1996 Detroit Lions season
| 1996 Detroit Lions season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Wayne Fontes |
| General manager | Chuck Schmidt |
| Owner | William Clay Ford, Sr. |
| Home field | Pontiac Silverdome |
| Results | |
| Record | 5–11 |
| Division place | 5th NFC Central |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 1996 Detroit Lions season was their 67th in the National Football League (NFL). The team declined severely from their previous season's output of 10–6 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.[1] Following the season, longtime head coach Wayne Fontes was fired and Bobby Ross was hired to be the team's head coach the following season.
Personnel
Staff
| 1996 Detroit Lions staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Regular season
Schedule
1996 was the first time since 1984 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers,[2] and the first time they had met the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season since 1986.[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 1, 1996 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–13 | |
| 2 | September 8, 1996 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 21–6 | |
| 3 | September 15, 1996 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 24–17 | |
| 4 | September 22, 1996 | Chicago Bears | W 35–16 | |
| 5 | September 29, 1996 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 27–0 | |
| 6 | October 6, 1996 | Atlanta Falcons | W 28–24 | |
| 7 | October 13, 1996 | at Oakland Raiders | L 37–21 | |
| 8 | Bye | |||
| 9 | October 27, 1996 | New York Giants | L 35–7 | |
| 10 | November 3, 1996 | at Green Bay Packers | L 28–18 | |
| 11 | November 11, 1996 | at San Diego Chargers | L 27–21 | |
| 12 | November 17, 1996 | Seattle Seahawks | W 17–16 | |
| 13 | November 24, 1996 | at Chicago Bears | L 31–14 | |
| 14 | November 28, 1996 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 28–24 | |
| 15 | December 8, 1996 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–22 | |
| 16 | December 15, 1996 | Green Bay Packers | L 31–3 | |
| 17 | December 23, 1996 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 24–14 | |
Standings
| NFC Central | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| (1) Green Bay Packers | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 456 | 210 | W5 |
| (6) Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 298 | 315 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 283 | 305 | L1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 221 | 293 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 302 | 368 | L5 |