1983 Detroit Lions season

1983 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Monte Clark
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost 1st Round

The 1983 Detroit Lions season was the 54th season in franchise history. After a 1-4 start, the Lions finished with a 9-7 record. They were able to rise to the top of a weak NFC Central, to claim their first division championship since 1957. 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 13 ½ sacks of his own. In the NFC playoffs, the Lions lead the San Francisco 49ers late into the 4th 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. ^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 4, 1983	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 11–0	62,154
2	September 11, 1983	Cleveland Browns	L 31–26	60,095
3	September 18, 1983	Atlanta Falcons	L 30–14	54,622
4	September 25, 1983	at Minnesota Vikings	L 20–17	58,254
5	October 2, 1983	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–10	49,403
6	October 9, 1983	Green Bay Packers	W 38–14	67,738
7	October 16, 1983	Chicago Bears	W 31–17	66,709
8	October 23, 1983	at Washington Redskins	L 38–17	43,189
9	October 30, 1983	at Chicago Bears	W 38–17	58,764
10	November 7, 1983	New York Giants	W 15–9	68,985
11	November 13, 1983	at Houston Oilers	L 27–17	40,660
12	November 20, 1983	at Green Bay Packers	W 23–20 OT	50,050
13	November 24, 1983	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–3	77,724
14	December 5, 1983	Minnesota Vikings	W 13–2	79,169
15	December 11, 1983	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–9	45,728
16	December 18, 1983	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–20	78,392

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; wind 7

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

^[2]

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions⁽³⁾	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

Final Roster

1983 Detroit Lions final roster

Quarterbacks

16 Gary Danielson
17 Eric Hipple
14 Mike Machurek

Running backs

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

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

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

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

Defensive backs

33 William Graham FS
35 Alvin Hall SS/KR
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 lists

41 James Caver DB/WR (IR)
50 August Curley LB (IR)
43 Al Latimer CB (IR)

Practice squad

Rookies in italics
49 Active, 3 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Postseason

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

	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 (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.

Detroit Lions

Founded in 1930 Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933) Based in Detroit, Michigan Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan

Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches

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 Cheerleaders

Lore	1932 Playoff Game Curse of Bobby Layne Mike Utley gives a thumbs up Marty Mornhinweg takes the wind "Fire Millen" 0–16 "Calvin Johnson rule" Miracle in Motown

Rivalries	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Notable people	William Clay & Martha Firestone Ford Barry Sanders Bobby Layne Glenn Presnell

Division championships (4)	1935 1983 1991 1993

Conference championships (4)	1952 1953 1954 1957

League championships (4)	1935 1952 1953 1957

Broadcasters	Radio: Radio network Dan Miller Jim Brandstatter Tony Ortiz WJR TV: Television network Matt Shepard Chris Spielman Jennifer Hammond WJBK Fox Sports Detroit

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (87)	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

Championship seasons in bold

Portsmouth Spartans–Detroit Lions seasons

Portsmouth Spartans 1930 1931 1932 1933 Detroit 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

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl 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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