Login
Login

1985 Detroit Lions season

{{short description|NFL team season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NFL team season

| team = Detroit Lions

| logo =

| year = 1985

| record = 7–9

| division_place = 4th NFC Central

| coach = Darryl Rogers

| general manager = Russ Thomas

| owner = William Clay Ford Sr.

| stadium = Pontiac Silverdome

| playoffs = Did not qualify

| pro_bowlers = None

| AP All-pros = None

| shortnavlink = Lions seasons

}}

File:Fred_Marion_1987.jpg

The 1985 Detroit Lions season was their 56th in the National Football League. In Darryl Rogers first year as head coach, the team improved upon their previous season's output of 4–11–1, winning seven games. The Lions beat four playoff teams at home, Dallas, San Francisco, Miami, and the New York Jets, but lost to Tampa Bay and Indianapolis on the road. The Lions stood at 5–3 at the halfway point of the season. However, despite their overall improvement, the Lions went winless in December (0–3) and missed the playoffs for the second straight year with a 7–9 record.

Offseason

=NFL draft=

{{main|1985 NFL draft}}

class="wikitable" style="width:80%;text-align:center;"
style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Round

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Pick

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Player

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Position

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| School

1

! 6

| Lomas Brown

| OT

| Florida

2

! 34

| Kevin Glover

| C

| Maryland

3

! 62

| James Johnson

| LB

| San Diego State

4

! 90

| Kevin Hancock

| LB

| Baylor

5

! 118

| Joe McIntosh

| RB

| North Carolina State

6

! 146

| Stan Short

| G

| Penn State

7

! 174

| Tony Staten

| DB

| Angelo State

8

! 202

| Scott Caldwell

| RB

| Texas-Arlington

9

! 230

| June James

| LB

| Texas

10

! 258

| Clayton Beauford

| WR

| Auburn

11

! 286

| Kevin Harris

| DB

| Georgia

12

! 314

| Mike Weaver

| G

| Georgia

Personnel

=Staff=

{{NFL final staff

| year = 1985

| team = Detroit Lions

| front_office =

| head_coach =

| offensive =

| defensive =

| special_teams =

| strength =

  • Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Don Clemons

}}

=Roster=

{{NFL season roster

| year = 1985

| team = Detroit Lions

| quarterbacks =

{{NFLplayer|12|Joe Ferguson}}

{{NFLplayer|17|Eric Hipple}}

| running_backs =

{{NFLplayer|34|A. J. Jones}}

{{NFLplayer|30|James Jones|d=running back, born 1961}}

{{NFLplayer|32|Rick Kane}}

{{NFLplayer|36|Mike Meade}}

{{NFLplayer|24|Alvin Moore|d=American football}}

| wide_receivers =

{{NFLplayer|80|Carl Bland}}

{{NFLplayer|82|Pete Mandley}}

{{NFLplayer|39|Leonard Thompson|d=American football}}

| tight_ends =

{{NFLplayer|87|David Lewis|d=American football}}

{{NFLplayer|81|Reese McCall}}

{{NFLplayer|84|Rob Rubick}}

| offensive_linemen =

{{NFLplayer|75|Lomas Brown|rookie=y|T}}

{{NFLplayer|72|Chris Dieterich|G}}

{{NFLplayer|70|Keith Dorney|T/G}}

{{NFLplayer|67|Don Greco|G}}

{{NFLplayer|52|Steve Mott|C}}

{{NFLplayer|65|Mark Stevenson|d=American football|G/C}}

{{NFLplayer|71|Rich Strenger|T}}

| defensive_linemen =

{{NFLplayer|68|Steve Baack|NT}}

{{NFLplayer|66|Leon Evans|DE}}

{{NFLplayer|62|Keith Ferguson|d=American football|DE}}

{{NFLplayer|79|William Gay|d=defensive lineman|DE}}

{{NFLplayer|62|Curtis Green|DE}}

{{NFLplayer|63|Martin Moss|d=American football|DE}}

| linebackers =

{{NFLplayer|54|Roosevelt Barnes|d=American football|OLB}}

{{NFLplayer|97|Dan Bunz|ILB}}

{{NFLplayer|50|August Curley|ILB}}

{{NFLplayer|57|Ken Fantetti|ILB}}

{{NFLplayer|96|June James|d=American football}}

{{NFLplayer|92|Angelo King|OLB}}

{{NFLplayer|98|Vernon Maxwell|d=American football|ILB}}

{{NFLplayer|59|Jimmy Williams|d=linebacker|OLB}}

| defensive_back =

{{NFLplayer|42|John Bostic|rookie=y|CB}}

{{NFLplayer|26|William Frizzell|SS}}

{{NFLplayer|40|Duane Galloway|CB}}

{{NFLplayer|33|William Graham|d=American football|FS}}

{{NFLplayer|35|Alvin Hall|d=safety|FS}}

{{NFLplayer|21|Demetrious Johnson|SS|d=American football}}

{{NFLplayer|29|Bruce McNorton|CB}}

{{NFLplayer|27|Bobby Watkins|d=cornerback|CB}}

| special_teams =

{{NFLplayer|11|Mike Black|d=punter|P}}

{{NFLplayer| 3|Eddie Murray|d=American football|K}}

{{NFLplayer|60|Tom Turnure|LS}}

| reserve_lists =

{{NFLplayer|95|Kurt Allerman|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|--|Clayton Beauford|rookie=y|WR|NF-Inj.}}

{{NFLplayer|23|Arnold Brown|d=American football|rookie=y|CB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|89|Jeff Chadwick|WR|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|55|Mike Cofer|d=linebacker|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|44|Dave D'Addio|RB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|93|Kirk Dodge|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|78|Doug English|NT|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|53|Kevin Glover|rookie=y|C|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|--|Kevin Hancock|rookie=y|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|58|James Harrell|d=American football|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|--|James Johnson|d=linebacker|rookie=y|LB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|51|David Jones|d=offensive lineman|G|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|73|Donald Laster|T|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|14|Mike Machurek|QB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|28|Wilbert Montgomery|RB|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|86|Mark Nichols|d=American football|WR|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|20|Billy Sims|RB|PUP}}

{{NFLplayer|61|Ray Snell|G|IR}}

{{NFLplayer|76|Eric Williams|d=defensive lineman|DE|IR}}

| practice_squad =

}}

Schedule

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Week

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Date

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Opponent

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Result

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Record

! style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Detroit Lions|year=1985|border=2}}"| Attendance

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 1

| September 8

| at Atlanta Falcons

| W 28–27

|1–0

| 37,785

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 2

| September 15

| Dallas Cowboys

| W 26–21

|2–0

| 72,985

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 3

| September 22

| at Indianapolis Colts

| L 14–6

|2–1

| 60,042

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 4

| September 29

| Tampa Bay Buccaneers

| W 30–9

|3–1

| 45,023

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 5

| October 6

| at Green Bay Packers

| L 43–10

|3–2

| 55,914

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 6

| October 13

| at Washington Redskins

| L 24–3

|3–3

| 52,845

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 7

| October 20

| San Francisco 49ers

| W 23–21

|4–3

| 67,715

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 8

| October 27

| Miami Dolphins

| W 31–21

|5–3

| 75,291

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 9

| November 3

| at Minnesota Vikings

| L 16–13

|5–4

| 58,012

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 10

| November 10

| at Chicago Bears

| L 24–3

|5–5

| 53,467

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 11

| November 17

| Minnesota Vikings

| W 41–21

|6–5

| 54,647

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 12

| November 24

| at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

| L 19–16(OT)

|6–6

| 43,471

style="background: #ddffdd;"

! 13

| {{dow tooltip|November 28, 1985}}

| New York Jets

| W 31–20

|7–6

| 65,531

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 14

| December 8

| at New England Patriots

| L 23–6

|7–7

| 59,078

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 15

| December 15

| Green Bay Packers

| L 26–23

|7–8

| 49,379

style="background: #ffdddd;"

! 16

| December 22

| Chicago Bears

| L 37–17

|7–9

| 74,042

colspan="6" |Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text

Season summary

=Week 1=

{{AFB game box start

|Title=

|Visitor=Lions

|V1=0 |V2=14 |V3=14 |V4=0

|Host=Falcons

|H1=14 |H2=7 |H3=0 |H4=6

|Date=September 8

|Location=Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

|StartTime=1:00 p.m.

|TimeZone=EST

|ElapsedTime=

|Attendance=37,785

|Weather={{convert|79|°F|°C|1|disp=or}}; wind {{convert|7|mph|km/h knots}}

|Referee=

|TVAnnouncers=

|TVStation=

}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry=yes |Quarter=Q1 |Time=10:42 |Team=ATL |Event=Riggs 1 yard run (Luckhurst kick) |Score=ATL 7–0 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q1 |Time=0:33 |Team=ATL |Event=Brown 12 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick) |Score=ATL 14–0 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q2 |Time=10:52 |Team=DET |Event=Jones 8 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick) |Score=ATL 14–7 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q2 |Time=3:45 |Team=DET |Event=Chadwick 15 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick) |Score=Tie 14–14 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q2 |Time=1:54 |Team=ATL |Event=Johnson 35 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick) |Score=ATL 21–14 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q3 |Time=7:29 |Team=DET |Event=Chadwick 9 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick) |Score=Tie 21–21 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q3 |Time=4:52 |Team=DET |Event=Jones 21 yard run (Murray kick) |Score=DET 28–21 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q4 |Time=14:56 |Team=ATL |Event=Luckhurst 46 yard field goal |Score=DET 28–24 |LastEntry=}}

{{AFB game box scoring entry |FirstEntry= |Quarter=Q4 |Time=7:15 |Team=ATL |Event=Luckhurst 31 yard field goal |Score=DET 28–27 |LastEntry=yes}}

{{AFB game box end}}

Gainesville Sun. 1985 Sep 9. Retrieved 2017-Nov-01.

[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198509080atl.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2017-Nov-01.

{{Clear}}

Standings

{{1985 NFC Central standings}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Detroit Lions}}

{{Detroit Lions seasons}}

{{1985 NFL season by team}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985 Detroit Lions Season}}

Category:Detroit Lions seasons

Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions