# 1986 Detroit Lions season

The 1986 Detroit Lions season was their 57th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 7–9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season with a 5–11 record. The highlight of the season was first round draft choice Chuck Long’s first pass for a TD against Tampa Bay. Long would start in a Monday Night game against the Chicago Bears.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 12 | Chuck Long | QB | Iowa |
| 2 | 29 | Garry James | RB | LSU |
| 3 | 69 | Joe Milinichik | OT | North Carolina State |
| 4 | 92 | Devon Mitchell | S | Iowa |
| 5 | 119 | Oscar Smith | RB | Nicholls State |
| 8 | 205 | Allyn Griffin | WR | Wyoming |
| 9 | 231 | Lyle Pickens | DB | Colorado |
| 10 | 258 | Tracy Johnson | LB | Morningside |
| 11 | 290 | Leland Melvin | WR | Richmond |
| 12 | 317 | Allan Durden | DB | Arizona |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 13–10 | 1–0 | 54,851 |
| 2 | September 14 | Dallas Cowboys | L 31–7 | 1–1 | 73,812 |
| 3 | September 21 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 24–20 | 1–2 | 38,453 |
| 4 | September 28 | at Cleveland Browns | L 24–21 | 1–3 | 72,029 |
| 5 | October 5 | Houston Oilers | W 24–13 | 2–3 | 41,960 |
| 6 | October 12 | at Green Bay Packers | W 21–14 | 3–3 | 52,290 |
| 7 | October 19 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–10 | 3–4 | 50,992 |
| 8 | October 26 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–7 | 3–5 | 62,064 |
| 9 | November 2 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–17 | 3–6 | 52,423 |
| 10 | November 9 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–10 | 3–7 | 53,725 |
| 11 | November 16 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 13–11 | 4–7 | 54,568 |
| 12 | November 23 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 38–17 | 5–7 | 30,029 |
| 13 | November 27 | Green Bay Packers | L 44–40 | 5–8 | 61,199 |
| 14 | December 7 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 27–17 | 5–9 | 45,042 |
| 15 | December 15 | Chicago Bears | L 16–13 | 5–10 | 75,602 |
| 16 | December 21 | Atlanta Falcons | L 20–6 | 5–11 | 35,255 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. ||||||

## Season summary
### Week 1 at Vikings

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Vikings | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Date: September 7, 1986
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 54,851
* Referee: Red Cashion
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Chuck Nelson 35-yard field goal, 3:38. Vikings 3–0.
Second quarter
DET – James Jones 2-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 1:56. Lions 7–3.
Third quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 33-yard field goal, 2:01. Lions 10–3.
Fourth quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 44-yard field goal, 9:05. Lions 13–3.
MIN – Jim Gustafson 5-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Chuck Nelson kick), 0:03. Lions 13–10.
Top passers
DET – Eric Hipple – 8/15, 95 yards, INT
MIN – Tommy Kramer – 21/38, 223 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
DET – James Jones – 36 rushes, 174 yards, TD
MIN – Darrin Nelson – 11 rushes, 58 yards
Top receivers
DET – Leonard Thompson – 3 receptions, 40 yards
MIN – Darrin Nelson – 6 receptions, 74 yards :

### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Lions | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Packers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears$^{(2)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 7–1 | 10–2 | 352 | 187 | W7 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 398 | 273 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 277 | 326 | L4 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 3–5 | 3–9 | 254 | 418 | L1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–7 | 1–13 | 239 | 473 | L7 |