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1981 Detroit Lions

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Record: 8-8-0, Finished 2nd in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 397 points (24.8/g), 4th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 322 points (20.1/g), 13th.
 Differential of 75 points (4.7/g), 6th.
 Expected W-L: 9.9-6.1.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -4 (-0.2/g), 19th.

Simple Rating System: Total 5.3, Offense: 4.8, Defense: 0.5, SoS: 0.6, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Monte Clark

Training Camp: Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan)

Team Stats and Rankings

Tot Yds & TO Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P TO FL 1stPy 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD
Team Offense 397 5933 1076 5.5 43 20 23 340 228 436 3138 18 23 6.5 150 596 2795 26 4.7 167
Team Defense 322 4846 991 4.9 39 15 28 279 261 475 3223 22 24 6.2 158 469 1623 14 3.5 93
Lg Rank Offense 4 3 19 17 5 27 17 19 16 8 4 1 1 1
Lg Rank Defense 13 4 13 22 3 7 13 14 9 16 7 1 10 3

Team Games & Schedule

Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date OT Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 6 boxscore W 1-0 San Francisco 49ers 24 17 21 295 168 127 2 19 297 176 121 3
2 Sun September 13 boxscore L 1-1 @ San Diego Chargers 23 28 26 385 207 178 2 17 367 310 57 2
3 Sun September 20 boxscore L 1-2 @ Minnesota Vikings 24 26 19 404 232 172 2 18 406 312 94 3
4 Sun September 27 boxscore W 2-2 Oakland Raiders 16 0 20 260 79 181 3 14 131 45 86 2
5 Sun October 4 boxscore L 2-3 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 28 18 332 239 93 6 14 211 162 49 1
6 Sun October 11 boxscore L 2-4 @ Denver Broncos 21 27 18 325 63 262 1 20 401 266 135 3
7 Mon October 19 boxscore W 3-4 Chicago Bears 48 17 23 485 326 159 1 24 449 316 133 4
8 Sun October 25 boxscore W 4-4 Green Bay Packers 31 27 24 409 238 171 2 23 382 307 75 3
9 Sun November 1 boxscore L 4-5 @ Los Angeles Rams 13 20 13 293 168 125 2 17 321 143 178 3
10 Sun November 8 boxscore L 4-6 @ Washington Redskins 31 33 24 499 277 222 6 25 464 271 193 3
11 Sun November 15 boxscore W 5-6 Dallas Cowboys 27 24 23 429 231 198 3 19 323 225 98 2
12 Sun November 22 boxscore W 6-6 @ Chicago Bears 23 7 20 356 127 229 3 4 24 -20 44 3
13 Thu November 26 boxscore W 7-6 Kansas City Chiefs 27 10 21 285 114 171 1 14 245 129 116 3
14 Sun December 6 boxscore L 7-7 @ Green Bay Packers 17 31 20 360 217 143 2 24 333 265 68
15 Sat December 12 boxscore W 8-7 Minnesota Vikings 45 7 29 476 271 205 4 16 216 144 72 4
16 Sun December 20 boxscore L 8-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 20 21 340 181 159 3 11 276 172 104

Passing

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate QBR Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD
17 Eric Hipple 24 QB 16 10 6-4-0 140 279 50.2 2358 14 5.0 15 5.4 94 8.5 7.0 16.8 147.4 73.4 27 208 7.03 5.74 8.8 2 2
16 Gary Danielson 30 qb 6 4 2-2-0 56 96 58.3 784 3 3.1 5 5.2 45 8.2 6.4 14.0 130.7 73.4 12 84 6.48 4.95 11.1 0 1
19 Jeff Komlo 25 qb 3 2 0-2-0 29 57 50.9 290 1 1.8 3 5.3 46 5.1 3.1 10.0 96.7 49.6 5 45 3.95 2.10 8.1
1 Tom Skladany* 26 P 16 0 3 3 100.0 43 0 0.0 0 0.0 19 14.3 14.3 14.3 2.7 118.7 0 0 14.33 14.33 0.0
87 Freddie Scott 29 WR 16 15 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.0
Team Total 26.3 16 8-8-0 228 436 52.3 3475 18 4.1 23 5.3 94 8.0 6.4 15.2 217.2 70.7 44 337 6.54 5.13 9.2 2 3
Opp Total 16 261 475 54.9 3596 22 4.6 24 5.1 7.6 6.22 13.8 224.8 73.8 47 373 6.2 4.9 9.0

Rushing & Receiving

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
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
20 Billy Sims* 26 RB 14 14 296 1437 13 51 4.9 102.6 21.1 28 451 16.1 2 81 2.0 32.2 1888 15 9
24 Dexter Bussey 29 FB 16 15 105 446 0 23 4.2 27.9 6.6 18 92 5.1 0 16 1.1 5.8 538 0 3
32 Rick Kane 27 rb 16 2 77 332 2 20 4.3 20.8 4.8 17 181 10.6 1 40 1.1 11.3 513 3 2
17 Eric Hipple 24 QB 16 10 41 168 7 18 4.1 10.5 2.6 168 7 14
38 Vince Thompson 24 rb 13 1 35 211 1 30 6.0 16.2 2.7 4 40 10.0 0 17 0.3 3.1 251 1 1
39 Leonard Thompson 29 WR 16 16 10 75 1 21 7.5 4.7 0.6 30 550 18.3 3 94 1.9 34.4 625 4 1
16 Gary Danielson 30 qb 6 4 9 23 2 11 2.6 3.8 1.5 23 2 2
87 Freddie Scott 29 WR 16 15 7 25 0 10 3.6 1.6 0.4 53 1022 19.3 5 48 3.3 63.9 1047 5 0
25 Horace King 28 16 0 7 25 0 7 3.6 1.6 0.4 21 217 10.3 1 41 1.3 13.6 242 1 0
19 Jeff Komlo 25 qb 3 2 6 3 0 5 0.5 1.0 2.0 3 0 2
86 Mark Nichols 22 12 0 3 50 0 30 16.7 4.2 0.3 10 222 22.2 1 59 0.8 18.5 272 1 1
81 David Hill 27 TE 15 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 33 462 14.0 4 34 2.2 30.8 462 4 1
80 Ulysses Norris 24 te 12 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 8 132 16.5 0 34 0.7 11.0 132 0 0
89 Tracy Porter 22 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 63 21.0 1 27 0.3 5.3 63 1 0
31 Ken Callicutt 26 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 24 12.0 0 16 0.1 1.5 24 0 0
53 Garry Cobb 24 LLB 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 19 19.0 0 19 0.1 1.2 19 0 0
Team Total 26.3 16 596 2795 26 51 4.7 174.7 37.3 228 3475 15.2 18 94 14.3 217.2 6270 44 41
Opp Total 16 469 1623 14 3.5 101.4 29.3 261 3223 12.3 22 16.3 201.4 4846 36 29

Kick & Punt Returns

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
48 Robbie Martin 23 PR 16 0 52 450 1 45 8.7 25 509 0 34 20.4 959
35 Alvin Hall 23 KR 16 1 25 525 0 36 21.0 525
86 Mark Nichols 22 12 0 4 74 0 26 18.5 346
25 Horace King 28 16 0 3 33 0 14 11.0 275
31 Ken Callicutt 26 16 0 2 23 0 12 11.5 47
51 James Harrell 24 16 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
64 Larry Lee 22 16 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Team Total 26.3 16 52 450 1 45 8.7 61 1164 0 36 19.1 7884
Opp Total 16 39 0 70 1257 0 18.0

Kicking & Punting

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
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
3 Eddie Murray 25 K 16 0 1 1 5 5 14 9 11 7 4 3 35 25 71.4% 46 46 100.0%
1 Tom Skladany* 26 P 16 0 64 2784 74 0 43.5
Team Total 26.3 16 1 1 5 5 14 9 11 7 4 3 35 25 71.4% 46 46 100.0% 64 2784 74 0 43.5
Opp Total 16 22 19 86.4% 38 37 97.4% 81 3475 42.9

Defense & Fumbles

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
17 Eric Hipple 24 QB 16 10 0 14 4 -10 0
20 Billy Sims* 26 RB 14 14 0 9 3 0 0
35 Jimmy Allen 29 FS 15 15 9 123 0 34 0 0 0 1 0 0
53 Garry Cobb 24 LLB 16 16 3 32 0 17 0 0 0 3 0 0
48 Robbie Martin 23 PR 16 0 0 3 2 0 0
52 Stan White 32 RLB 16 16 4 37 0 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
19 Jeff Komlo 25 qb 3 2 0 2 2 0 0
24 Dexter Bussey 29 FB 16 15 0 3 0 0 0
78 Doug English* 28 RDT 16 16 0 0 3 20 0
57 Ken Fantetti 24 MLB 16 16 2 18 0 17 0 0 0 1 0 0
28 James Hunter 27 RCB 12 12 1 -3 0 -3 0 0 1 1 0 0
73 Russ Bolinger 27 RG 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
27 Luther Bradley 26 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
16 Gary Danielson 30 qb 6 4 0 2 0 0 0
61 Homer Elias 26 LG 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
65 Amos Fowler 25 C 16 16 0 0 2 -10 0
35 Alvin Hall 23 KR 16 1 1 60 1 60 0 0 1 0 0 0
32 Rick Kane 27 rb 16 2 0 2 0 0 0
39 Leonard Thompson 29 WR 16 16 0 1 1 0 0
60 Al Baker 25 RDE 11 11 1 9 0 9 0
31 Ken Callicutt 26 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
70 Keith Dorney 24 RT 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
79 William Gay 26 LDT 16 14 0 0 1 0 0
26 Hector Gray 24 db 16 4 1 0 0 0 0
62 Curtis Green 24 de 14 4 0 0 1 0 0
81 David Hill 27 TE 15 15 0 1 0 0 0
86 Mark Nichols 22 12 0 0 1 0 0 0
23 Ray Oldham 30 SS 16 16 1 10 0 10 0
44 Wayne Smith 24 LCB 16 16 0 0 1 4 0
38 Vince Thompson 24 rb 13 1 0 1 0 0 0
Team Total 26.3 16 24 286 1 60 0 0 41 34 4 0
Opp Total 16 44 29 14

Scoring Summary

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
3 Eddie Murray 25 K 16 0 46 25 121
20 Billy Sims* 26 RB 14 14 13 2 15 90
17 Eric Hipple 24 QB 16 10 7 7 42
87 Freddie Scott 29 WR 16 15 5 5 30
81 David Hill 27 TE 15 15 4 4 24
39 Leonard Thompson 29 WR 16 16 1 3 4 24
32 Rick Kane 27 rb 16 2 2 1 3 18
16 Gary Danielson 30 qb 6 4 2 2 12
35 Alvin Hall 23 KR 16 1 1 1 6
25 Horace King 28 16 0 1 1 6
48 Robbie Martin 23 PR 16 0 1 1 6
86 Mark Nichols 22 12 0 1 1 6
89 Tracy Porter 22 12 0 1 1 6
38 Vince Thompson 24 rb 13 1 1 1 6
Team Total 26.3 16 26 18 1 1 46 46 25 397
Opp Total 16 14 22 37 19 322