1991 Detroit Lions season The 1991 season for the Detroit Lions saw the team finish 12 - 4 , win the NFC Central Division , and appear in the playoffs for the first time since 1983 . It stands as the team ' s best season since the NFL - AFL merger in 1970 . The Lions finished the season undefeated in the Pontiac Silverdome , including playoffs , and the team did not lose a game at an indoor facility the entire season , having made trips to Indianapolis and Minnesota during the year . The 1991 season saw the Lions debut of wide receiver Herman Moore , the team ' s 1991 first round draft pick who went on to set records as part of an explosive passing offense later in the decade . The Lions were plagued by injuries most of the season . Starting quarterback Rodney Peete was lost for the season in the 9th game of the season , a 34 - 10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys . Second string quarterback Erik Kramer , who had won the backup quarterback job from Andre Ware ( the team ' s # 1 draft pick from the season before ) during training camp , guided the team the rest of the way . Although Peete ' s injury was serious , perhaps the most devastating injury was the career - ending injury that befell guard Mike Utley in a Week 12 game against the Los Angeles Rams . Utley suffered a severe injury to two of his cervical vertebrae , rendering him paralyzed from the chest down and ending his career . Unaware of this , Utley gave a thumbs - up gesture to the crowd as he was being wheeled from the field . For the rest of the season Lions players wore a decal with Utley ' s number 60 on their helmets to honor their fallen teammate . Utley ' s injury gave inspiration to a team that at that point in the season was struggling , and the team won its last six games to steal the division title away from the Chicago Bears , whose Week 17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers left them a game behind the Lions who did not lose a game the rest of the season following Utley ' s injury . By winning the division and having one of the two best records in the conference , the Lions earned a bye into the divisional round . There they faced the Dallas Cowboys , who had beaten the Bears the week before to get their first playoff win since 1982 . Although the Cowboys held Lions ' star running back Barry Sanders in check for most of the game , Kramer threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns and Sanders closed the scoring with a 47 - yard touchdown run for a 38 - 6 drubbing of Dallas . The win earned the Lions a return trip to Washington for the NFC Championship Game and a chance to avenge the 45 - 0 defeat in the season opener . The Redskins jumped to an early 10 - 0 lead when Kramer was sacked and fumbled on the Lions ' first possession , then was intercepted on the second . The Lions fought back with a touchdown pass to receiver Willie Green and a field goal by kicker Eddie Murray in the second quarter to stay within one score at the half . The Lions trailed 17 - 10 at the break , but failed to score again as Washington scored 24 points in the second half to put the game away . Ware replaced Kramer as quarterback in the fourth quarter . He promptly threw an interception which was returned by Darrell Green for the game ' s final touchdown . The 1991 Lions ' season thus ended the way it started , with a loss to the Redskins at RFK Stadium ; the final in this game was 41 - 10 in favor of the eventual Super Bowl champions . The Lions finished the season with a 9 - 0 record at home , counting their playoff win . The team did not play particularly well on the road - outside of their wins at Indianapolis and Minnesota , their only other outdoor wins came against the Green Bay Packers in Week 16 and the eventual AFC Champion Buffalo Bills in Week 17 ; the margin of victory in those games were four and three points respectively and the Lions gave up 30 or more points in three of their four road losses , two of which came to teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs ( San Francisco 49ers , Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) . Playoffs . NFC Divisional Playoff . Quarterback Erik Kramer led the Lions to their first postseason victory since 1957 by completing 29 out of 38 passes for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns . NFC Championship Game . The Redskins crushed the Lions , 41 - 10 , as quarterback Mark Rypien completed 12 out of 17 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns . Detroit quarterback Erik Kramer was sacked 5 times , three of them by Washington linebacker Wilber Marshall . Lions future hall of fame running back Barry Sanders , who rushed for 1 , 548 yards during the season , was held to just 44 yards on 11 carries .