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1956 Detroit Lions

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Record: 9-3-0, Finished 2nd in NFL West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 300 points (25.0/g), 2nd of 12 in the NFL.
 Allowed 188 points (15.7/g), 3rd.
 Differential of 112 points (9.3/g), 2nd.
 Expected W-L: 9.0-3.0.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +6 (0.5/g), 3rd.

Coached by Buddy Parker (9-3-0)

1956 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 30 box W 1-0 @ Green Bay Packers 20 16 23 375 200 175 2 10 160 88 72 2
2 Sat October 6 box W 2-0 @ Baltimore Colts 31 14 25 465 247 218 2 10 206 138 68 4
3 Sun October 14 box W 3-0 Los Angeles Rams 24 21 23 368 193 175 2 14 381 253 128 3
4 Sun October 21 box W 4-0 San Francisco 49ers 20 17 25 393 149 244 1 15 257 67 190 2
5 Sun October 28 box W 5-0 @ Los Angeles Rams 16 7 16 293 177 116 2 18 384 225 159 6
6 Sun November 4 box W 6-0 @ San Francisco 49ers 17 13 19 283 89 194 3 15 246 153 93 3
7 Sun November 11 box L 6-1 @ Washington Redskins 17 18 16 312 260 52 4 15 286 83 203 2
8 Sun November 18 box W 7-1 Baltimore Colts 27 3 26 393 153 240 1 15 356 298 58 2
9 Thu November 22 box L 7-2 Green Bay Packers 20 24 17 352 146 206 3 21 373 289 84 3
10 Sun December 2 box W 8-2 Chicago Bears 42 10 25 468 254 214 6 15 184 70 114 5
11 Sun December 9 box W 9-2 Pittsburgh Steelers 45 7 15 296 166 130 6 9 129 104 25 6
12 Sun December 16 box L 9-3 @ Chicago Bears 21 38 17 208 161 47 2 24 446 137 309 2

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 300 4206 815 5.2 247 160 301 2195 13 23 7.1 111 507 2011 21 4.0 122 34 11 14
Team Defense 188 3408 688 5.0 181 138 297 1905 11 28 6.0 84 373 1503 9 4.0 81 40 12 16
Lg Rank Offense 2 3 1 4 3 7 9 2 3 5 2 7 7 3
Lg Rank Defense 3 6 2 9 7 3 2 6 1 3 1 6 2 7

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
22 Bobby Layne*+ 30 QB 12 12 9-3-0 129 244 52.9 1909 9 3.7 17 7.0 70 7.8 5.4 14.8 159.1 62.0
12 Harry Gilmer 30 qb 11 0 27 46 58.7 303 4 8.7 3 6.5 41 6.6 5.4 11.2 27.5 80.3
15 Jerry Reichow 22 8 0 3 6 50.0 19 0 0.0 1 16.7 14 3.2 -4.3 6.3 2.4 17.4
40 Howard Cassady 22 RET 12 0 0 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 50.0 0 0.0 -22.5 0.0 0.0
23 Jug Girard 29 lh 10 0 1 1 100.0 19 0 0.0 0 0.0 19 19.0 19.0 19.0 1.9 118.7
42 Don McIlhenny 22 rh 9 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6
20 Bill Stits 25 rdh 12 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0 0.0
Team Total 25.9 12 9-3-0 160 301 53.2 2250 13 4.3 23 7.6 70 7.5 4.9 14.1 187.5 60.1
Opp Total 12 138 297 46.5 2045 11 3.7 28 9.4 6.9 3.4 14.8 170.4 42.6 18 140 6.0 2.7

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
No. Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
26 Gene Gedman 24 RH 12 0 135 479 7 33 3.5 39.9 11.3 15 142 9.5 1 43 1.3 11.8 621 8 3
40 Howard Cassady 22 RET 12 0 97 413 0 33 4.3 34.4 8.1 9 83 9.2 0 21 0.8 6.9 496 0 2
42 Don McIlhenny 22 rh 9 0 87 372 3 30 4.3 41.3 9.7 8 70 8.8 2 21 0.9 7.8 442 5 0
82 Leon Hart 28 FB 11 0 76 348 5 46 4.6 31.6 6.9 14 116 8.3 1 29 1.3 10.5 464 6 3
22 Bobby Layne*+ 30 QB 12 12 46 169 5 20 3.7 14.1 3.8 169 5 3
33 Bill Bowman 25 6 0 20 84 1 13 4.2 14.0 3.3 5 34 6.8 1 18 0.8 5.7 118 2 0
23 Jug Girard 29 lh 10 0 17 67 0 11 3.9 6.7 1.7 3 33 11.0 0 16 0.3 3.3 100 0 0
30 Tom Tracy 22 4 0 12 32 0 9 2.7 8.0 3.0 3 6 2.0 0 5 0.8 1.5 38 0 1
12 Harry Gilmer 30 qb 11 0 8 19 0 6 2.4 1.7 0.7 19 0 1
84 Dave Middleton 23 RE 12 0 3 9 0 10 3.0 0.8 0.3 39 606 15.5 5 56 3.3 50.5 615 5 0
20 Bill Stits 25 rdh 12 0 3 0 0 6 0.0 0.0 0.3 3 52 17.3 0 27 0.3 4.3 52 0 0
87 Dorne Dibble 27 LE 12 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 0.7 0.1 32 597 18.7 2 56 2.7 49.8 605 2 0
15 Jerry Reichow 22 8 0 1 1 0 1 1.0 0.1 0.1 4 63 15.8 1 41 0.5 7.9 64 1 0
28 Yale Lary*+ 26 RS 12 0 1 10 0 10 10.0 0.8 0.1 10 0 0
83 Jim Doran 29 LH 11 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 25 448 17.9 0 31 2.3 40.7 448 0 1
Team Total 25.9 12 507 2011 21 46 4.0 167.6 42.3 160 2250 14.1 13 56 13.3 187.5 4261 34 14
Opp Total 12 373 1503 9 4.0 125.3 31.1 138 1905 13.8 11 11.5 158.8 3408 20 16

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
40 Howard Cassady 22 RET 12 0 13 83 0 34 6.4 16 382 0 42 23.9 961
28 Yale Lary*+ 26 RS 12 0 22 70 0 38 3.2 4 76 0 29 19.0 156
24 Jack Christiansen*+ 28 LS 12 0 6 73 1 66 12.2 6 116 0 22 19.3 189
20 Bill Stits 25 rdh 12 0 3 48 0 19 16.0 100
23 Jug Girard 29 lh 10 0 2 7 0 5 3.5 107
50 Charlie Ane* 25 C 12 0 1 19 0 19 19.0 19
33 Bill Bowman 25 6 0 1 24 0 24 24.0 142
15 Jerry Reichow 22 8 0 1 9 0 9 9.0 73
60 Jim Salsbury 24 RG 11 0 1 13 0 13 13.0 13
Team Total 25.9 12 43 233 1 66 5.4 33 687 0 42 20.8 5181
Opp Total 12 32 0 48 1041 1 21.7

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
22 Bobby Layne*+ 30 QB 12 12 15 12 80.0% 33 33 100.0%
28 Yale Lary*+ 26 RS 12 0 42 1698 41 0 40.4
47 Jim Martin 32 RLB 12 0 10 4 40.0% 3 3 100.0%
23 Jug Girard 29 lh 10 0 10 448 54 0 44.8
Team Total 25.9 12 25 16 64.0% 36 36 100.0% 52 2146 54 0 41.3
Opp Total 12 20 11 55.0% 22 21 95.5% 59 2325 39.4

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
40 Howard Cassady 22 RET 12 0 2 1 0 0
24 Jack Christiansen*+ 28 LS 12 0 8 109 0 33
25 Jim David* 29 LDH 12 0 7 4 0 3
83 Jim Doran 29 LH 11 0 1 0 0 0
85 Sonny Gandee 27 LLB 12 0 0 2 0 0
26 Gene Gedman 24 RH 12 0 3 2 0 0
12 Harry Gilmer 30 qb 11 0 1 0 0 0
82 Leon Hart 28 FB 11 0 3 0 0 0
21 Carl Karilivacz 26 RDH 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
70 Ray Krouse 29 LDT 12 0 0 2 0 0
28 Yale Lary*+ 26 RS 12 0 8 182 1 73 0 1 0 0
22 Bobby Layne*+ 30 QB 12 12 3 0 0 0
86 Bob W. Long 22 12 0 2 47 0 40 0 2 0 0
72 Gil Mains 27 RDE 8 0 0 1 0 0
74 Bob Miller 27 RDT 12 0 0 1 23 0
56 Joe Schmidt*+ 24 MLB 12 0 1 7 0 7
20 Bill Stits 25 rdh 12 0 1 11 0 11 0 1 0 0
30 Tom Tracy 22 4 0 1 0 0 0
Team Total 25.9 12 28 360 1 73 14 15 23 0
Opp Total 12 7 16 4 1

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
22 Bobby Layne*+ 30 QB 12 12 5 5 33 12 99
26 Gene Gedman 24 RH 12 0 7 1 8 48
82 Leon Hart 28 FB 11 0 5 1 6 36
42 Don McIlhenny 22 rh 9 0 3 2 5 30
84 Dave Middleton 23 RE 12 0 5 5 30
47 Jim Martin 32 RLB 12 0 3 4 15
33 Bill Bowman 25 6 0 1 1 2 12
87 Dorne Dibble 27 LE 12 0 2 2 12
24 Jack Christiansen*+ 28 LS 12 0 1 1 6
28 Yale Lary*+ 26 RS 12 0 1 1 6
15 Jerry Reichow 22 8 0 1 1 6
Team Total 25.9 12 21 13 1 1 36 36 16 300
Opp Total 12 9 11 1 21 11 1 188