1989 Detroit Lions season

The 1989 Detroit Lions season was the franchise’s 60th season in the National Football League, their 56th as the Detroit Lions, and is best known as the beginning of the Barry Sanders era. Sanders, the previous year’s Heisman Trophy winner, was drafted 3rd overall by the Lions in the 1989 NFL Draft and was named to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season.

1989 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coachWayne Fontes
General managerRuss Thomas
Home fieldPontiac Silverdome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersRB Barry Sanders
LB Jerry Ball
LB Chris Spielman
K Eddie Murray

After starting the season with five straight losses and bottoming out at 2–9, the Lions won five in a row and six out of seven to finish the season with a 7–9 record. Nonetheless, it was their sixth consecutive losing season and their seventh of the decade.

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1989 NFL Draft
1989 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 3 Barry Sanders * †  Running back Oklahoma State
2 30 John Ford  Wide receiver Virginia
3 59 Mike Utley  Guard Washington State
4 86 Ray Crockett  Cornerback Baylor
5 115 Lawrence Pete  Defensive tackle Nebraska
6 141 Rodney Peete  Quarterback USC
7 170 Jerry Woods  Defensive back Northern Michigan
8 197 Chris Parker  Defensive tackle West Virginia
9 226 Derek MacCready  Defensive end Ohio State
10 253 Jason Phillips  Wide receiver Houston
11 282 Keith Karpinski  Linebacker Penn State
12 309 James Cribbs  Defensive end Memphis State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff
1989 Detroit Lions staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Roster
1989 Detroit Lions final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad

  • 12 Eric Jones QB


Rookies in italics


Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 10 Phoenix Cardinals L 16–13
36,735
2 September 17 at New York Giants L 24–14
76,021
3 September 24 Chicago Bears L 47–27
71,418
4 October 1 Pittsburgh Steelers L 23–3
43,804
5 October 8 at Minnesota Vikings L 24–17
55,380
6 October 15 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–16
46,225
7 October 22 Minnesota Vikings L 20–7
51,579
8 October 29 at Green Bay Packers L 23–20 OT
53,731
9 November 5 at Houston Oilers L 35–31
48,056
10 November 12 Green Bay Packers W 31–22
44,324
11 November 19 at Cincinnati Bengals L 42–7
55,720
12 November 23 Cleveland Browns W 13–10
65,624
13 December 3 New Orleans Saints W 21–14
38,550
14 December 10 at Chicago Bears W 27–17
52,650
15 December 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 33–7
40,362
16 December 24 at Atlanta Falcons W 31–24
7,792

Standings
NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings(3) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 362 356 W1
Green Bay Packers 10 6 0 .625 5–3 10–4 362 275 W2
Detroit Lions 7 9 0 .438 4–4 6–6 312 364 W5
Chicago Bears 6 10 0 .375 2–6 4–8 358 377 L6
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 3–5 5–7 320 419 L4

Player stats

Rushing
PlayerAttemptsYardsAverageLongTouchdowns
Barry Sanders28014705.33414

Receiving
PlayerReceptionsYardsAverageLongTouchdowns
Barry Sanders2428211.8460

Awards and honors

References
  1. "1989 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
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