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1997 Detroit Lions

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Record: 9-7-0, Finished 3rd in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 379 points (23.7/g), 4th of 30 in the NFL.
 Allowed 306 points (19.1/g), 10th.
 Differential of 73 points (4.6/g), 7th.
 Expected W-L: 10.0-6.0.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -3 (-0.2/g), 19th.

Coached by Bobby Ross (9-7-0)

1997 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 August 31 box W 1-0 Atlanta Falcons 28 17 10 221 175 46 3 13 323 268 55 4
2 Sun September 7 box L 1-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 24 13 346 322 24 1 20 272 99 173
3 Sun September 14 box W 2-1 @ Chicago Bears 32 7 27 404 202 202 1 19 284 190 94 2
4 Sun September 21 box L 2-2 @ New Orleans Saints 17 35 22 355 237 118 4 21 385 213 172
5 Sun September 28 box W 3-2 Green Bay Packers 26 15 18 376 203 173 23 396 289 107 4
6 Sun October 5 box L 3-3 @ Buffalo Bills 13 22 17 309 189 120 1 10 266 102 164
7 Sun October 12 box W 4-3 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 9 17 447 188 259 1 13 289 217 72 2
8 Sun October 19 box L 4-4 New York Giants 20 26 20 337 226 111 2 15 331 210 121 1
9 Bye Week
10 Sun November 2 box L 4-5 @ Green Bay Packers 10 20 18 256 131 125 4 11 244 163 81 2
11 Sun November 9 box L 4-6 @ Washington Redskins 7 30 11 268 163 105 4 25 388 247 141
12 Sun November 16 box W 5-6 Minnesota Vikings 38 15 27 477 266 211 18 300 174 126 1
13 Sun November 23 box W 6-6 Indianapolis Colts 32 10 21 391 142 249 12 173 120 53 1
14 Thu November 27 box W 7-6 Chicago Bears 55 20 25 496 274 222 1 16 333 262 71 4
15 Sun December 7 box L 7-7 @ Miami Dolphins 30 33 24 424 279 145 5 19 391 310 81 1
16 Sun December 14 box W 8-7 @ Minnesota Vikings 14 13 21 390 242 148 1 13 257 43 214
17 Sun December 21 box W 9-7 New York Jets 13 10 13 301 95 206 20 315 207 108 3
Playoffs
WildCard Sun December 28 box L 9-8 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 20

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 379 5798 1028 5.6 304 304 540 3334 19 17 5.7 166 447 2464 19 5.5 120 28 11 18
Team Defense 306 4947 1021 4.8 438 281 507 3114 15 17 5.7 152 471 1833 15 3.9 268 25 8 18
Lg Rank Offense 4 2 11 12 12 18 20 13 16 2 3 1 16 9
Lg Rank Defense 10 14 4 10 13 6 11 13 21 18 19 14 22 27

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%
Scott Mitchell 29 QB 16 16 293 509 57.6 3484 19 3.7 14 2.8 79 6.8 6.0 11.9 217.8 79.6 41 271 5.8 5.0 7.5
Frank Reich 36 6 0 11 30 36.7 121 0 0.0 2 6.7 27 4.0 1.0 11.0 20.2 21.7 0 0 4.0 1.0 0.0
Matt Blundin 28 1 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0
Team Total 26.6 16 304 540 56.3 3605 19 3.5 17 3.1 79 6.7 5.6 11.9 225.3 75.4 41 271 5.7 4.7 7.1
Opp Total 16 281 507 55.4 3114 15 3.0 17 3.4 6.1 4.9 11.1 194.6 69.8 43 287 5.7 4.0

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
Barry Sanders*+ 29 RB 16 16 335 2053 11 82 6.1 128.3 20.9 33 305 9.2 3 66 2.1 19.1 2358 14 3
Scott Mitchell 29 QB 16 16 37 83 1 13 2.2 5.2 2.3 83 1 15
Tommy Vardell 28 FB 16 10 32 122 6 41 3.8 7.6 2.0 16 218 13.6 0 37 1.0 13.6 340 6 1
Ron Rivers 26 16 0 29 166 1 31 5.7 10.4 1.8 166 1 0
Cory Schlesinger 25 16 2 7 11 0 4 1.6 0.7 0.4 5 69 13.8 1 33 0.3 4.3 80 1 0
Frank Reich 36 6 0 4 -4 0 -1 -1.0 -0.7 0.7 -4 0 0
Johnnie Morton 26 WR 16 16 3 33 0 20 11.0 2.1 0.2 80 1057 13.2 6 73 5.0 66.1 1090 6 2
Herman Moore*+ 28 WR 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 104 1293 12.4 8 79 6.5 80.8 1293 8 0
David Sloan 25 TE 14 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 29 264 9.1 0 25 2.1 18.9 264 0 0
Pete Metzelaars 37 te 16 6 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 17 144 8.5 0 22 1.1 9.0 144 0 0
Tommie Boyd 26 16 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 10 142 14.2 0 32 0.6 8.9 142 0 0
Glyn Milburn 26 RET 16 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 77 15.4 0 43 0.3 4.8 77 0 3
Pete Chryplewicz 23 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 27 9.0 1 12 0.3 2.7 27 1 0
Kez McCorvey 25 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 9 4.5 0 6 0.3 1.3 9 0 0
Team Total 26.6 16 447 2464 19 82 5.5 154.0 27.9 304 3605 11.9 19 79 19.0 225.3 6069 38 26
Opp Total 16 471 1833 15 3.9 114.6 29.4 281 3114 11.1 15 17.6 194.6 4947 30 24

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
Glyn Milburn 26 RET 16 1 47 433 0 40 9.2 55 1315 0 69 23.9 1825
Ron Rivers 26 16 0 2 34 0 23 17.0 200
Mark A. Carrier 29 FS 16 16 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Matt Russell 24 14 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Tommy Vardell 28 FB 16 10 1 15 0 15 15.0 355
Team Total 26.6 16 48 433 0 40 9.0 59 1364 0 69 23.1 7866
Opp Total 16 51 1 61 1269 0 20.8

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
John Jett 29 P 16 0 84 3576 60 2 42.6
Jason Hanson* 27 K 16 0 10 10 9 8 5 5 5 3 29 26 89.7% 40 39 97.5%
Team Total 26.6 16 10 10 9 8 5 5 5 3 29 26 89.7% 40 39 97.5% 84 3576 60 2 42.6
Opp Total 16 32 25 78.1% 30 29 96.7% 97 4297 44.3

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
Scott Mitchell 29 QB 16 16 15 4 -15 0
Robert Porcher* 28 LDE 16 16 12.5 1 5 0 5 2 0 0 0 0 40 32
Luther Elliss 24 RDT 16 16 8.5 0 0 2 0 0 35 28
Tracy Scroggins 28 rde 15 6 7.5 1 0 1 17 1 30 12 1
Mark A. Carrier 29 FS 16 16 5 94 0 66 0 1 0 0 0 54 21
Glyn Milburn 26 RET 16 1 3 2 0 0
Reggie D. Brown 23 RLB 16 16 2.5 2 83 2 45
Barry Sanders*+ 29 RB 16 16 3 1 0 0
Kevin Abrams 23 15 4 2.0 1 29 0 29 1 0 0 0 0 23 5
Robert Bailey 29 15 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 13 1
Stephen Boyd 25 MLB 16 16 1 4 0 4 1 0 1 42 1 89 49
George Jamison 35 LLB 16 10 1.0 1 0 1 0 0 26 9
Greg Jeffries 26 15 2 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 3
Antonio London 26 llb 16 6 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 19 15
Van Malone 27 8 4 1 -5 0 -5 1 1 0 0 0 11 9
Johnnie Morton 26 WR 16 16 2 0 0 0
Ron Rice 25 SS 12 8 1.0 1 18 0 18 38 11
Ray Roberts 28 LT 14 14 0 2 4 0
Tommy Vardell 28 FB 16 10 1 1 0 0
Kerwin Waldroup 23 RDE 11 11 1.0 0 0 1 0 0 19 14
Mike Wells 26 LDT 16 16 1.0 0 0 1 0 0 30 36
Bryant Westbrook 23 LCB 15 14 2 64 1 64 41 4
Shane Bonham 27 16 0 1.0 4 5
Kevin Glover* 34 C 16 16 0 1 0 0
Corey Raymond 28 RCB 13 12 1 17 0 17 45 7
Ron Rivers 26 16 0 0 1 0 0
Matt Russell 24 14 0 1 0 1 0 0 13 6
Team Total 26.6 16 43.0 17 309 3 66 13 26 20 48 2 563 285 1
Opp Total 16 41 24 16 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
Jason Hanson* 27 K 16 0 39 26 117
Barry Sanders*+ 29 RB 16 16 11 3 84
Herman Moore*+ 28 WR 16 16 8 1 50
Johnnie Morton 26 WR 16 16 6 36
Tommy Vardell 28 FB 16 10 6 36
Reggie D. Brown 23 RLB 16 16 2 12
Tracy Scroggins 28 rde 15 6 1 1 8
Stephen Boyd 25 MLB 16 16 1 6
Pete Chryplewicz 23 10 0 1 6
Scott Mitchell 29 QB 16 16 1 6
Ron Rivers 26 16 0 1 6
Cory Schlesinger 25 16 2 1 6
Bryant Westbrook 23 LCB 15 14 1 6
Team Total 26.6 16 19 19 2 3 1 39 26 1 379
Opp Total 16 15 15 1 1 29 25 1 306