10 games and took first place in the renamed Western Conference. In addition, the team has 7 Pro Bowlers, 5 AP All Pros, and swept the Chicago division rivals and Green Bay in four consecutive weeks. Detroit stood against Cleveland in the 1953 NFL Championship Game where Layne found Jim Doran for a 33-yard touchdown that won in the last minute to win 17-16. In 1954, the two teams met again but this time Browns destroyed Detroit 56-10 to smash the Lions shot in a peat.
Despite Detroit's success in the early 1950s, the mid-1950s seemed like a falling point for the team. The Lions only won 3 games in 1955 and finished second to Chicago Bears in 1956. During the 1957 preseason Detroit Lions Buddy Parker shocked the world of football by announcing his withdrawal from the organization and taking on the job as head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite this the Lions finished 8-4 and tied with San Francisco 49ers who set up another playoff game between the two. The game played in San Francisco became famous for "The Night The Walls Talked". During the 49ers game lead 24-7 at half-time behind three goals passing from Y.A. Tittle. During the 49ers break, which assumes that they have locked the game, start calling their families, celebrating victories, spending their winning stakes, and booking their flights to the NFL Championship Game against Cleveland. Because the walls at Kezar Stadium are very thin and the locker rooms are right next to each other, the Lions can hear it.
Detroit's new head coach, George Wilson, stood up and said, "I'll say something, but that's what they think of you" and then sit down. In San Francisco's second-round second-leg match back Hugh McElhenny ran a 71-yard run to the Detroit 9-yard line but the Lions held 49ers for field purposes, San Francisco's last point of the day. Bobby Layne had lost the injury three weeks earlier but the Lions Tobin Rote reserve led Detroit to 24 unanswered points and 31-27 came from behind the win. The following week, in the NFL Championship Game, Rote threw for four goals and ran on another as the Lions beat Cleveland 59-14 and claimed their third championship in six years and until their last moment.
In 1958, after he led the Lions to three NFL championship games and gave Detroit nearly a decade of playing the Hall of Fame, the Lions traded Bobby Layne. Bobby was injured during the last championship season, and the Lions thought he was over and wanted to get what they could for him. According to legend, when he left for Pittsburgh, Bobby said that Detroit "will not win for 50 years." Since this time, the Lions have not won another championship and the subsequent years of franchise (mostly) futility have been labeled "The Curse of Bobby Layne." Without Layne Detroit finished 4-7-1 for one of the worst title defenses in NFL history.
Adapt to life without Bobby Layne and commit to defend (1959-1969)
The season 3-8-1 in 1959 meant the Lions closed the most successful decade in a disappointing way and entered the 1960s. Lions decided to go with this new rebuild this time centered around the defense. Detroit begins with defensive final trade Gerry Perry to the St Louis Cardinals for Cornerback Dick's "Night Train" Lane. Lions hall of fame Joe Schmidt later called it "One of the greatest trades ever made in any sport". This is a good move because Lane made three Pro Bowls and four All Pro options as a Lion. Detroit also set up Roger Brown's star defenses to pair up with Alex Karras, Sam Williams and Darris McCord, forming one of the most vicious defense in pro football history. The Lions also still have 50s star Joe Schmidt and Yale Lary as well as cornerback Dick LeBeau which the team signed in 1959. Despite the 0-3 start in 1960 this Defense helped the Lions to a 7-2 record to end the year at 7-5 overall. Detroit finished 2nd in the Western Conference and earned a trip to the Playoff Bowl against their rivals Cleveland Browns who finished second in the Eastern Conference.
The game was played on January 7, 1961, at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and is the 5th (and last) final playoff between the teams. The Lions beat Browns 17-16 to win the match. In 1961 the Lion improved slightly finishing 8-5-1 and returned to a playoff bowl where they destroyed the Eagles 38-10, to win the 2nd Annual Bowl. The Lions peak of the early 60s came in 1962 when they collected an 11-3 record and became the third team in NFL history that never reached more than 7 points in one game. While the Lions finished behind the Packers again, they managed to beat the Pack on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit 26-14 in a game known as "Thanksgiving Day Massacre". It was the only loss of Green Bay throughout the season as they finally won the NFL Championship in 1962. The Lions went to the Playoff Bowl for the third year in a row, beating Pittsburgh Steelers 17-10.
In the mid-1960s, the Lions served as a backdrop for George Plimpton's sports literature, who spent time at the Lions training camp posing as a player. This is the basic material for his book Paper Lion , which later became a movie starring Alan Alda plus a number of actual Lions players, including Alex Karras. On November 22, 1963, William Clay Ford, Sr purchased a control interest in the team for $ 4.5 million. During Ford's extended tenure until his death in 2014, the Lions won just one playoff game. Detroit's fortunes ended in 1963 when the team failed to complete a 5-8-1 betting scandal involving Alex Karras and the Packers running back Paul Hornung causing both players to be suspended for the 1963 season and also playing a role in the Lions collapse. The Lions improved the following year by finishing 7-5-2 but failed in the playoffs.
Detroit began to lose its defense when Yale Lary retired after the 1964 season, followed by Schmidt and Lane leaving after the 1965 season to retire. The Lions fought through the mid to late 60s but used the time to rebuild their list and eventually compiled Lem Barney to replace Night Train Lane, Bob Kowalkowski and Ed Flanagan to build an offensive line and run back Mel Farr. Although all the players say to be Pro Bowlers, Detroit still need the franchise players they found in the 3rd round of the 1968 NFL Draft when they compiled a tight end of Charlie Sanders Hall of Fame, 7 times Pro Bowler is considered one of the best players to ever play position.
Decade of failure (1970-1981)
Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye made plans, following the death of duet partner Tammi Terrell, to join the Lions and go to football. He gained weight and was trained for trials in 1970, but was cut early. He remains friends with a number of players, notably Mel Farr and Lem Barney, who appeared as background vocalists on the 1971 classic single "What's Going On." With the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Lions were placed in the new NFC Center division with Minnesota, Green Bay, and Chicago. Completed with a 10-4 record, they are the first team to qualify for a newly created wildfire playoff NFL position. However, they lost to the Cowboys 5-0 after a long and tiring defensive struggle and did not see any postseason again for the rest of the decade.
Despite losing the 1970 Lions remains one of the best teams in franchise history and one of the most underrated teams in NFL history. Also in 1970, the Lions were an opponent on the day Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints kicked what became the longest field goal in NFL history. Dempsey's 63-yard effort at the final game of the game lifted the Saints to a 19-17 victory over the Lions. The record broke out in 2013 when then the Broncos and current Lions kicker Matt Prater kicked off 64 field pitches to set a new record. While playing at home against Chicago on October 24, 1971, the tragedy occurred when wide receiver Chuck Hughes fainted and died of a massive heart attack. He remains the only NFL player ever to die on the pitch. In honor of his memory, the team wore black armbands for the rest of the season and retired his number # 85 (though the number was worn by wide receiver Kevin Johnson in 2005 asking for and receiving permission from the Hughes family to do it.The current jersey number is worn by Brandon Barnes.
In 1972, the Lion increased to 8-5-1 and then fell back to 6-7-1 the following year. Heart disease claimed another member of the franchise when head coach Don McCafferty died shortly before the 1974 training camp. The season saw the Lion end at 7-7. On Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1974, after more than 35 years, the Lions played their last game at Tiger Stadium, where they lost to Denver Broncos 31-27 in front of 51,157, in the middle of a snowstorm and a 21-point Broncos quarter-final -3. The Lions moved into the newly built Silverdome and have been playing their home games indoors ever since (at Ford Field since 2002). Other 7-7 records were produced in 1975, the first year of the Lions indoors and 6-8 featured in 1976. The team finished 6-8 again in 1977, struggling throughout the season with anemia that only collected 183 points. More mediocrity followed in 1978 with seven wins in the newly expanded 16-match season. The bottom fell from the Lions in 1979 with a 2-14 record.
This gave the Lions the first overall pick to draft the Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims from Oklahoma. Detroit also composed quarterback Eric Hipple in the fourth round of drafts that became the Lions quarterback starting for most of the decade. Detroit was soon repaired in 1980 to jump to a 9-7 record which unfortunately was not good enough to qualify for the playoffs. The next year the Lions finished 8-8 again failed to qualify for the playoffs.
NFC Central Division championship and retired Billy Sims (1982-1988)
The Lions entered 1982 in hopes for a playoff possibility, but after a 2-0 start the lockout canceled 7 matches this season to 9 games. After the lockout ended, the Lions finished 2-5 but the 4-5 record was good enough to qualify for the playoffs to be one of only 3 teams qualifying for the NFL Playoffs with a record losing. The other two teams are the Cleveland Browns who did so in the same year and the 2011 Seahawks who not only qualified for the playoffs but won their division with a 7-9 record. In the Lions playoffs continued 31-7 by the last champion Washington Redskins. However, with Monte Clark (who had been the head coach of Lions/GM in the 1978 season) at the helm, and Billy Sims, the Lions won 9 games in 1983 to capture the NFL Central Division championship and make their second consecutive playoff appearance for the first time since 1961 & amp; 1962 season.
On December 31, 1983, the Lions faced the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game that went down the wire. After a 14-3 lead by Joe Montana who led the 49ers, the Lions were able to trim the deficit to 14-9 in the first half with a few goals on the pitch by Detroit kicker Eddie Murray, who made what was then a postseason recording a 54-yard kick in the second- second closing first half. On two touchdown-scoring drives, one capped by an 11-yard run and another with a 3-yard run (both by Sims, who has 116 yards on 20 carry), Detroit leads for the first time that day, 23- 17, with the remaining 4 : 44 in the game. Montana, who had been quite ineffective until then, made one of his signatures in the fourth quarter by completing 6 bait for 51 yards, the latter scoring TD and giving the team a 23-23 lead with 1:28 remaining. Detroit is not finished yet, and although Gary Danielson, who is fifth on Detroit's all-time passport list and replaces the current injury starts QB Eric Hipple, has a terrifying game with 5 interceptions, he puts together a closing drive to get the ball into 49ers 26 yards row with 11 seconds remaining , in which previous Murray made 3 of 4 field goals for the missing day for the second time from 43 yards on a wide kick.
In 1984 during the game against Minnesota Vikings on 21 October, Billy Sims suffered an injury that ended his career that eventually made Clark lose his job. Sims spent two years trying to rehabilitate an injury before retiring in 1986. The Lions brought Darryl Rogers, considered an offensive teacher who previously trained at the college level. But his tenure was marked by many disappointments. From 1985 to mid-season in 1988, he gained a record of 18-40 and 2-9 years '88 before he was fired. He was replaced by head coach Wayne Fontes, who at the end of his coaching career, is considered one of the best coaches in team history and has the distinction of winning and losing the most from head coaches with the Lions.
By selecting the third draft overall in the 1989 draft, the Lions chose another run back, which wears the number 20, Barry Sanders. He plays attack with another rookie in quarterback, Rodney Peete. This time the Lion was much better on the 1989 offense, but still finishing third away with a 7-9 record. However, a wind of change blew in Motown, as in 1989, Barry Sanders rushed for 1,470 yards in 280, and finished second in a rush just 10 yards behind the leader, who he had a chance to try to break by returning at the end of the final game. However, with the Lion riding some score, he took the bait, the trademark of his career. He was awarded the Rookie of the Year NFL award.
With such a youthful core, including recent offensive options, and with previous options on defense, the Lions finally acquired Pro-Bowlers Bennie Blades and Chris Spielman in 1988 along with Jerry Ball in 1987, all of them again looking for the Lions. Detroit gave an excellent performance in 1990 led by Barry, but only finished 6-10. Sanders won the first of his four NFL titles that season with 1,304 yards, beating Buffal Thurman Thomas seven yards. In 1991, the Lions started the season closing on national television, 45-0, by the Washington Redskins but then rebounded, winning the next five games. They went 12-4 for the season, and won their first division title in eight years, capping the regular season with a victory over the defense, and immediately repeat, AFC Champion Buffalo Bills. They were inspired at the end of the season due to the loss of his bodyguard, Mike Utley, who suffered a career paralysis injury against the Los Angeles Rams on November 17, 1991. When Utley was taken off the field in the game, he threw "up" to his teammates and the Silverdome crowd. becoming the rally symbol for the rest of the season
In the playoffs, the Lions cut up the Cowboys 38-6 for the team's first playoff victory since the 1960s, however, they were completely defeated by the Redskins once again this time 41-10 in the NFC Championship. This is the first time a team that has been closed in its opening has reached the title round of the conference. Two teams since then fit in with this achievement: the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots both did so in 2003.
The Lions also made playoffs in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999, making the 1990s one of the most successful decades in team history. In 1993, they went 10-6, first in the NFC Central Division, but lost to the Green Bay Packers. In 1994, they lost to the Packers in the playoffs again. In 1995, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Packers in the final week of the season causing Detroit to have to go down the road to Philly. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles and former Lion Rodney Peete, in an embarrassing way, 58-37 (entering the fourth quarter, they are down 51-7). In 1997, Detroit lost to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round. In 1999, the Lions closed the decade reaching the playoffs for the sixth time in a span of ten years, which is a franchise record for playoff appearances for a decade. However, they lost again in the first half, this time to the Washington Redskins. The Detroit 1999 playoff spot also marked the second time in Bobby Ross's first three years as head coach that he led the Lions to the postseason. The last lion head coach to achieve that achievement was Buddy Parker, in 1952-53 during the second season and all three at the helm.
In 1997, Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 yards rushing. At the time, his career total of 15,269 yards was second after Walter Payton reached 16,726 yards and he joined Jim Brown as the only player among the 50 NFL leaders who managed to achieve an average of 5 yards but he retired - after the 1998 season. Emmitt Smith has since broken Payton's record, collecting a rushing 18,355-meter career, which crashed Sanders to # 3 on a narrow career total list. Matt Marten and failing to rebuild (1999-2008) [span id =" Matt_Millen_and_failed_rebuild_ (1999-2008 ") >
After Barry Sanders retired the surprising Lions found their way to the 1999 NFL Playoffs with an 8-8 record before being sent by Redskins 13-27 in the wild card round. The team really improved in the 2000 season ending at 9-7, but due to a stronger conference they missed the playoffs. After that season, the Lions hired Matt Millen, a former player and broadcaster, as president and CEO. Detroit collapsed in 2001 which led many to believe they could be the first team to go 0-16 in a season. After starting 0-13, the Lions finally managed to win the game on December 16 by beating rivals Minnesota Vikings. After 2 consecutive defeats, the Lions played their last game in the 2001 season on January 6, 2002. In the last game played at Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions 1-14 entertain 5-10 Cowboys. Although there is not much hype or playoff implications for the game, 77,512 fans come out to watch the Lions beat Cowboys 15-10.
This makes Detroit pick the 3rd overall in the draft, behind the Houston Texans expansion team. The Lions used pick on Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington so it started one of the worst rebuilding efforts in NFL history. A bright spot this season is the signing of free agent that is not strung together, Eddie Drummond who was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro player for the Lions in 2004. The Lions won one more game in 2002 to 3-13 and once again earned an overall victory 2nd in the draft this time picked out the local favorite Charles Rodgers as well as hired Steve Mariucci as the new head coach. The team finished 2003 with a 5-11 record. Rodgers got off to a hot start but was injured in the middle of the season and because of this the Lions drafted wide receiver Roy Williams 7 overall in the 2004 draft. Williams, Rodgers, Harrington and Millen became the four names associated with this redevelopment and the Lions failure in 2000 -an.
The Lions went all over 2001 (their last season at Silverdome), 2002 (their first season at Ford Field), and the 2003 season without a winning road, so being the only team in NFL history has not won on the road for three consecutive seasons. The streak, which included a record 24 NFL matches (Cleveland Browns currently in 21 successive defeats) ended on 12 September 2004, when the Lions defeated the Bear 20-16 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Over seven seasons under Millen's leadership as team president, the Detroit Lions have the worst NFL victory percentage (31-81,.277), have never had a winning season, never finished higher than third place in North NFC, and did not play in any post-season games. Millen received a five-year contract extension at the start of the 2005 season, much to the dismay of the Lions fans.
Prior to the start of the 2006 NFL season, the Lions sold quarterback Joey Harrington to the Miami Dolphins. The team finished 3-13 and earned overall pick 2 in the 2007 NFL Draft they used on wide receiver Georgia Tech Calvin Johnson. In 2007, the Lions started the season with a promising 6-2 record. The optimism was short-lived, however, as the team recorded only a single victory in the next eight games, for a final note of 7-9.
2008: 0-16
The Matt Millen came to a brutal end in 2008. Although the Lions record in pre-season 4-0, they are without a win during the regular season with a record of 0-16. They became the only team in NFL history (although it has since been matched by the 2017 Cleveland Browns who incidentally also won all their pre-season) lost all 16 games in a season and thus they won the right to the first overall pick in 2009 NFL Draft. Millen was fired mid-season and thus began a new era for Lions
Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson (2009-2015)
2009
On January 15, 2009, Lions hired Jim Schwartz as head coach. Schwartz spent 10 seasons with the Tennessee Titans, eight of them as defensive coordinators, helping them set a 13-3 record and first place at AFC South in 2008. The Lions also hired a new offensive coordinator (Scott Linehan), and a new one. defensive coordinator (Gunther Cunningham). In April, they adopted a redesigned team logo, which is a more aggressive version of what has been used since 1970.
The Lions chose the University of Georgia's Matthew Stafford quarterback to vote overall # 1 in the 2009 NFL Draft. The six-year contract contains $ 41.7 million bail (most secured for any player in NFL history, until Sam Bradford receives $ 50 million with money-back guarantee from St. Louis Rams a year later.) And a total of $ 72 million.
In the first two games of 2009, the Lions lost to the last champions and then to the Vikings. On September 27, 2009, the team broke their 19-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory at Ford Field against the Washington Redskins. The return loss after that, including the surrendering Rams winning their only win of the season. The only other Detroit victory of the season is against Cleveland Browns, a 38-37 shock which left Matthew Stafford throwing away a winning goal in time. The Lions then hosted Green Bay in their annual Thanksgiving game and lost 34-12. The remaining five games were lost, including 48-3 destruction in Baltimore and the team ended the year at 2-14.
2010
In the 2010 draft, Lions used # 2 pick to earn DT Ndamukong Suh from the University of Nebraska. They also compiled a Mr. Irrelevant (final player in draft) 2010, Weber State WR Tim Toone.
During a pre-season game with Browns, Suh (who has earned a reputation in college as an aggressive player) grabbed Cleveland QB Jake Delhomme by a facemask and threw it to the ground. Delhomme escaped unscathed, but Suh was fined $ 7,500 for the incident.
The Lions started their 2010 season in Chicago, which in 2007 was their last and final division winning scene. Despite leading Bear for most of the game, Detroit suffered a painful 19-14 loss when a touchdown pass for WR Calvin Johnson was ruled incomplete by the referee in a highly controversial decision. Sunday 2 sees a defeat close to the Eagles, the Detroit team have not been beaten since 1986, and have not been home since 1977. After this, they headed to Minnesota to take on a struggling Viking, but were once again denied victory when Adrian Peterson pulled off 80 yards TD run to win the game. After this, the Lions approached their first win at Green Bay since 1991, but in the 4th quarter Jim Schwartz decided to run the clock out rather than kick the field targets, allowing the Packers to push downfield and get a goal. The Lions finally grabbed their first win of the season when the Rams returned to Ford Field on Sunday 5 and were buried 44-6. After losing to the Giants, the Lions earned another easy win over the Redskins for their second successive win over the team. Then came five consecutive defeats, including a Thanksgiving match with the Patriots in which the Lions exploded an early lead loss of 45-24. However, Week 14 brought a lot of events when the Packers arrived in Detroit and Aaron Rodgers was brought out with a concussion in the 4th quarter. Matt Flynn failed to score the TDs, and the Lions won their first division match since 2005. After this, the team suddenly entered a late summer streak, ending their road loss by beating Buccaneers in Tampa Bay and paralyzing the last playoff chance. Another Florida victory came when Detroit beat the unfortunate Dolphins in Week 16 and finally returned home to beat Minnesota 20-13 and end the 2010-2010 season. Although Matt Stafford's drama is only marginally due to injury, Drew Stanton and Shaun Hill appear convincing below center, and WR Calvin Johnson also plays a key role in six team wins. Suh lives with a frightening college reputation as well and proves himself not being a bust as some are predictable.
Matt Stafford and Ndamukong Suh both underwent surgery in the offseason. Seeking to improve their defense (mid-tier rankings in 2010), Lions compiled DT Nick Fairley from Auburn with # 13 election.
2011
The Lions opened in 2011 with a rematch at Tampa Bay. Despite some offensive lag in the 3rd quarter, they attract 27-20. After the match, Jim Schwartz insisted that they still needed to fix a large number of errors on the pitch. Opened at home against Kansas City on Sunday 2, they burned their 48-3 opponents to set a franchise record for regular season points (beating the old record of 44 from 1995). The team continued to improve on Sunday 3 as they climbed back from a 20-point deficit to win 26-23 and beat the Vikings in Minnesota for the first time since 1997. The game marks the start of the first 3-0 Lions since 1980. Detroit is almost gone in Dallas next week , falling behind 27-3 after an interception of Matt Stafford. But suddenly Cowboy collapsed allowing them to line up again and win 34-30, moving to 4-0 and becoming (along with the Packers) one of two unbeaten teams.
In Week 5, the Lions hosted Chicago for their first primetime performance since 2005 and also the team returned to MNF after a decade absence. The capacity crowd (67,000, the largest ever attending the Lions match at Ford Field) generated a lot of votes to confuse the Bears offense. A careless game with many penalties followed, but in the 2nd quarter Matt Stafford threw a 70-yard TD yard into Calvin Johnson. A TD run by Jahvid Best followed in the 3rd quarter, and Detroit maintained all-game pressure on QB Bears Jay Cutler to win 24-13 and start the season 5-0 for the first time since 1956.
The Lions took their first defeat after being beaten by San Francisco 25-19, but the game was more important for Jim Schwartz getting into an argument with Jim Harbaugh's 49ers coach afterwards. After two days of consideration, the NFL decided not to punish one of the coaches for a fight. The second defeat in a row came after Detroit fell to Atlanta 23-16 after an indifferent offensive performance. The following week, Detroit beat Denver and QB Tim Tebow 45-10. The game includes a 100-yard interception for touchdown by Chris Houston. But on Sunday 10, the Lion failed to do a sweep of the season from Bear for their messy offense on a windy day at Soldier Field, losing 37-13.
The team's wild trips through the 2011 season continued as they hosted the Packers defending champions on Thanksgiving day, but the latter proved to be more than they could handle. Ndamukong Suh was removed from the game after stepping on the arm of Evan Dietrich-Smith, a reserve guard assigned to block Suh, increasing his reputation as a dirty player. This earned him a 3-match suspension as the Lions headed for New Orleans in Week 13. The match was straightened out to the SNF, and although they played well, the disciplinary problems continued to rise as some costly penalties gave the Saints a victory. Headed home, the Lions went through a struggling Viking team. With the playoff in sight, they went to Oakland on Sunday 15th. At the close end of the match, Matt Stafford drove the downfield team and threw a TD pass to Calvin Johnson to tie the score. After the Raiders got the ball back, they tried to kick FG but Suh blocked the effort and the Lions headed home, beating San Diego to finish their sweep from AFC West and securing a wild card along with the first franchise playoff appearance in 12 years. With only seeding still in question, they went to Green Bay to pick up the Packers backup player. The victory proved elusive again because Matt Flynn threw 6 TD passes on the Lions to win. With Detroit relegated to the # 6 playoff seed, they lost a rematch with Saints in New Orleans during the wild card round.
Major highlights of the season include Matt Stafford overcoming injury problems he suffered in 2009-10, as well as the emergence of Calvin Johnson as one of the WRS league elite.
2012-15
The 2012 season sees the Lion trying to improve over their impressive 2011 season. They started 4-4, then lost in their last 8 games, the longest streak since 2008, to complete 4-12. This is the last season for PK Jason Hanson, the oldest player active in the NFL in 42 years, who retired after the season ended.
The 2013 season saw the team improve. By the 10th week, after their first win in Chicago since 2007, the team was in first place in the North NFC. By week 13, the team won their first Thanksgiving match since 2004 in 40-10 whips of Green Bay. However, the Lions have lost their previous two going into the game, and lost their last 4, including 23-20 overwhelming overtime in their last home game of the season to the Giants, with nothing left to play. The Lions were knocked out of the playoff bout, and followed it by losing their last game to Minnesota in the last game ever played at Metrodome. Overall, the Lions finished 7-9, 3 in their division, resulting in the dismissal of coach Jim Schwartz on 30 December.
On January 14, 2014, Lions hired Jim Caldwell as their new head coach. He is the first African American head coach in franchise history.
On March 9, 2014, the old owner William Clay Ford, Sr. died at the age of 88. On March 10 it was announced that controlling interest in the Detroit Lions would pass to Ford's widow, Martha (nÃÆ' Â © e Firestone) Ford.
During the 2014 season, Jim Caldwell's influence boosted the Lions drastically from the previous two seasons. Touting the second best defense unit in the league (behind only the defending champions Seahawks), Lions booked 11-5 and qualified for the playoffs. However, the Lions suffered a controversial defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in the wildcard round of the playoffs.
On 5 November 2015, the Lions fired general manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand, following the start of 1-7 this season. During his tenure as general manager, the Lions were 41-63, and made the playoffs twice, and lost twice in the Wild Card round. On November 19, Lions hired Rod Wood as team leader. This season marked the end of an era when Calvin Johnson retired after the season.
The Bob Quinn era (2016-present)
2016-present
On January 8, 2016, Lions hired Bob Quinn as general manager. Despite not having much hope for the Detroit playoffs collecting the NFL Record 8 fourth-quarter comeback and winning 9 games with a pretty good 9-7 record to make the playoff as a wild card, but they were beaten by Seattle Seahawks 26-6, boosting their playoff defeat. The following season, Detroit had a re-record of their last season, 9-7, but failed to make the playoffs after being beaten by the Cincinnati Bengals (aged 5-9 at the time), resulting in the dismissal of head coach Jim Caldwell. days after the season ended, despite record victories that season. Detroit then went on to recruit defensive co-ordinator New England Patriots Matt Patricia as head coach on 5 February 2018. The big problem for the Lions in 2016 and 2017 is the running game so in an effort to improve it, the Lions signed LeGarrette Blount of the Philadelphia Eagles and reassembled Kerryon Johnson from Auburn.
Notes and references
Bibliography
- McDonough, Will (1994). 75 Seasons: The Complete Story of the National Football League . Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc. ISBNÃ, 1-57036-056-1
- Peterson, Robert W. (1997).
- Willis, Chris (2010). The Man Who Builds The National Football League: Joe F. Carr . Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBNÃ, 978-0-8108-7669-9
External links
- Grene, Bob. "What if the NFL lives in town?" CNN . February 6, 2011.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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