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1959 Detroit Lions

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Record: 3-8-1, Finished 5th in NFL West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 203 points (16.9/g), 11th of 12 in the NFL.
 Allowed 275 points (22.9/g), 8th.
 Differential of -72 points (-6.0/g), 9th.
 Expected W-L: 3.9-8.1.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -13 (-1.1/g), 9th.

Coached by George Wilson (3-8-1)

1959 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 27 box L 0-1 @ Baltimore Colts 9 21 19 334 179 155 5 19 339 222 117
2 Sun October 4 box L 0-2 @ Green Bay Packers 10 28 14 224 142 82 5 10 263 150 113 2
3 Sun October 11 box L 0-3 Baltimore Colts 24 31 16 292 102 190 5 20 409 245 164 3
4 Sun October 18 box L 0-4 San Francisco 49ers 13 34 14 302 185 117 4 20 407 108 299 1
5 Sun October 25 box W 1-4 @ Los Angeles Rams 17 7 18 259 87 172 2 23 345 219 126 5
6 Sun November 1 box L 1-5 @ San Francisco 49ers 7 33 11 183 99 84 3 20 394 198 196 4
7 Sun November 8 box T 1-5-1 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 10 10 16 314 131 183 3 14 189 123 66 4
8 Sun November 15 box W 2-5-1 Los Angeles Rams 23 17 10 222 87 135 1 14 302 220 82 3
9 Sun November 22 box L 2-6-1 Chicago Bears 14 24 18 339 196 143 8 13 130 14 116 3
10 Thu November 26 box L 2-7-1 Green Bay Packers 17 24 21 354 164 190 5 12 242 169 73 2
11 Sun December 6 box W 3-7-1 Chicago Cardinals 45 21 24 377 158 219 3 16 289 218 71 5
12 Sun December 13 box L 3-8-1 @ Chicago Bears 14 25 17 256 134 122 2 15 347 208 139 1

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 203 3456 785 4.4 198 136 328 1664 10 27 4.3 87 399 1792 13 4.5 90 46 19 21
Team Defense 275 3656 722 5.1 313 147 288 2094 19 14 6.6 103 403 1562 13 3.9 196 33 19 14
Lg Rank Offense 11 10 7 4 9 12 12 12 8 5 6 6 11 9
Lg Rank Defense 8 4 3 4 8 10 8 7 4 5 5 3 7 3

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS 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%
Tobin Rote 31 qb 10 7 62 162 38.3 861 5 3.1 19 11.7 59 5.3 0.3 13.9 86.1 26.8
Earl Morrall 25 QB 12 5 65 137 47.4 1102 5 3.6 6 4.4 79 8.0 6.4 17.0 91.8 69.1
Jerry Reichow 25 9 0 9 27 33.3 168 0 0.0 2 7.4 41 6.2 2.9 18.7 18.7 24.9
Terry Barr 24 RDH 11 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6
Team Total 26.1 12 136 328 41.5 2131 10 3.0 27 8.2 79 6.5 3.1 15.7 177.6 39.6
Opp Total 12 147 288 51.0 2094 19 6.6 14 4.9 7.3 5.7 14.2 174.5 76.6 31 246 6.6 4.4

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
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
John Henry Johnson 30 fb 10 0 82 270 2 39 3.3 27.0 8.2 7 34 4.9 1 18 0.7 3.4 304 3 4
Nick Pietrosante 22 FB 10 0 76 447 3 37 5.9 44.7 7.6 16 140 8.8 0 20 1.6 14.0 587 3 4
Ken Webb 24 RET 12 0 60 222 2 29 3.7 18.5 5.0 12 201 16.8 0 67 1.0 16.8 423 2 5
Howard Cassady 25 LH 12 0 52 203 1 18 3.9 16.9 4.3 15 316 21.1 4 59 1.3 26.3 519 5 2
Dan Lewis 23 RH 11 0 49 199 2 20 4.1 18.1 4.5 5 75 15.0 0 30 0.5 6.8 274 2 3
Tobin Rote 31 qb 10 7 35 156 2 21 4.5 15.6 3.5 156 2 2
Earl Morrall 25 QB 12 5 26 112 0 22 4.3 9.3 2.2 112 0 7
Jerry Reichow 25 9 0 13 98 0 46 7.5 10.9 1.4 7 118 16.9 1 32 0.8 13.1 216 1 0
Terry Barr 24 RDH 11 0 5 57 1 37 11.4 5.2 0.5 10 180 18.0 0 45 0.9 16.4 237 1 2
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 1 18 0 18 18.0 1.8 0.1 18 0 2
Jim Gibbons 23 RE 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 31 431 13.9 1 38 2.6 35.9 431 1 2
Dave Middleton 26 LE 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 18 402 22.3 2 79 1.5 33.5 402 2 0
Jim Doran 32 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 14 191 13.6 1 25 1.4 19.1 191 1 0
Gene Cook 25 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 43 43.0 0 43 1.0 43.0 43 0 0
Team Total 26.1 12 399 1792 13 46 4.5 149.3 33.3 136 2131 15.7 10 79 11.3 177.6 3923 23 36
Opp Total 12 403 1562 13 3.9 130.2 33.6 147 2094 14.2 19 12.3 174.5 3656 32 31

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Terry Barr 24 RDH 11 0 16 102 0 24 6.4 9 224 0 33 24.9 563
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 21 43 0 12 2.0 61
Ken Webb 24 RET 12 0 16 352 0 45 22.0 775
Howard Cassady 25 LH 12 0 1 14 0 14 14.0 8 163 0 34 20.4 696
Gary Lowe 25 RS 12 0 6 8 0 8 1.3 8
Nick Pietrosante 22 FB 10 0 5 98 0 24 19.6 685
Dave Middleton 26 LE 12 0 3 30 0 21 10.0 432
Jim Steffen 23 8 0 3 0 0 0 0.0 0
Dan Lewis 23 RH 11 0 1 9 0 9 9.0 283
Jim Martin 35 RLB 12 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Mike Rabold 22 12 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Ken Russell 24 4 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Team Total 26.1 12 50 197 0 24 3.9 42 846 0 45 20.1 4966
Opp Total 12 36 0 37 774 0 20.9

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
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
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 45 2121 67 0 47.1
Gerry Perry 29 10 0 6 3 50.0% 18 18 100.0%
Jim Martin 35 RLB 12 0 17 7 41.2% 1 0.0%
Earl Morrall 25 QB 12 5 11 481 66 0 43.7
Wayne H. Walker 23 9 0 6 5 83.3%
Team Total 26.1 12 23 10 43.5% 25 23 92.0% 56 2602 67 0 46.5
Opp Total 12 21 11 52.4% 34 34 100.0% 69 3015 43.7

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Charlie Ane 28 C 11 0 0 1 10 0
Terry Barr 24 RDH 11 0 1 29 0 29 2 0 0 0
Howard Cassady 25 LH 12 0 2 1 0 0
Gene Cronin 26 12 12 0 4 5 0
Jim David* 32 LDH 12 0 2 7 0 7
Jim Doran 32 10 0 0 1 0 1
Jim Gibbons 23 RE 12 0 2 1 0 0
Bill Glass 24 RDE 12 0 0 2 0 0
John Henry Johnson 30 fb 10 0 4 2 0 0
Alex Karras 24 LDT 12 0 0 1 0 0
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 38 1
Dick LeBeau 22 6 0 0 1 4 0
Dan Lewis 23 RH 11 0 3 1 0 0
Bob W. Long 25 LLB 12 0 0 2 0 0
Gary Lowe 25 RS 12 0 5 130 0 42 1 2 9 0
Gil Mains 30 RDT 12 0 1 3 14 0
Jim Martin 35 RLB 12 0 2 33 0 19 0 2 0 0
Dave Middleton 26 LE 12 0 0 1 0 0
Earl Morrall 25 QB 12 5 7 1 0 0
Gerry Perry 29 10 0 0 1 0 0
Nick Pietrosante 22 FB 10 0 4 1 0 0
Tobin Rote 31 qb 10 7 2 2 0 0
Joe Schmidt*+ 27 MLB 12 0 1 17 0 17 1 1 41 0
Ollie Spencer 28 RT 12 0 0 2 0 0
Jim Steffen 23 8 0 0 1 0 0
Ken Webb 24 RET 12 0 5 0 0 0
Team Total 26.1 12 14 216 0 42 36 36 121 2
Opp Total 12 58 31 12 2

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Howard Cassady 25 LH 12 0 1 4 30
Gerry Perry 29 10 0 18 3 27
Jim Martin 35 RLB 12 0 7 21
John Henry Johnson 30 fb 10 0 2 1 18
Nick Pietrosante 22 FB 10 0 3 18
Jim Doran 32 10 0 1 1 12
Dan Lewis 23 RH 11 0 2 12
Dave Middleton 26 LE 12 0 2 12
Tobin Rote 31 qb 10 7 2 12
Ken Webb 24 RET 12 0 2 12
Terry Barr 24 RDH 11 0 1 6
Jim Gibbons 23 RE 12 0 1 6
Yale Lary* 29 LS 10 0 1 6
Jerry Reichow 25 9 0 1 6
Wayne H. Walker 23 9 0 5 5
Team Total 26.1 12 13 10 2 23 10 203
Opp Total 12 13 19 34 11 2 275