Tag: Lions history

A look into Detroit’s playoff history in the Super Bowl Era

A look into Detroit’s playoff history in the Super Bowl Era

Ever since the Super Bowl became the biggest stage in American sports in 1967, the Lions have not had the best history. However, change has come in Detroit and it warrants a deeper look. 

To begin, it took the Lions three years to make their first Super Bowl playoff appearance in 1970. That being said, the game ended in a 5-0 loss against the Dallas Cowboys. Their next appearances were in 1982 and 1983, but yet again found themselves in the loss column. 

But, at the turn of the decade in the 1990s, Detroit found themselves to be a playoff team in 1991. Backed by superstar running back Barry Sanders, the 90s looked to be a decade where Lions fans could finally put the team’s harsh past behind them. It started off great, as Detroit won their first playoff game in the Super Bowl era against the Dallas Cowboys. Moving onto the Conference Championship, the Lions ended their season against the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the Washington Redskins. 

After the playoff run, it seemed to again be looking up for Detroit, but the rest of the 90s ended pretty disappointingly. The Lions were in the Wildcard Round in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1999 and didn’t win any of them. 

The 2000s were very difficult for the franchise as they did not make the playoffs once throughout the decade. That being said, the drafting of quarterback Matthew Stafford allowed Detroit what seemed like a fresh start, but in reality it was just more of the same. Three wildcard appearances in 2011, 2014, and 2016, and again all of them lost. 

Then came 2023, a monumental year for the Lions. A rebuilding process that had been in place for the last few years finally started gelling. Head coach Dan Campbell seemed to have figured out their brand of football and it was the teams first playoff appearance in seven years. Detroit had also not won a playoff game in 32 years and they were at home ready to face the Los Angeles Rams. It was a hard fought game and the Lions pulled it off 24-23, but they were not done yet. Another home game, that time against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another tough win. It was now time for the conference championship against the stacked San Francisco 49ers. It was a close gritty game but unfortunately, Detroit came up just short, keeping them out of the Super Bowl for the 56th straight year. 

That being said, the 2024 Lions have accomplished something no other Detroit team in the past has, the number one seed in the NFC. That will allow the team a bye, the chance to play the lowest remaining seed in the divisional, and home field advantage. It has been arguably the most successful Lion’s season of all time and it could very well end up with Detroit hoisting their first Lombardi Trophy in February. 

What win total will it take for the Lions to win the NFC North?

A look from guest contributor Bruce Walker at the Lions chances of winning the NFC North and what history says about the division this year

The Detroit Lions are in the midst of a ridiculous season.

By now, most people understand the impact on the team from all the injuries the Lions have sustained. On Monday, several more season-ending injuries to key players were announced. But injuries are not my focus right now. Instead, I want to talk about the NFC North race.

Currently, the Lions are in first place with a record of 12-2 with three games left on their regular-season schedule. The Minnesota Vikings are also sitting at 12-2 after their victory in their Monday night matchup against the Chicago Bears, just behind Detroit by means of the Lions’ victory against them in week seven. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers are third in the division with a record of 10-4.

So, what is significant about this?

This morning, my son and I discussed other teams that have already locked up their respective divisions, namely the Kansas City Chiefs (13-1) and the Buffalo Bills (11-3). That made me think: How often would a twelve-win season have been good enough to win the NFCN? The answer is interesting.

I went back as far as 1967 on NFL.com and found that five times since then, teams in Detroit’s division finished in second place with a record of 11-5. The Lions did it in 2014, the Vikings in 1988, the Bears in 1991, and the Packers did it twice, in 1998 and 2009.

Only once did it happen. The Packers placed second in 2001 with a record of 12-4. That’s it. Every other second-place team in every single year since at least 1967 in the Lion’s division has posted ten or fewer wins. As a side note, the Lions placed second and missed the playoffs in their first year in Detroit (1934) with a record of 12-3 after starting 12-0.

Why is that important?

As of now, each team in the division has three games left to play. The Vikings are still set to play both the Packers and the Lions. If Green Bay wins their final three games, the Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks next week but lose to both the Packers and Lions, the NFC North will have—not two, but three teams with at least thirteen wins!

Think back before the season. It does not matter which team you root for in this exercise: If you had imagined your team would finish the regular season with a record of 13-4, my guess is that—should that come to pass—you would find yourself to be deliriously happy. That is because most preseason projections considered any NFCN team reaching thirteen wins to be wildly optimistic.

For example, on September 23rd, BETMGM placed the Lions over/under win total at 10.5 games after they won twelve in 2023 and advanced to the NFC Championship game. The Packers’ O/U was set at 9.5, the Bears at 8.5, and the Vikings a mere 6.5 wins. For a small slice of satisfaction, you now know that the Bears have already achieved their “Under” total for this season.

Now imagine achieving thirteen wins and coming in third place in your division!

As I mentioned above, a team has only managed to secure second place in the division with twelve wins one time since 1967. Since then, thirteen wins have always been good enough to be the division champion. But not this year. Not yet, anyway. It will be captivating to watch this race play out.

Thanks to special contributor Bruce Walker for the research and write-up!

Lions win 10 games in back-to-back season for the first time ever

The Detroit Lions have won 10 games in back-to-back season for the first time ever

This run the Lions have been on has been nothing short of incredible. They’re doing things the franchise hasn’t seen in decades. Sunday, they achieved a feat that had never happened before in their franchise history.

For the first time, the Lions have won 10 games in consecutive seasons. The Lions moved to 10-1 after their 24-6 win over the Indianapolis Colts, maintaining a one-game lead over the Minnesota Vikings, 30-27 overtime winners over the Chicago Bears to move to 9-2. Detroit finished 12-5 in 2023, winning the NFC North division for the first time.

The Lions are 10-1 for the first time since 1934. They finished 10-3 that year. Something says this team will win a few more games. Their next three games are at home against the Bears, Packers and Bills followed by trips to the Bears and 49ers. They finish at home against the Vikings.

Lions can break their own lengthy history with a win in Week 11

The 2024 Lions are on the verge of doing things no Detroit teams have ever done before, even when they won titles–a guest piece from Bruce Walker

The following is a guest submission from Bruce Walker, a.k.a Smoke25 on X, that is published in his exact words but edited slightly for formatting. Thanks to Bruce for the excellent read and history lesson!

The Detroit Lions are winning games at a historic rate. How historic, you ask? Well, as of today, their 8-1 record is the team’s best since 1954, where they stood after beating the Green Bay Packers in back-to-back games.

Full disclosure: That last part about beating the Packers twice was unnecessary to the story’s substance, but it felt euphoric to type.

The very next game the Lions played in 1954 was against the Philadelphia Eagles. They scored 13 points, but so did the Eagles, leaving them with a record of 8-1-1. They ultimately won the Western Division but lost to the Cleveland Browns 56-10 in the Championship game. Their final record was 9-3-1.

In each of the previous two years, the Lions did win NFL Championships but lost their second game much earlier in each season. In 1953, the sixth week left the Lions 4-2 at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, and in 1952, it was in the third week when the San Francisco 49ers left that year’s team 1-2, barely out of the gate, and needlessly worrying fans.

So, how far do you have to go back to find a better record than what the Lions have today? The answer is their first year, 1934, when they ranked second in the NFL in offense (points for) and first in defense (points against. In 1934, the Lions started an impressive 10-0, but they lost their final three games to finish second in the Western Division and subsequently missed the playoffs.

If you want to include the years before the team moved to Detroit, you will find that in 1931, the Portsmouth Spartans matched this year’s team with a record of 8-1 at this same point in the season. They lost the following game against the Chicago Bears, 6-9, leaving them with a record of 8-2. They went on to finish 11-3 in 1931, a game behind 12-2, League Champion, Green Bay Packers.

There you have it. In the seasons where the Lions won championships, they never had a record as good as they enjoy today. Then, in 1934, the only year that found them with a better record than today, the team sported the best record they would enjoy for the next 90 years. Again, the Lions started 10-0 but went home after losing their final three games to miss out on the playoffs.

The 2024 Detroit Lions have an opportunity to continue destroying historical markers like a David Montgomery run through an exhausted Rams defense. This week’s game is against a struggling Jacksonville Jaguars team that played surprisingly stout against the Minnesota Vikings last week. I believe that this year’s Lions team is immune to trap games. According to Bovada, at the time of this writing, the Lions are 13.5-point favorites. I fully expect them to exceed that, but if they only win by a single point, they will advance to 9-1, giving the team their best record since 1934, 90 years ago.

David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs etching names in Lions history books together

Detroit RBs David Montgomery Jahmyr Gibbs etching names in Lions history books together

The Lions have one of the top one-two punches at the running back position across the league. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs have helped take Detroit’s offense up a notch. Sunday, they combined to do something Detroit hadn’t seen in some time.

Montgomery rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on 23 attempts along with 17 yards on three catches. Gibbs had 83 yards on 16 carries and had 20 receiving yards — he officially had zero catches as the touchdown came on a hook-and-ladder from Amon-Ra St. Brown.

For only the second time in franchise history, the Lions had a pair of running backs each rush for at least 80 yards, record at least 15 receiving yards and score a touchdown. The other time was November 28, 2013 with Joique Bell and Reggie Bush in a 40-10 win over the Packers.

The duo is also the first since 2006 to each have 70-plus scrimmage yards in each of their first three games of the season. Bush was also a pair of that tandem while he was in New Orleans with Deuce McAllister.

Sunday was just the second time Montgomery and Gibbs each had over 100 scrimmage yards. Last November against the Chargers was the first.

Then there’s this fun fact: Montgomery and Gibbs have each scored a touchdown in a game six times together. The Lions are 6-0 in those games.

The ‘Calvin Johnson rule’ happened 14 years ago today

The ‘Calvin Johnson rule’ happened 14 years ago today in a game between the Lions and Bears and it remains a terrible use of the NFL rule

On this date 14 years ago, September 12th of 2010, NFL fans learned the phrase “process of the catch” thanks to the Detroit Lions and Hall of Fame wideout Calvin Johnson. It was a (non)catch by Johnson in the Chicago end zone that brought the previously obscure rule into greater consciousness.

We know it now as the “Calvin Johnson rule.” Say those words and everyone–certainly in the Lions world–knows exactly what you’re talking about.

If you’re too young to remember it, or blocked it out of the memory banks in a combination of anger, sadness and disbelief (all valid emotions), here’s the play in question, via TikTok:

 

Watch on TikTok

Johnson caught the ball on a pass from Shaun Hill, filling in for an injured Matthew Stafford. No. 81 landed with full control of the ball, getting both feet down inbounds. As he went to the ground, Johnson put the ball on the ground after palming it in his hand in clear control of the catch. Referee Gene Steratore’s crew ruled it incomplete on the field despite the official you see clearly raising his arms to indicate a touchdown in the clip. When Johnson put the ball on the ground before he had completed going to the ground, it meant the process of the catch wasn’t complete.

And that, for me, has always been the part the NFL truly got wrong. You don’t think Calvin Johnson did that on purpose knowing full well he’d scored a game-winning touchdown?! He completed the process of the catch and going to the ground as the rule dictates.

To this day, 14 years later, NFL analysts and broadcast commentators still refer to these sorts of situations as the Calvin Johnson Rule. It remains one of the most confusingly subjective rules in football.

Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers is a rematch 66 years in the making

Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers is a rematch of the last Lions playoff win on the road way back in 1957

The Detroit Lions are setting themselves up to face off against the San Francisco 49ers this coming Sunday. The winner of that battle of top-tier NFC teams will represent the conference in Super Bowl LVIII.

This is not the first time these two teams have faced off with a chance to play for a league championship.

On Dec. 22, 1957, a mere 66 years ago, the Lions and 49ers met in San Francisco in the Western Conference title game. The Niners held a commanding 24-7 halftime lead, led by the passing of Y.A Tittle. The second half saw the Lions score 24 points while holding the 49ers to just three points, with Detroit advancing to the NFL Championship against the Cleveland Browns.

This 49ers team is likely to come out of the gates firing. They will be pressing the Lions’ secondary and linebacking groups. Brock Purdy will be doing his best Tittle impression, but the Lions need to do what they did back in 1957 — bend but not break. This Lions defense has done that all year, and they need to do it for two more games.

Will history repeat itself come Sunday?

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Lions RB duo achieved a feat not done in Detroit in 87 years

Lions RB duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery achieved a feat not done in Detroit since 1936

Not since the days of Ace Gutowsky and Dutch Clark have the Lions done things that the current offense is pulling off.

When David Montgomery exploded through the Chargers defense for a 75-yard touchdown, it was his second TD run of at least 20 yards this season. Fellow RB Jahmyr Gibbs also has two TDs on runs of 20 yards or more.

That doesn’t happen very often, having two RBs each score on runs of 20-plus yards. In Detroit, it hadn’t happened in 87 years. From the Lions PR team:

The last Lions RB duo to pull off what Gibbs and Montgomery have done in the first nine games of 2023 was Clark and Gutowsky back in 1936. They were keys to an offense that ran for nearly 2,900 yards in a 12-game season, back when the forward pass wasn’t used often; the ’36 Lions passed for just 818 yards on 61 completions on the season.

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A history of the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL draft

A history of the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL draft

The Detroit Lions find themselves in unusual territory in the 2023 NFL draft. By virtue of the trade with the Los Angeles Rams, the Lions hold the No. 6 overall pick in the draft.

It’s a slot where the Lions haven’t made a selection in a very long time. The history of the sixth overall pick features a variety of success stories, weird misses, and very little reference to the Detroit Lions.

Here’s a brief history of the No. 6 pick in the NFL draft.

The Lions buried some bad streaks with the win over Chicago

The Detroit Lions ended some historically bad streaks with the win over Chicago

Sunday’s 31-30 victory in Chicago by the Detroit Lions was an emotional ride for fans, coaches and players. That victorious ride ended some bumpy streaks for the Lions franchise.

The Week 10 win marked the first road victory of the Dan Campbell coaching era. Detroit’s last road win came in Chicago in Week 13 of the 2020 season, the first game following the firing of head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn. It wound up being the only win under interim head coach Darrell Bevell.

Combined with last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers, the Lions have now won consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 6 and 7 of the 2020 season. Detroit knocked off Jacksonville and Atlanta in those games, both on the road.

The win improved Detroit to 3-6 on the season and dropped the Bears to 3-7. Detroit no longer sits in the NFC North basement for the first time since they lost to the Vikings in Week 8 of 2020. Both teams ended that game at 3-5, allowing Minnesota out of the cellar.

Detroit also had not won two divisional contests in a row since the 2017 season. Those Lions beat Chicago in Week 15 and Green Bay in Week 17 to finish Jim Caldwell’s final season in Detroit.

Then there’s this tidbit:

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