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1961 Detroit Lions

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Record: 8-5-1, Finished 2nd in NFL West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 270 points (19.3/g), 11th of 14 in the NFL.
 Allowed 258 points (18.4/g), 3rd.
 Differential of 12 points (0.9/g), 7th.
 Expected W-L: 7.4-6.6.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -1 (-0.1/g), 8th.

Coached by George Wilson (8-5-1)

1961 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 17 box W 1-0 @ Green Bay Packers 17 13 15 266 138 128 1 17 294 162 132 2
2 Sun September 24 box W 2-0 @ Baltimore Colts 16 15 15 248 64 184 4 7 186 103 83 4
3 Sun October 1 box L 2-1 San Francisco 49ers 0 49 16 291 236 55 6 23 317 139 178 2
4 Sun October 8 box L 2-2 Chicago Bears 17 31 13 339 174 165 4 15 454 281 173 2
5 Sun October 15 box W 3-2 Los Angeles Rams 14 13 14 311 159 152 4 11 244 164 80 3
6 Sun October 22 box L 3-3 Baltimore Colts 14 17 11 208 132 76 1 18 313 225 88 4
7 Sun October 29 box W 4-3 @ Los Angeles Rams 28 10 23 409 241 168 18 258 149 109 2
8 Sun November 5 box T 4-3-1 @ San Francisco 49ers 20 20 22 402 265 137 3 14 326 213 113 2
9 Sun November 12 box W 5-3-1 @ St. Louis Cardinals 45 14 16 372 171 201 1 21 214 179 35 4
10 Sun November 19 box W 6-3-1 @ Minnesota Vikings 37 10 20 351 179 172 3 8 126 57 69 3
11 Thu November 23 box L 6-4-1 Green Bay Packers 9 17 18 279 172 107 5 13 277 151 126 2
12 Sun December 3 box W 7-4-1 @ Chicago Bears 16 15 17 245 172 73 4 12 193 66 127 3
13 Sun December 10 box W 8-4-1 Minnesota Vikings 13 7 15 295 175 120 4 18 251 135 116 6
14 Sun December 17 box L 8-5-1 Philadelphia Eagles 24 27 18 396 266 130 2 27 485 394 91 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 270 4412 873 5.1 233 186 398 2544 14 27 5.9 122 439 1868 16 4.3 96 42 15 15
Team Defense 258 3938 838 4.7 355 203 385 2418 11 29 5.7 121 412 1520 14 3.7 222 41 12 12
Lg Rank Offense 11 9 12 6 7 12 10 10 7 8 5 9 9 7
Lg Rank Defense 3 3 3 8 6 1 2 7 4 2 9 2 7 12

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
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%
Jim Ninowski 25 QB 13 7 4-3-1 117 247 47.4 1921 7 2.8 18 7.3 84 7.8 4.8 16.4 147.8 53.0
Earl Morrall 27 qb 13 5 4-2-0 69 150 46.0 909 7 4.7 9 6.0 61 6.1 3.8 13.2 69.9 56.2
Howard Cassady 27 RET 14 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6
Team Total 26.8 14 8-5-1 186 398 46.7 2830 14 3.5 27 6.8 84 7.1 4.4 15.2 202.1 54.1
Opp Total 14 203 385 52.7 2418 11 2.9 29 7.5 6.3 3.2 11.9 172.7 50.3 41 326 5.7 2.1

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
Nick Pietrosante* 24 FB 14 0 201 841 5 42 4.2 60.1 14.4 26 315 12.1 0 76 1.9 22.5 1156 5 7
Dan Lewis 25 LH 13 0 110 451 4 27 4.1 34.7 8.5 8 118 14.8 0 22 0.6 9.1 569 4 4
Jim Ninowski 25 QB 13 7 33 238 5 40 7.2 18.3 2.5 238 5 4
Howard Cassady 27 RET 14 0 31 131 1 14 4.2 9.4 2.2 5 45 9.0 1 76 0.4 3.2 176 2 2
Johnny Olszewski 31 14 0 30 109 0 15 3.6 7.8 2.1 1 14 14.0 0 14 0.1 1.0 123 0 0
Earl Morrall 27 qb 13 5 20 86 0 25 4.3 6.6 1.5 86 0 6
Ken Webb 26 11 0 7 6 1 3 0.9 0.5 0.6 1 7 7.0 0 7 0.1 0.6 13 1 1
Terry Barr 26 RH 14 0 6 -8 0 9 -1.3 -0.6 0.4 40 630 15.8 6 61 2.9 45.0 622 6 0
Yale Lary* 31 RS 14 0 1 14 0 14 14.0 1.0 0.1 14 0 0
Gail Cogdill 24 SE 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 45 956 21.2 6 84 3.2 68.3 956 6 0
Jim Gibbons* 25 TE 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 45 566 12.6 1 36 3.2 40.4 566 1 0
Glenn Davis 27 8 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 9 115 12.8 0 19 1.1 14.4 115 0 1
Pat Studstill 23 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 54 10.8 0 25 0.4 3.9 54 0 0
Sam Williams 30 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 10 10.0 0 10 0.1 0.8 10 0 0
Team Total 26.8 14 439 1868 16 42 4.3 133.4 31.4 186 2830 15.2 14 84 13.3 202.1 4698 30 25
Opp Total 14 412 1520 14 3.7 108.6 29.4 203 2418 11.9 11 14.5 172.7 3938 25 21

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
Jim Steffen 25 RET 8 0 11 95 0 45 8.6 19 435 0 43 22.9 530
Howard Cassady 27 RET 14 0 16 159 0 21 9.9 9 127 0 23 14.1 462
Pat Studstill 23 14 0 8 75 0 26 9.4 16 448 1 100 28.0 577
Johnny Olszewski 31 14 0 4 59 0 23 14.8 182
Jim Gibbons* 25 TE 14 0 1 14 0 14 14.0 580
Night Train Lane*+ 34 LCB 12 0 1 6 0 6 6.0 6
Yale Lary* 31 RS 14 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 22
Bruce Maher 24 RCB 12 0 1 19 0 19 19.0 19
Sam Williams 30 12 0 1 4 0 4 4.0 14
Team Total 26.8 14 38 357 0 45 9.4 50 1097 1 100 21.9 6152
Opp Total 14 21 1 49 1184 2 24.2

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
Jim Martin* 37 K 13 0 30 15 50.0% 26 25 96.2%
Yale Lary* 31 RS 14 0 52 2519 71 0 48.4
Wayne H. Walker 25 RLB 14 0 3 0.0% 6 6 100.0%
Earl Morrall 27 qb 13 5 3 113 43 0 37.7
Pat Studstill 23 14 0 1 32 32 0 32.0
Team Total 26.8 14 33 15 45.5% 32 31 96.9% 56 2664 71 0 47.6
Opp Total 14 34 20 58.8% 28 28 100.0% 67 2881 43.0

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
Carl Brettschneider 30 LLB 12 0 0 1 0 0
Roger Brown 24 RDT 14 0 1 10 0 10 0 3 29 0
Howard Cassady 27 RET 14 0 2 1 0 0
Glenn Davis 27 8 0 1 1 0 0
Jim Gibbons* 25 TE 14 0 0 2 0 0
Bill Glass 26 RDE 14 0 0 1 0 0
Alex Karras*+ 26 LDT 14 0 0 2 0 0
Night Train Lane*+ 34 LCB 12 0 6 73 0 32
Yale Lary* 31 RS 14 0 6 95 0 42
Dick LeBeau 24 14 0 3 45 0 33 0 1 0 0
Dan Lewis 25 LH 13 0 4 0 0 0
Gary Lowe 27 LS 14 0 5 16 0 11 0 2 0 0 1
Bruce Maher 24 RCB 12 0 1 8 0 8
Darris McCord 28 LDE 14 0 1 11 0 11
Earl Morrall 27 qb 13 5 6 3 0 0
Jim Ninowski 25 QB 13 7 4 0 0 0
Nick Pietrosante* 24 FB 14 0 7 1 0 0
Joe Schmidt*+ 29 MLB 14 0 4 38 1 26
Bob Scholtz 24 C 14 0 0 1 0 0
Harley Sewell 30 LG 14 0 0 1 0 0
Wayne H. Walker 25 RLB 14 0 2 16 0 12 0 2 10 0
Ken Webb 26 11 0 1 0 0 0
Team Total 26.8 14 29 312 1 42 25 22 39 0 1
Opp Total 14 36 21 9 1

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
Jim Martin* 37 K 13 0 25 15 70
Terry Barr 26 RH 14 0 6 36
Gail Cogdill 24 SE 14 0 6 36
Jim Ninowski 25 QB 13 7 5 30
Nick Pietrosante* 24 FB 14 0 5 30
Dan Lewis 25 LH 13 0 4 24
Howard Cassady 27 RET 14 0 1 1 12
Jim Gibbons* 25 TE 14 0 1 6
Joe Schmidt*+ 29 MLB 14 0 1 6
Pat Studstill 23 14 0 1 6
Wayne H. Walker 25 RLB 14 0 6 6
Ken Webb 26 11 0 1 6
Gary Lowe 27 LS 14 0 1 2
Team Total 26.8 14 16 14 1 1 31 15 1 270
Opp Total 14 14 11 1 2 28 20 1 258