# 1969 Detroit Lions season

The 1969 Detroit Lions season was the 40th season in franchise history. The Lions enjoyed their best season in seven years, and their first winning campaign since 1964 by finishing in second place in the NFL Central Division with a solid 9–4–1 record led by a stingy defense that only allowed 188 total points on the season. However, the Lions still failed to qualify for the postseason for the 12th straight season. The Lions were the only team to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, doing so in week 1 of the season. Pittsburgh lost their remaining 13 games. The loss to the Steelers proved costly to the Lions as it served as a big blow to their playoff hopes.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1969 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 2 | 34 | Altie Taylor | RB | Utah State | |
| 2 | 47 | Jim Yarbrough | TE | Florida | from Los Angeles |
| 3 | 59 | Larry Walton | WR | Arizona State | from New Orleans |
| 8 | 190 | Jim Carr | OT | Jackson State | |
| 9 | 216 | Rocky Rasley | G | Oregon State | |
| 10 | 242 | Bob Bergum | DE | Wisconsin-Platteville | |
| 11 | 268 | Ron Walker | DE | Morris Brown | |
| 12 | 294 | Bob Hadlock | DT | George Fox (Ore.) | |
| 13 | 320 | Wilson Bowie | RB | USC | |
| 14 | 346 | George Hoey | WR | Michigan | |
| 15 | 372 | Fred Gough | LB | Texas-Arlington | |
| 16 | 398 | Ken Spain | DE | Houston | |
| 16 | 407 | John Stahl | G | Fresno State | |
| 17 | 424 | Gary Steele | TE | Army | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||
Notes
* Detroit traded its first-round selection (8th) and QB Milt Plum, P/WR Pat Studstill and RB Tommy Watkins to Los Angeles in exchange for QB Bill Munson and the Rams' third-round selection (73rd).
* Detroit traded DT Roger Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' second-round selection (47th) and first- and third-round selections in 1968.
* Detroit traded QB Karl Sweetan to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' third-round selection (59th).
* Detroit traded its third-round selection (60th), fourth-round selection in 1970 and S Bruce Maher to N.Y. Giants in exchange for RB Bill Triplett and LB Bill Swain.
* Detroit traded the third-round selection received from the Rams (73rd) to St. Louis in exchange for WR Billy Gambrell.
* Detroit traded its fourth-round selection (86th) and third-round selection (65th) in 1968 to San Francisco in exchange for RB David Kopay.
* Detroit traded its sixth- and seventh-round selections (138th) and (164th) to Atlanta in exchange for DT Chuck Sieminski and LB Andy Bowling.

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 21 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 13–16 | 0–1 | Pitt Stadium | 51,360 |
| 2 | September 28 | New York Giants | W 24–0 | 1–1 | Tiger Stadium | 54,358 |
| 3 | October 5 | at Cleveland Browns | W 28–21 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 82,833 |
| 4 | October 12 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–28 | 2–2 | Tiger Stadium | 58,384 |
| 5 | October 19 | Chicago Bears | W 13–7 | 3–2 | Tiger Stadium | 54,732 |
| 6 | October 26 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 10–24 | 3–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,900 |
| 7 | November 2 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 26–14 | 4–3 | Kezar Stadium | 35,100 |
| 8 | November 9 | Atlanta Falcons | W 27–21 | 5–3 | Tiger Stadium | 53,242 |
| 9 | November 16 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 20–0 | 6–3 | Tiger Stadium | 51,749 |
| 10 | November 23 | at Green Bay Packers | W 16–10 | 7–3 | Lambeau Field | 50,861 |
| 11 | November 27 | Minnesota Vikings | L 0–27 | 7–4 | Tiger Stadium | 57,906 |
| 12 | December 7 | at Baltimore Colts | T 17–17 | 7–4–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,238 |
| 13 | December 14 | Los Angeles Rams | W 28–0 | 8–4–1 | Tiger Stadium | 53,256 |
| 14 | December 21 | at Chicago Bears | W 20–3 | 9–4–1 | Wrigley Field | 41,879 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Season summary
### Week 11 vs Vikings

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
* Date: November 27
* Game weather: Snow, 36 °F (2 °C)
* Game attendance: 57,906
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Dave Osborn 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
MIN – Fred Cox 41-yard field goal. Vikings 10–0. Drive:
Third quarter
MIN – Oscar Reed 6-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 17–0. Drive:
Fourth quarter
MIN – Alan Page 15-yard interception return on a lateral (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 24–0.
MIN – Fred Cox 38-yard field goal. Vikings 27–0. Drive:
Top passers
MIN – Joe Kapp – 7/12, 61 yards, TD, INT
DET – Greg Landry – 12/25, 93 yards, 2 INT
Top rushers
MIN – Dave Osborn – 15 rushes, 36 yards, TD
DET – Nick Eddy – 11 rushes, 26 yards
Top receivers
MIN – Dave Osborn – 2 receptions, 27 yards
DET – Charlie Sanders – 3 receptions, 47 yards :
* Muddy field
* Largest crowd for Thanksgiving game in Detroit history

## Standings

NFL Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 6–0 | 9–1 | 379 | 133 | L1 |
| Detroit Lions | 9 | 4 | 1 | .692 | 3–3 | 6–3–1 | 259 | 188 | W2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 3–3 | 5–5 | 269 | 221 | W2 |
| Chicago Bears | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0–6 | 0–10 | 210 | 339 | L6 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.