1935 Detroit Lions season The 1935 Detroit Lions season resulted in the Lions winning their first NFL Championship . In their second season in Detroit , the Lions placed first in the NFL ' s Western Division and went on to defeat the New York Giants in the 1935 NFL Championship Game . The team was coached by Potsy Clark . The leading offensive players were Dutch Clark , who led the NFL with 55 points , and Ernie Caddel , who led the league with 621 yards from scrimmage and 6 . 4 yards per touch . Season summary . Week 1 : Lions 35 , Eagles 0 . The Lions opened the 1935 season with a 35 - 0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in a Friday night game in Detroit . Following the game , the Associated Press reported that the Lions has " definitely established themselves as serious contenders for the 1935 National Professional football league championship . " Dutch Clark and Ernie Caddel led the scoring , and the Lions prevented the Eagles from making a first down . The Lions totaled 381 total yards against the Eagles , including 324 rushing yards on 57 carries for an average of 6 . 8 yards per carry . Week 2 : Lions 10 , Cardinals 10 . In the second week of the 1935 season , the Lions and Chicago Cardinals played to a 10 - 10 tie in front of 10 , 000 spectators in Detroit . The Lions came from behind to tie the score in the final minutes , as Glenn Presnell kicked a field goal . Week 3 : Dodgers 12 , Lions 10 . The Lions suffered their first loss of the season in a road game against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field . Week 4 : Lions 17 , Redskins 7 . In week four , the Lions defeated the Boston Redskins 17 - 7 in front at Fenway Park in Boston . The Lions opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 35 - yard field goal by Glenn Presnell . The Lions added a touchdown in the third quarter on a 20 - yard touchdown pass from Ace Gutowsky to Dutch Clark . Both teams scored touchdowns in the fourth quarter . The Lions ' final touchdown was fueled by a 40 - yard run by Ernie Caddel and a final 10 - yard touchdown run by Caddel . Week 5 : Packers 13 , Lions 9 . In week five , the Lions suffered their second loss of the season , falling to the Green Bay Packers 13 - 9 at State Fair Park in Milwaukee . Former Oregon State tackle Tar Schwammel kicked two field gaols for the Packers . Through the first five games , Ernie Caddel was tied with Dale Burnett for the NFL scoring lead with five touchdowns and 30 points . Caddel had gained 297 yards on 39 carries for an average of 7 . 6 yards per carry . Week 6 : Lions 14 , Redskins 0 . In the sixth game of the season , the Lions defeated the Boston Redskins 14 - 0 in front of 14 , 000 spectators in Detroit . In the first quarter , Ernie Caddel threw a 40 - yard touchdown pass to Schneller for the first points of the game . The second half was played in heavy fog , " at times almost completely blotting out all action , and making necessary the use of a white ball . " The Redskins drove to the Lions ' nine - yard line in the third quarter , but the Lions intercepted a pass to stop the drive . The Lions scored in the fourth quarter on a one - yard plunge by Ace Gutowsky . Week 7 : Lions 7 , Cardinals 6 . In week seven , the Lions narrowly defeated the Chicago Cardinals in the rain and mud at Wrigley Field . The final score was 7 - 6 with the difference being a successful extra point kicked by Dutch Clark after a 12 - yard touchdown run by Ernie Caddel in the first quarter . The Cardinals scored a touchdown in the second quarter but missed the extra point attempt . Week 8 : Packers 31 , Lions 7 . In week eight , the Lions lost for the second time in 1935 to the Green Bay Packers , this time by a score of 31 - 7 . Week 9 : Lions 20 , Packers 10 . In week nine , the Lions and Packers met for the third time in the 1935 season . This time , the Lions came out on top 20 - 10 . Bill Shepherd , who had been acquired by the Lions in a trade for Doug Nott on November 4 , 1935 , scored two touchdowns for the Lions . Ebding added another . Dutch Clark kicked two extra points . The game was attended by 14 , 000 spectators at University of Detroit Stadium . Week 10 : Lions 20 , Bears 20 . In week 10 , the Lions played the Chicago Bears to a 20 - 20 tie at Wrigley Field . The Bears ' Bill Karr caught three touchdown passes in the game . The Lions ' touchdowns were scored by Dutch Clark , Bill Shepherd and Klewicki . Week 11 : Lions 14 , Bears 2 . For their 11th game , the Lions played the Bears on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit . Dutch Clark scored two touchdowns as the Lions beat the Bears 14 - 2 . The Bears scored a safety after Buddy Parker fumbled and recovered the ball behind his own goal line . Week 12 : Lions 28 , Dodgers 0 . In their final regular season game , the Detroit Lions defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 28 - 0 in front of 12 , 000 spectators in Detroit . The Lions scored on a field goal by Glenn Presnell , a touchdown reception by Presnell , two safeties , and touchdowns by Dutch Clark and Ace Gutowsky . The scored 16 points in the fourth quarter . The win gave the Lions the undisputed NFL Western Division title . NFL Championship Game . The 1935 NFL Championship Game was held on December 15 , 1935 at University of Detroit Stadium ( some sources call it Titan Stadium ) in Detroit . The game was played in a snowstorm in front of 12 , 000 spectators . It was the 3rd annual title game for the NFL . The champion of the Western Division was the Detroit Lions ( 7 - 3 - 2 ) and the champion of the Eastern Division was the New York Giants ( 9 - 3 ) . On the opening drive of the game , the Lions Glenn Presnell threw a 36 - yard pass to Frank Christensen , and Ace Gutowsky threw another long pass to Ed Klewicki at the Giants ' 8 - yard line . Gutowsky then ran the ball into the end zone to give the Lions a 7 - 0 lead . The Lions scored again after Christensen intercepted a pass thrown by New York ' s Ed Danowski and ran it back to midfield . Three plays later , Dutch Clark ran 40 yards for a touchdown . In the fourth quarter , the Lions blocked a punt , and George Christensen recovered the ball on the Giants ' 22 - yard line . Ernie Caddel ran the ball in from the one - yard line for the Lions ' third touchdown . The Lions added to their lead late in the game after Parker intercepted a pass from New York quarterback ( and former University of Michigan star ) Harry Newman on the Giants ' 45 - yard line and returned it to the nine - yard line . Buddy Parker ran for the touchdown as the Lions won the championship by a final score of 26 - 7 . All - Star Game : Lions 33 , NFL All - Stars 0 . After the NFL Championship Game , the Lions played a game against an NFL All - Star team on January 1 , 1936 . The game was attended by 11 , 000 spectators and marked the first NFL game to be played in Denver , Colorado . The Lions scored five touchdowns , including three in the third period , for a 33 - 0 victory . Detroit : " City of Champions " . When the Lions won the 1935 NFL Championship Game , the City of Detroit was mired in the Great Depression , which had hit Detroit and its industries particularly hard . But with the success of the Lions and other Detroit athletes in 1935 , Detroit ' s luck appeared to be changing , as the City was dubbed the " City of Champions . " The Detroit Tigers also won the 1935 World Series , and the Detroit Red Wings won the 1935 – 36 Stanley Cup championship . Detroit ' s " champions " included Detroit ' s " Brown Bomber , " Joe Louis , the heavyweight boxing champion ; native Detroiter Gar Wood who was the champion of unlimited powerboat racing and the first man to go 100 miles per hour on water ; Eddie " the Midnight Express " Tolan , a black Detroiter who won gold medals in the 100 - and 200 - meter races at the 1932 Summer Olympics .