1986 Detroit Lions season

The 1986 Detroit Lions season was their 57th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 7–9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season with a 5–11 record. The highlight of the season was first round draft choice Chuck Long’s first pass for a TD against Tampa Bay. Long would start in a Monday Night game against the Chicago Bears.

1986 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
Head coach	Darryl Rogers
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
AP All-Pros	None

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1986 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	12	Chuck Long	QB	Iowa
2	29	Garry James	RB	LSU
3	69	Joe Milinichik	OT	North Carolina State
4	92	Devon Mitchell	S	Iowa
5	119	Oscar Smith	RB	Nicholls State
8	205	Allyn Griffin	WR	Wyoming
9	231	Lyle Pickens	DB	Colorado
10	258	Tracy Johnson	LB	Morningside
11	290	Leland Melvin	WR	Richmond
12	317	Allan Durden	DB	Arizona

Roster

1986 Detroit Lions roster

	Quarterbacks 17 Eric Hipple 16 Chuck Long 12 Joe Ferguson Running backs 36 Herman Hunter 30 James Jones 32 Garry James 24 Alvin Moore 38 Scott Williams Wide receivers 80 Carl Bland 89 Jeff Chadwick 82 Pete Mandley 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends 81 Jimmie Giles 87 David Lewis 84 Rob Rubick		Offensive linemen 61 Scott Barrows G 72 Chris Dieterich T 70 Keith Dorney G 63 Steve Kenney G 52 Steve Mott C 71 Rich Strenger T 73 Harvey Salem G 64 Eric Sanders T/G/C 60 Tom Turnure C/G Defensive linemen 68 Steve Baack DE/DT 66 Leon Evans DE 77 Keith Ferguson DE 79 William Gay DE 62 Curtis Green DE 76 Eric Williams DE		Linebackers 96 Paul Butcher 55 Mike Cofer OLB 50 August Curley 58 James Harrell ILB 54 James Johnson 92 Angelo King OLB 57 Vernon Maxwell ILB 51 Shelton Robinson Defensive backs 42 John Bostic 43 Donnie Elder 40 Duane Galloway CB 34 James Griffin 33 William Graham 47 Rod Hill 21 Demetrious Johnson SS 29 Bruce McNorton CB 31 Devon Mitchell FS Special teams  3 Eddie Murray K  6 Jim Arnold P		Reserve lists 11 Mike Black P (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 Arnold Brown CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 75 Lomas Brown T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 53 Kevin Glover C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 25 Oscar Smith RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 27 Bobby Watkins CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 59 Jimmy Williams OLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 7	at Minnesota Vikings	W 13–10	1–0	54,851
2	September 14	Dallas Cowboys	L 31–7	1–1	73,812
3	September 21	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–20	1–2	38,453
4	September 28	at Cleveland Browns	L 24–21	1–3	72,029
5	October 5	Houston Oilers	W 24–13	2–3	41,960
6	October 12	at Green Bay Packers	W 21–14	3–3	52,290
7	October 19	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–10	3–4	50,992
8	October 26	at Chicago Bears	L 13–7	3–5	62,064
9	November 2	Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–17	3–6	52,423
10	November 9	Minnesota Vikings	L 24–10	3–7	53,725
11	November 16	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–11	4–7	54,568
12	November 23	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 38–17	5–7	30,029
13	November 27	Green Bay Packers	L 44–40	5–8	61,199
14	December 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 27–17	5–9	45,042
15	December 15	Chicago Bears	L 16–13	5–10	75,602
16	December 21	Atlanta Falcons	L 20–6	5–11	35,255
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 at Vikings

Week One: Detroit Lions (0–0) at Minnesota Vikings (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	7	3	3	13
Vikings	3	0	0	7	10

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

• Date: September 7, 1986
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 54,851
• Referee: Red Cashion
• Box Score, Box Score

Game information

First quarter MIN – Chuck Nelson 35-yard field goal, 3:38. Vikings 3–0. Second quarter DET – James Jones 2-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 1:56. Lions 7–3. Third quarter DET – Eddie Murray 33-yard field goal, 2:01. Lions 10–3. Fourth quarter DET – Eddie Murray 44-yard field goal, 9:05. Lions 13–3. MIN – Jim Gustafson 5-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Chuck Nelson kick), 0:03. Lions 13–10. Top passers DET – Eric Hipple – 8/15, 95 yards, INT MIN – Tommy Kramer – 21/38, 223 yards, TD, INT Top rushers DET – James Jones – 36 rushes, 174 yards, TD MIN – Darrin Nelson – 11 rushes, 58 yards Top receivers DET – Leonard Thompson – 3 receptions, 40 yards MIN – Darrin Nelson – 6 receptions, 74 yards

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 0 14 0 7 21 Packers 0 7 0 7 14 Date: October 12 Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin Game start: 12:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 55 °F or 12.8 °C, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn) Referee: Pat Haggerty Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 2 DET Garry James 41 yard run (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 7–0 2 DET Scott Williams 1 yard run (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 14–0 2 GB James Lofton 5 yard pass from Randy Wright (Al Del Greco kick) Lions 14–7 4 DET David Lewis 2 yard pass from Eric Hipple (Eddie Murray kick) Lions 21–7 4 GB Dan Ross 6 yard pass from Randy Wright (Al Del Greco kick) Lions 21–14

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears(2)	14	2	0	.875	7–1	10–2	352	187	W7
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	398	273	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	277	326	L4
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	3–5	3–9	254	418	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–13	239	473	L7