# 1996 Detroit Lions season

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. Following a 4–2 start, the Lions would proceed to lose nine of their final ten games to finish 5–11, missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
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.

## Offseason

| Additions | Subtractions |
| RB Glyn Milburn (Broncos) | T Lomas Brown (Cardinals) |
| TE Pete Metzelaars (Panthers) | LB Chris Spielman (Bills) |
| T Ray Roberts (Seahawks) | LB Tracy Hayworth (Falcons) |
| | S Willie Clay (Patriots) |
| | G Doug Widell (Colts) |
| | DE Dan Owens (Falcons) |

### NFL draft

1996 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 17 | Reggie Brown | LB | Texas A&M | from Seattle |
| 1 | 23 | Jeff Hartings * | G | Penn State | |
| 3 | 76 | Ryan Stewart | S | Georgia Tech | from New England |
| 4 | 129 | Brad Ford | CB | Alabama | compensatory pick |
| 5 | 158 | Kerwin Waldroup | DT | Central State | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||
Notes
* Detroit received San Diego's first-round selection (21st) in exchange for Detroit's second-round selection in 1995.
* Detroit traded up from the pick it received from San Diego (21st) with Seattle to the 17th pick, giving up a third-round selection (91st) in return. The 91st pick was received from Kansas City in exchange for S William White.
* Detroit traded its second- and seventh-round selections (55th and 236th) to Denver in exchange for RB Glyn Milburn.
* Detroit traded up from its third-round selection (86th) with New England to the Patriots' third-round selection (76th), giving up its fourth- and sixth-round selections (119th and 195th).

## Regular season
### Schedule

1996 was the first time since 1984 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers, and the first time they had met the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season since 1986. 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.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 1 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–13 | 0–1 | 52,972 |
| 2 | September 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 21–6 | 1–1 | 54,229 |
| 3 | September 15 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 24–17 | 1–2 | 66,007 |
| 4 | September 22 | Chicago Bears | W 35–16 | 2–2 | 70,022 |
| 5 | September 29 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 27–0 | 3–2 | 34,961 |
| 6 | October 6 | Atlanta Falcons | W 28–24 | 4–2 | 58,666 |
| 7 | October 13 | at Oakland Raiders | L 37–21 | 4–3 | 50,037 |
| 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 9 | October 27 | New York Giants | L 35–7 | 4–4 | 63,501 |
| 10 | November 3 | at Green Bay Packers | L 28–18 | 4–5 | 60,695 |
| 11 | November 11 | at San Diego Chargers | L 27–21 | 4–6 | 60,425 |
| 12 | November 17 | Seattle Seahawks | W 17–16 | 5–6 | 51,194 |
| 13 | November 24 | at Chicago Bears | L 31–14 | 5–7 | 55,864 |
| 14 | November 28 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 28–24 | 5–8 | 75,079 |
| 15 | December 8 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–22 | 5–9 | 46,043 |
| 16 | December 15 | Green Bay Packers | L 31–3 | 5–10 | 73,214 |
| 17 | December 23 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 24–14 | 5–11 | 61,921 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |