# 1984 Detroit Lions season

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. The team missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Like the previous season, the Lions started 1–4, but unlike 1983, the Lions couldn't come back. In a 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. In just five seasons in the NFL since joining Detroit in 1980, Sims had set the Lions career rushing mark at 5,106.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 20 | David Lewis | TE | California |
| 2 | 47 | Pete Mandley | WR | Northern Arizona |
| 3 | 62 | Eric Williams | DT | Washington State |
| 3 | 74 | Ernest Anderson | RB | Oklahoma State |
| 3 | 75 | Steve Baack | DE | Oregon |
| 4 | 106 | Dave D'Addio | RB | Maryland |
| 6 | 160 | John Witkowski | QB | Columbia |
| 7 | 178 | Jimmie Carter | LB | New Mexico |
| 7 | 187 | Renwick Atkins | OT | Kansas |
| 8 | 214 | David Jones | C | Texas |
| 9 | 246 | Rich Hollins | WR | West Virginia |
| 10 | 259 | William Frizzell | CB | North Carolina Central |
| 10 | 273 | James Thaxton | S | Louisiana Tech |
| 11 | 300 | Mike Saxon | P | San Diego State |
| 12 | 327 | Glenn Streno | C | Tennessee |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 2 | San Francisco 49ers | L 30–27 | 0–1 | 56,782 |
| 2 | September 9 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 27–24 (OT) | 1–1 | 49,878 |
| 3 | September 16 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 21–17 | 1–2 | 44,560 |
| 4 | September 23 | Minnesota Vikings | L 29–28 | 1–3 | 57,511 |
| 5 | September 30 | at San Diego Chargers | L 27–24 | 1–4 | 53,509 |
| 6 | October 7 | Denver Broncos | L 28–7 | 1–5 | 55,836 |
| 7 | October 14 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 13–7 (OT) | 2–5 | 44,308 |
| 8 | October 21 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 16–14 | 3–5 | 57,953 |
| 9 | October 28 | at Green Bay Packers | L 41–9 | 3–6 | 54,289 |
| 10 | November 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | T 23–23 (OT) | 3–6–1 | 59,141 |
| 11 | November 11 | at Washington Redskins | L 28–14 | 3–7–1 | 50,212 |
| 12 | November 18 | at Chicago Bears | L 16–14 | 3–8–1 | 54,911 |
| 13 | November 22 | Green Bay Packers | W 31–28 | 4–8–1 | 63,698 |
| 14 | December 2 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 38–17 | 4–9–1 | 62,441 |
| 15 | December 10 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 24–3 | 4–10–1 | 66,710 |
| 16 | December 16 | Chicago Bears | L 30–13 | 4–11–1 | 53,252 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. ||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 1 (Sunday, September 2, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers (1–0) | 7 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 30 |
| Lions (0–1) | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
at Pontiac Silverdome • Pontiac, Michigan
* Date: September 2, 1984
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: indoors
* Game attendance: 56,782
* Referee: Bob Frederic
* TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| SF | Passing | Joe Montana | 16/25, 188 YDS, 1 TD |
| SF | Rushing | Wendell Tyler | 16 CAR, 87 YDS, 2 TDs |
| SF | Receiving | Freddie Solomon | 4 REC, 61 YDS |
| DET | Passing | Gary Danielson | 17/24, 177 YDS, 2 TDs |
| DET | Rushing | Billy Sims | 17 CAR, 69 YDS, 1 TD |
| DET | Receiving | Leonard Thompson | 3 REC, 58 YDS, 1 TD |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | SF | DET |
| 1 | 4:50 | | | | Lions | Sims 2-yard touchdown run, Murray kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | 0:00 | | | | 49ers | Monroe 5-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | 11:07 | | | | Lions | 39-yard field goal by Murray | 7 | 10 |
| 2 | 5:01 | | | | 49ers | Tyler 2-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good | 14 | 10 |
| 2 | 0:03 | | | | Lions | 43-yard field goal by Murray | 14 | 13 |
| 3 | 6:36 | | | | Lions | Jones 2-yard touchdown reception from Danielson, Murray kick good | 14 | 20 |
| 3 | 0:50 | | | | 49ers | 42-yard field goal by Wersching | 17 | 20 |
| 4 | 10:29 | | | | 49ers | 53-yard field goal by Wersching | 20 | 20 |
| 4 | 8:25 | | | | 49ers | Tyler 9-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good | 27 | 20 |
| 4 | 5:01 | | | | Lions | Thompson 49-yard touchdown reception from Danielson, Murray kick good | 27 | 27 |
| 4 | 0:04 | | | | 49ers | 22-yard field goal by Wersching | 30 | 27 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 30 | 27 |
* Point spread: 49ers by 2½
* Over/Under: 43.0 (over)
* Time of Game:
| 49ers | Game Statistics | Lions |
| 24 | First downs | 19 |
| 32–124 | Rushes–yards | 28–132 |
| 188 | Passing yards | 177 |
| 16–25–0 | Passes | 17–24–0 |
| 2–14 | Sacked–yards | 2–11 |
| 174 | Net passing yards | 166 |
| 298 | Total yards | 298 |
| 198 | Return yards | 98 |
| 2–45.5 | Punts | 4–44.0 |
| 2–1 | Fumbles–lost | 0–0 |
| 2–32 | Penalties–yards | 6–45 |
| 30:44 | Time of Possession | 29:16 |

### Week 2: at Atlanta Falcons

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Lions | 10 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
| Falcons | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
* Date: Sunday, September 9
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 70 °F or 21.1 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Referee: Fred Silva
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
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
Lions – David Lewis 11 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick) – Lions 17–0
Falcons – Gerald Riggs 1 yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick) – Lions 17–7
Falcons – Mick Luckhurst 51 yard field goal – Lions 17–10
Third quarter
Falcons – Billy Johnson 45 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Mick Luckhurst kick) – Tie 17–17
Lions – Leonard Thompson 11 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick) – Lions 24–17
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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Seahawks | 7 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 38 |
at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington
* Date: December 2
* Game time: 1:02pm local
* Game weather: indoors
* Game attendance: 62,441
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (CBS): Jim Hill and John Dockery
* Gamebook
Game information :
First quarter
SEA – Steve Largent 3-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 10:44 (SEA 7–0)
DET – Eddie Murray 45-yard field goal, 14:51 (SEA 7–3)
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
No scoring plays
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
DET – Gary Danielson: 11/20, 117 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
SEA – Dave Krieg: 27/38, 294 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT
Top rushers
DET – Ken Jenkins: 12 car, 73 yds, 1 TD
SEA – David Hughes: 7 car, 46 yds
Top receivers
DET – James Jones: 6 rec, 42 yds, 1 TD
SEA – Steve Largent: 8 rec, 104 yds, 2 TD
Team – pass – rush – total – to
DET – 139 – 108 – 247 – 2
SEA – 275 – 113 – 388 – 2 :

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 7–1 | 8–4 | 325 | 248 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 390 | 309 | W3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3–5 | 5–9 | 335 | 380 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 11 | 1 | .281 | 3–5 | 4–7–1 | 283 | 408 | L3 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 276 | 484 | L6 |