1983 Detroit Lions season

1983 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Monte Clark
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost 1st Round

The 1983 Detroit Lions season was the 54th season in franchise history. After a 1-4 start, the Lions finished with a 9-7 record. They were able to rise to the top of a weak NFC Central, to claim their first division championship since 1957. In the NFC playoffs, the Lions lead the San Francisco 49ers late into the 4th Quarter, until Joe Montana drove the 49ers down the field for a 14-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Solomon to give the 49ers a 24–23 lead. The Lions would have a chance to win the game, as Gary Danielson drove them into field goal range, but placekicker Eddie Murray missed a 44-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 4, 1983	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 11–0	62,154
2	September 11, 1983	Cleveland Browns	L 31–26	60,095
3	September 18, 1983	Atlanta Falcons	L 30–14	54,622
4	September 25, 1983	at Minnesota Vikings	L 20–17	58,254
5	October 2, 1983	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–10	49,403
6	October 9, 1983	Green Bay Packers	W 38–14	67,738
7	October 16, 1983	Chicago Bears	W 31–17	66,709
8	October 23, 1983	at Washington Redskins	L 38–17	43,189
9	October 30, 1983	at Chicago Bears	W 38–17	58,764
10	November 7, 1983	New York Giants	W 15–9	68,985
11	November 13, 1983	at Houston Oilers	L 27–17	40,660
12	November 20, 1983	at Green Bay Packers	W 23–20 OT	50,050
13	November 24, 1983	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–3	77,724
14	December 5, 1983	Minnesota Vikings	W 13–2	79,169
15	December 11, 1983	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–9	45,728
16	December 18, 1983	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–20	78,392

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 5 0 3 3 11 Buccaneers 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 4 Location: Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 62,154 Game weather: 82°F; wind 7

Scoring summary Q1 DET Safety, Jerry Golsteyn tackled by Doug English in end zone DET 2–0 Q1 DET Eddie Murray 29 yard field goal DET 5–0 Q3 DET Eddie Murray 48 yard field goal DET 8–0 Q4 DET Eddie Murray 38 yard field goal DET 11–0

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions(3)	9	7	0	.563	7–1	8–4	347	286	W1
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	429	439	L1
Chicago Bears	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–7	311	301	W2
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	4–4	4–8	316	348	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	241	380	L3

Final Roster

1983 Detroit Lions final roster
	Quarterbacks 16 Gary Danielson 17 Eric Hipple 14 Mike Machurek Running backs 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Jenkins PR 30 James Jones FB 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King 20 Billy Sims 38 Vince Thompson Wide receivers 89 Jeff Chadwick 83 Robbie Martin 86 Mark Nichols 87 Freddie Scott 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends 81 Reese McCall 80 Ulysses Norris 84 Rob Rubick		Offensive linemen 72 Chris Dieterich T 70 Keith Dorney T 61 Homer Elias G 65 Amos Fowler C 67 Don Greco G 64 Larry Lee G/C 52 Steve Mott C 71 Rich Strenger T 55 Tom Turnure C/G Defensive linemen 66 Mike Cofer DE/OLB 73 Mike Dawson DT/DE 78 Doug English DT 74 Mike Fanning DT 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 63 Martin Moss DE		Linebackers 54 Roosevelt Barnes 53 Garry Cobb OLB 58 Steve Doig 57 Ken Fantetti MLB 51 James Harrell 59 Jimmy Williams OLB Defensive backs 33 William Graham FS 35 Alvin Hall SS/KR 23 Maurice Harvey S 21 Demetrious Johnson S 29 Bruce McNorton CB 34 Dan Wagoner DB 27 Bobby Watkins CB Special teams 11 Mike Black P  3 Eddie Murray K		Reserve lists 41 James Caver DB/WR (IR) 10px 50 August Curley LB (IR) 10px 43 Al Latimer CB (IR) 10px Practice squad Rookies in italics 49 Active, 3 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff, San Francisco 49ers 24, Detroit Lions 23

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	6	0	14	23
49ers	7	7	3	7	24

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), sunny
• Game attendance: 59,286
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

References

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database