1985 Detroit Lions season

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.

1985 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Russ Thomas
Head coach	Darryl Rogers
Home stadium	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	None
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1984 Lions seasons 1986 →

New England Patriots free safety Fred Marion attempting to tackle Detroit Lions' running back James Jones during a 1985 home game.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1985 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	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

1985 Detroit Lions staff

Front office Owner – William Clay Ford Sr. General manager – Russ Thomas Head coaches Head coach – Darryl Rogers Assistant Head Coach – Don Doll Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Bob Baker Running backs – Ivy Williams Wide receivers – Paul Lanham Tight ends – Don Doll Offensive line – Bill Muir

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Wayne Fontes Defensive assistant coach – Don Clemons Defensive line – Rex Norris Linebackers – Mike Murphy Defensive backs – Willie Shaw Special teams coaches Special teams – Carl Battershell Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Don Clemons

Roster

1985 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Joe Ferguson 17 Eric Hipple Running backs (RB) 34 A. J. Jones 30 James Jones 32 Rick Kane 36 Mike Meade 24 Alvin Moore Wide receivers (WR) 80 Carl Bland 82 Pete Mandley 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends (TE) 87 David Lewis 81 Reese McCall 84 Rob Rubick

Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Lomas Brown T 72 Chris Dieterich G 70 Keith Dorney T/G 67 Don Greco G 52 Steve Mott C 65 Mark Stevenson G/C 71 Rich Strenger T Defensive linemen (DL) 68 Steve Baack NT 66 Leon Evans DE 62 Keith Ferguson DE 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 63 Martin Moss DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Roosevelt Barnes OLB 97 Dan Bunz ILB 50 August Curley ILB 57 Ken Fantetti ILB 96 June James 92 Angelo King OLB 98 Vernon Maxwell ILB 59 Jimmy Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 42 John Bostic CB 26 William Frizzell SS 40 Duane Galloway CB 33 William Graham FS 35 Alvin Hall FS 21 Demetrious Johnson SS 29 Bruce McNorton CB 27 Bobby Watkins CB Special teams (ST) 11 Mike Black P  3 Eddie Murray K 60 Tom Turnure LS

Reserve 95 Kurt Allerman LB (IR) -- Clayton Beauford WR (NF-Inj.) 23 Arnold Brown CB (IR) 89 Jeff Chadwick WR (IR) 55 Mike Cofer LB (IR) 44 Dave D'Addio RB (IR) 93 Kirk Dodge LB (IR) 78 Doug English NT (IR) 53 Kevin Glover C (IR) -- Kevin Hancock LB (IR) 58 James Harrell LB (IR) -- James Johnson LB (IR) 51 David Jones G (IR) 73 Donald Laster T (IR) 14 Mike Machurek QB (IR) 28 Wilbert Montgomery RB (IR) 86 Mark Nichols WR (IR) 20 Billy Sims RB (PUP) 61 Ray Snell G (IR) 76 Eric Williams DE (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 8	at Atlanta Falcons	W 28–27	1–0	37,785
2	September 15	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–21	2–0	72,985
3	September 22	at Indianapolis Colts	L 14–6	2–1	60,042
4	September 29	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 30–9	3–1	45,023
5	October 6	at Green Bay Packers	L 43–10	3–2	55,914
6	October 13	at Washington Redskins	L 24–3	3–3	52,845
7	October 20	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–21	4–3	67,715
8	October 27	Miami Dolphins	W 31–21	5–3	75,291
9	November 3	at Minnesota Vikings	L 16–13	5–4	58,012
10	November 10	at Chicago Bears	L 24–3	5–5	53,467
11	November 17	Minnesota Vikings	W 41–21	6–5	54,647
12	November 24	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 19–16(OT)	6–6	43,471
13	November 28	New York Jets	W 31–20	7–6	65,531
14	December 8	at New England Patriots	L 23–6	7–7	59,078
15	December 15	Green Bay Packers	L 26–23	7–8	49,379
16	December 22	Chicago Bears	L 37–17	7–9	74,042
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text

Season summary

Week 1

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Lions	0	14	14	0	28
Falcons	14	7	0	6	27

• Date: September 8
• Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
• Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 37,785
• Game weather: 79 °F or 26.1 °C; wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)

Scoring summary

Q1	10:42	ATL	Riggs 1 yard run (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 7–0
Q1	0:33	ATL	Brown 12 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 14–0
Q2	10:52	DET	Jones 8 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	ATL 14–7
Q2	3:45	DET	Chadwick 15 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	Tie 14–14
Q2	1:54	ATL	Johnson 35 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick)	ATL 21–14
Q3	7:29	DET	Chadwick 9 yard pass from Hipple (Murray kick)	Tie 21–21
Q3	4:52	DET	Jones 21 yard run (Murray kick)	DET 28–21
Q4	14:56	ATL	Luckhurst 46 yard field goal	DET 28–24
Q4	7:15	ATL	Luckhurst 31 yard field goal	DET 28–27

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Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears(1)	15	1	0	.938	8–0	12–0	456	198	W3
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	6–2	8–4	337	355	W2
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–9	346	359	L2
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	2–6	5–7	307	366	L3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	2–10	294	448	L4