# 2001 Detroit Lions season

The 2001 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 72nd season in the National Football League (NFL). Marty Mornhinweg was named the 21st head coach in franchise history on January 21, 2001, after owner William Clay Ford Sr. controversially fired 2000 interim coach Gary Moeller.
The season began with much optimism, with the Lions hoping to improve on their 9–7 record from 2000; however, the Lions were extremely disappointing and had the worst start to an NFL season since the 1986 Indianapolis Colts began 0–13. They were widely believed to be likely to suffer the NFL’s first 0–16 season before they defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Prior to that, they had lost an NFL record nine consecutive games by eight points or less.
Seven seasons later, the Lions went 0–16 after a week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
This was the final season that the Lions played at the Pontiac Silverdome before moving to Ford Field the following season, as well as the final season for the NFC Central Division, which would dissolve following the NFL's realignment in 2002, although all NFC Central teams except the Tampa Bay Buccaneers formed the new NFC North Division.
The Lions closed the Silverdome by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 15–10 in the regular season finale. Coincidentally, the Cowboys defeated the Lions 36–10 in the first regular season game at the Silverdome (then known as Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium) in 1975.
This would also be the first season under new general manager Matt Millen, as he would be the team's general manager for the next six seasons and first 3 games of the 2008 season. This would start a stage of futility for the Lions, as they would fail to post a winning record with Millen as general manager.

## Offseason

| Additions | Subtractions |
| QB Ty Detmer (Browns) | G Jeff Hartings (Steelers) |
| G Matt Joyce (Cardinals) | TE Walter Rasby (Redskins) |
| TE Pete Mitchell (Giants) | G Mike Compton (Patriots) |
| G Brendan Stai (Jaguars) | |
| CB Todd Lyght (Rams) | |

### NFL Draft

2001 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 18 | Jeff Backus | Offensive tackle | Michigan |
| 2 | 50 | Dominic Raiola | Center | Nebraska |
| 2 | 61 | Shaun Rogers * | Defensive tackle | Texas |
| 5 | 148 | Scotty Anderson | Wide receiver | Grambling State |
| 5 | 149 | Mike McMahon | Quarterback | Rutgers |
| 6 | 173 | Jason Glenn | Linebacker | Texas A&M |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

2001 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Neo Aoga | Quarterback | Azusa Pacific |
| Brad Bohn | Kicker | Utah State |
| Matt Childers | Defensive end | USC |
| Eugene Clinton | Safety | Mississippi State |
| Keith Cottrell | Punter | Florida State |
| Will Cuthbert | Tackle | Alabama |
| Versie Gaddis | Wide receiver | Indiana |
| Dennis Gibbs | Cornerback | Idaho |
| Toby Golliday | Defensive tackle | Mississippi State |
| Anthony Herron | Defensive end | Iowa |
| Chidi Iwuoma | Cornerback | California |
| Khary Jackson | Tight end | Oklahoma State |
| Ligarius Jennings | Cornerback | Tennessee State |
| Sly Johnson | Wide receiver | Miami (OH) |
| Loran Kaiser | Defensive tackle | Nebraska |
| Dustin Kroeker | Tackle | Cal Poly |
| Josh Lovelady | Guard | Houston |
| Donald Malloy | Safety | New Mexico State |
| Rich Mazza | Guard | Rutgers |
| Andre Offing | Linebacker | East Carolina |
| Jonathan Ordway | Cornerback | Boston College |
| Darnell Robinson | Linebacker | Oregon State |
| Wayne Rogers | Linebacker | Houston |
| Stephen Trejo | Fullback | Arizona State |
| Eric Wilson | Defensive tackle | Michigan |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 9 | at Green Bay Packers | L 6–28 | 0–1 | Lambeau Field | Recap |
| 2 | September 23 | at Cleveland Browns | L 14–24 | 0–2 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | October 8 | St. Louis Rams | L 0–35 | 0–3 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 5 | October 14 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 26–31 | 0–4 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Recap |
| 6 | October 21 | Tennessee Titans | L 24–27 | 0–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 7 | October 28 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 27–31 | 0–6 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 8 | November 4 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 13–21 | 0–7 | 3Com Park | Recap |
| 9 | November 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 17–20 | 0–8 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 10 | November 18 | at Arizona Cardinals | L 38–45 | 0–9 | Sun Devil Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 22 | Green Bay Packers | L 27–29 | 0–10 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 12 | December 2 | at Chicago Bears | L 10–13 | 0–11 | Soldier Field | Recap |
| 13 | December 9 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 12–15 | 0–12 | Raymond James Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 16 | Minnesota Vikings | W 27–24 | 1–12 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 15 | December 23 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–47 | 1–13 | Heinz Field | Recap |
| 16 | December 30 | Chicago Bears | L 0–24 | 1–14 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| 17 | January 6 | Dallas Cowboys | W 15–10 | 2–14 | Pontiac Silverdome | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: at Green Bay Packers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Packers | 21 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: September 9
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT/11:00 a.m. CDT
* Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
* Game attendance: 59,523
* Referee: Aster Sizemore
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
GB – Ahman Green 31-yard run (Ryan Longwell kick), 12:27. Packers 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards, 1:36.
GB – Bill Schroeder 23-yard pass from Brett Favre (Ryan Longwell kick), 6:08. Packers 14–0. Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 2:46.
GB – Ahman Green 83-yard run (Ryan Longwell kick), 4:29. Packers 21–0. Drive: 1 play, 83 yards, 0:14.
DET – Jason Hanson 49-yard field goal, 2:12. Packers 21–3. Drive: 6 plays, 42 yards, 2:17.
Second quarter
DET – Jason Hanson 39-yard field goal, 4:06. Packers 21–6. Drive: 10 plays, 31 yards, 4:49.
Third quarter
GB – Bubba Franks 1-yard pass from Brett Favre (Ryan Longwell kick), 3:54. Packers 28–6. Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:47.
Fourth quarter
No scoring plays
Top passers
DET – Charlie Batch – 20/39, 276 yards, 2 INT
GB – Brett Favre – 22/28, 260 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
DET – James Stewart – 13 rushes, 39 yards
GB – Ahman Green – 17 rushes, 157 yards, 2 TD
Top receivers
DET – Johnnie Morton – 5 receptions, 111 yards
GB – Bill Schroeder – 4 receptions, 104 yards, TD :

#### Week 2: at Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Browns | 7 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: September 23
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C)
* Game attendance: 73,168
* Referee: Terry McAulay
* TV: Fox
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
CLE – Kevin Johnson 4-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 8:55. Browns 7–0. Drive: 7 plays, 57 yards, 2:50.
Second quarter
CLE – Shaun O'Hara 2-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 13:21. Browns 14–0. Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 3:36.
Third quarter
CLE – Phil Dawson 33-yard field goal, 11:36. Browns 17–0. Drive: 4 plays, 2 yards, 0:49.
DET – Terry Fair 26-yard interception return (Jason Hanson kick), 7:26. Browns 17–7.
CLE – Quincy Morgan 34-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 4:25. Browns 24–7. Drive: 1 play, 34 yards, 0:07.
Fourth quarter
DET – Johnnie Morton 14-yard pass from Ty Detmer (Jason Hanson kick), 11:25. Browns 24–14. Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 4:13.
Top passers
DET – Ty Detmer – 22/42, 212 yards, TD, 7 INT
CLE – Tim Couch – 12/20, 138 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
DET – James Stewart – 17 rushes, 71 yards
CLE – James Jackson – 31 rushes, 124 yards
Top receivers
DET – Johnnie Morton – 6 receptions, 100 yards, TD
CLE – Quincy Morgan – 2 receptions, 38 yards, TD :
Quarterback Ty Detmer made his first start for the Lions, ending the game with seven interceptions. Despite this, the Lions' defense kept the game somewhat close, picking off Cleveland quarterback Tim Couch twice, including a 26-yard pick six by cornerback Terry Fair.

#### Week 4: vs. St. Louis Rams

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan
* Date: October 8
* Game time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: None (played indoors)
* Game attendance: 77,765
* Referee: Tom White
* TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, and Melissa Stark
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
STL – Az-Zahir Hakim 15-yard pass from Kurt Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick), 3:30. Rams 7–0. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 4:35.
Second quarter
STL – Torry Holt 36-yard pass from Kurt Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick), 13:31. Rams 14–0. Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 1:57.
STL – Dré Bly 93-yard interception return (Jeff Wilkins kick), 3:04. Rams 21–0.
Third quarter
No scoring plays
Fourth quarter
STL – Ernie Conwell 1-yard pass from Kurt Warner (Jeff Wilkins kick), 10:14. Rams 28–0. Drive: 10 plays, 63 yards, 5:53.
STL – Marshall Faulk 7-yard run (Jeff Wilkins kick), 4:32. Rams 35–0. Drive: 6 plays, 45 yards, 3:54.
Top passers
STL – Kurt Warner – 29/37, 291 yards, 3 TD
DET – Ty Detmer – 15/18, 149 yards, INT
Top rushers
STL – Marshall Faulk – 14 rushes, 71 yards, TD
DET – James Stewart – 13 rushes, 88 yards
Top receivers
STL – Marshall Faulk – 9 receptions, 80 yards
DET – Germane Crowell – 5 receptions, 65 yards :

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Chicago Bears | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 338 | 203 | W4 |
| $^{(4)}$ Green Bay Packers | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 390 | 266 | W3 |
| $^{(6)}$ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 324 | 280 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 290 | 390 | L4 |
| Detroit Lions | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 270 | 424 | W1 |