1962 Detroit Lions season

The 1962 Detroit Lions season was the 33rd season in franchise history. In one of the best regular seasons in their history, the Lions posted an 11–3 record (.786), but finished two games behind the eventual NFL champion Green Bay Packers in the NFL Western Conference. It was the third straight season the Lions finished as runner-up to the Packers in the West. Entering the final weekend, Detroit was one game behind and had won seven consecutive, but were shut out 3–0 by the Chicago Bears.^[1] The Lions' three losses, all on the road, were by a total of eight points.

1962 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	George Wilson
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	2nd NFL Western
Playoffs	Won NFL Playoff Bowl (vs. Steelers) 17–10
← 1961 Lions seasons 1963 →

As conference runner-up, Detroit won their third consecutive Playoff Bowl game over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17–10.^[2][3] The third place game was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami on January 6, three weeks after the end of the regular season.^[4]

The Lions never trailed by more than seven points at any point in any game during the season, a feat that was not repeated for 48 years. Their 26–14 win over the Packers on Thanksgiving Day in week 11 denied defending champion Green Bay the NFL's first true perfect season.^[5] The Lions were up 26–0 in the fourth quarter before Green Bay scored two touchdowns;^[6] the Packers had won the first meeting 9–7 in the mud in Green Bay with a late field goal on October 7.^[7][8]

After the season, defensive coordinator Don Shula left to become the head coach for the Baltimore Colts, a position he would hold for seven years.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	10 [9]	John Hadl[10]	Back	Kansas

Regular season

Main article: 1962 NFL season

According to the team, a total of 35,693 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1962 campaign.^[11] The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.^[11]

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 16	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–7	1–0	Tiger Stadium	46,641	Recap
2	September 23	San Francisco 49ers	W 45–24	2–0	Tiger Stadium	51,032	Recap
3	September 30	at Baltimore Colts	W 29–20	3–0	Memorial Stadium	57,966	Recap
4	October 7	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–9	3–1	City Stadium	38,669	Recap
5	October 14	Los Angeles Rams	W 13–10	4–1	Tiger Stadium	53,714	Recap
6	October 21	at New York Giants	L 14–17	4–2	Yankee Stadium	62,856	Recap
7	October 28	Chicago Bears	W 11–3	5–2	Tiger Stadium	53,342	Recap
8	November 4	at Los Angeles Rams	W 12–3	6–2	L.A. Memorial Coliseum	44,241	Recap
9	November 11	at San Francisco 49ers	W 38–24	7–2	Kezar Stadium	43,449	Recap
10	November 18	at Minnesota Vikings	W 17–6	8–2	Metropolitan Stadium	31,257	Recap
11	November 22	Green Bay Packers	W 26–14	9–2	Tiger Stadium	57,598	Recap
12	December 2	Baltimore Colts	W 21–14	10–2	Tiger Stadium	53,012	Recap
13	December 9	Minnesota Vikings	W 37–23	11–2	Tiger Stadium	42,256	Recap
14	December 16	at Chicago Bears	L 0–3	11–3	Wrigley Field	44,948	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. Thanksgiving: November 22.

Season summary

Week 4 at Packers

See also: 1962 Green Bay Packers season and Lions–Packers rivalry

Detroit Lions (3–0) at Green Bay Packers (3–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	7	0	0	7
Packers	3	0	3	3	9

at City Stadium • Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: October 7
• Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C) • Wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
• Game attendance: 38,669
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Lions Milt Plum 11/26, 107 Yds, INT 7 Rush, 58 Yds Jim Gibbons 3 Rec, 41 Yds Packers Bart Starr 18/26, 198 Yds Jim Taylor 20 Rush, 95 Yds Max McGee 5 Rec, 69 Yds

This game provided the backdrop for the Vince Lombardi book Run to Daylight!, chronicling a typical week in the life of a pro football team. Alex Karras reportedly threw a helmet at Milt Plum in the locker room after the game for throwing the late interception that led to the Lions' defeat.

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP DET GB 1 Packers 13-yard field goal by Hornung 0 3 2 Lions Lewis 6-yard touchdown run, Walker kick good 7 3 3 Packers 15-yard field goal by Hornung 7 6 4 Packers 26-yard field goal by Hornung 7 9 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 9

Week 11 vs. Packers

Green Bay Packers (10–0) at Detroit Lions (8–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	0	14	14
Lions	7	16	3	0	26

at Tiger Stadium • Detroit, Michigan

• Date: November 22
• Game weather: 37 °F (3 °C) • Wind 15 mph (24 km/h)
• Game attendance: 57,598
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Packers Bart Starr 11/19, 142 Yds, 2 INT Jim Taylor 13 Rush, 47 Yds Ron Kramer 4 Rec, 62 Yds Lions Milt Plum 8/16, 137 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT Ken Webb 11 Rush, 62 Yds Gail Cogdill 3 Rec, 79 Yds, 2 TD

The game was dubbed the "Thanksgiving Day Massacre" thanks to the dominant performance of the Lions defense, who sacked Bart Starr 11 times.^[12][13] It was Green Bay's sole loss of the season; they repeated as NFL champions.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP GB DET 1 Lions Cogdill 33-yard touchdown reception from Plum, Walker kick good 0 7 2 Lions Cogdill 27-yard touchdown reception from Plum, Walker kick good 0 14 2 Lions Fumble recovery returned 6 yards for touchdown by Williams, Walker kick good 0 21 2 Lions Starr tackled in end zone for a safety by Brown 0 23 3 Lions 47-yard field goal by Plum 0 26 4 Packers Fumble recovery in end zone for touchdown by Davis, Kramer kick good 7 26 4 Packers Taylor 4-yard touchdown run, Kramer kick good 14 26 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 14 26

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	13	1	0	.929	11–1	415	148	W3
Detroit Lions	11	3	0	.786	10–2	315	177	L1
Chicago Bears	9	5	0	.643	8–4	321	287	W2
Baltimore Colts	7	7	0	.500	5–7	293	288	W2
San Francisco 49ers	6	8	0	.429	5–7	282	331	L2
Minnesota Vikings	2	11	1	.154	1–10–1	254	410	L3
Los Angeles Rams	1	12	1	.077	1–10–1	220	334	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	12	2	0	.857	10–2	398	283	W9
Pittsburgh Steelers	9	5	0	.643	8–4	312	363	W3
Cleveland Browns	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	291	257	W1
Washington Redskins	5	7	2	.417	4–6–2	305	376	L1
Dallas Cowboys	5	8	1	.385	4–7–1	398	402	L2
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.308	4–7–1	287	361	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	3	10	1	.231	3–8–1	282	356	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks  15 Earl Morrall  16 Milt Plum  33 Nick Pietrosante RB/QB  19 Ken Webb RB/DB Running backs  46 Larry Ferguson (R)  45 Dan Lewis  8 Ollie Matson RB/WR  23 Tom Watkins  34 Ken Webb HB/DB Wide receivers  89 Gail Cogdill  41 Terry Barr WR/HB/KR  86 Tom Hall WR/DB (R)  82 Harlon Hill WR/E  20 Dick Comption WR/DB  85 Larry Vargo WR/DB/LB Tight ends  6 Jim Gibbons  -- Al Greer (R)		Offensive linemen  79 John Gonzaga OL/DL  75 John Gordy G  77 Dan LaRose G/DL  64 John Lomakoski T (R)  -- Dick Mills T  70 Bob Scholtz G/T  85 Harley Sewell G  73 Paul Ward DE/T  61 Bob Whitlow Defensive linemen  74 Mike Bundra DL/LB (R)  76 Roger Brown DT  71 Alex Karras DT  78 Darris McCord DE/OL  84 Leo Sugar DE  88 Sam Williams DE		Linebackers  57 Carl Brettschneider  52 Dave Lloyd  64 Max Messner LB/DE  56 Joe Schmidt MLB  65 Jim Simon OL/DL/LB  55 Wayne Walker LB/K Defensive backs  81 Night Train Lane CB  20 Yale Lary S/P/KR  44 Dick LeBeau DB  43 Gary Lowe DB/RB  21 Bruce Maher DB Special teams  25 Pat Studstill WR/P/KR  55 Wayne Walker LB/K		Reserve lists None - vacant Practice/Taxi squad None - vacant 'Note: rookies in italics

Source:

Playoff Bowl

Main article: Playoff Bowl

The game matched the conference runners-up for third place in the league and was played three weeks after the end of the regular season (and a week after the championship game). The ten editions of the Playoff Bowl, all held at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, are now considered exhibition games by the NFL, not post-season contests.

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
Playoff Bowl	January 6, 1963	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–10	Orange Bowl	36,284

Source:^{[2][3][4][14]}

Awards and records

• The Lions were only the third NFL team since 1940 that never trailed by more than 7 points at any time during the season. This feat was not repeated until the Green Bay Packers did so in their Super Bowl-winning 2010 season.^[15][16]

See also

• 1962 in Michigan