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1954 Detroit Lions season
1954 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Buddy Parker
Home field	Briggs Stadium
Results
Record	9–2–1
Division place	1st NFL Western
Playoff finish	Lost NFL Championship; (at Browns) 10–56
	← 1953; Lions seasons; 1955 →;

The 1954 Detroit Lions season marked the franchise's 25th year in the National Football League (NFL), including four initial seasons as the Portsmouth Spartans. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 10–2, winning only nine games.^[1] They qualified for the championship game for the third consecutive season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The Lions drafted 32 players in the 1954 NFL Draft. Their first-round pick was Dick Chapman, an All-American defensive tackle out of Rice. Chapman never played a snap for the Lions, electing to return to Rice and finish his degree in physics. Their second-round pick, Michigan State center Jim Neal, also never played a snap after "marrying a girl whose religion prohibited him to play football on Sundays."^[2]

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 13	vs. College All-Stars	W 34–6	1–0	Soldier Field	93,740
2	August 19	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	2–0	Connie Mack Stadium	45,600
3	August 27	Washington Redskins	W 27–7	3–0	Briggs Stadium	34,380
4	September 4	vs. New York Giants	W 28–13	4–0	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium	25,000
5	September 10	vs. Cleveland Browns	W 56–31	5–0	Cotton Bowl	43,000
6	September 19	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	W 42–14	6–0	War Memorial Stadium	20,000

Regular season

According to the team, a total of 28,553 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1954 campaign.^[3] The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 26	Chicago Bears	W 48–23	1–0	Briggs Stadium	52,343	Recap
—	Postponement to December 19; (World Series)
2	October 10	Los Angeles Rams	W 21–3	2–0	Briggs Stadium	56,523	Recap
3	October 16, 1954	Baltimore Colts	W 35–0	3–0	Briggs Stadium	48,272	Recap
4	October 24	at San Francisco 49ers	L 31–37	3–1	Kezar Stadium	60,500	Recap
5	October 31	at Los Angeles Rams	W 27–24	4–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	74,342	Recap
6	November 6, 1954	at Baltimore Colts	W 27–3	5–1	Memorial Stadium	25,287	Recap
7	November 14	San Francisco 49ers	W 48–7	6–1	Briggs Stadium	58,431	Recap
8	November 21	at Green Bay Packers	W 21–17	7–1	City Stadium	20,767	Recap
9	November 25	Green Bay Packers	W 28–24	8–1	Briggs Stadium	55,532	Recap
10	December 5	Philadelphia Eagles	T 13–13	8–1–1	Briggs Stadium	54,939	Recap
11	December 12	at Chicago Bears	L 24–28	8–2–1	Wrigley Field	37,240	Recap
12	December 19	at Cleveland Browns	W 14–10	9–2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	34,168	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. • Saturday night: October 16, November 6. Thanksgiving: November 25.

Standings

Program produced by the Chicago Bears for their December 12 match-up with the Lions.

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	9	2	1	.818	8–2	337	189	W1
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	7–3	301	279	W4
San Francisco 49ers	7	4	1	.636	5–4–1	313	251	W2
Los Angeles Rams	6	5	1	.545	4–5–1	314	285	W1
Green Bay Packers	4	8	0	.333	3–7	234	251	L4
Baltimore Colts	3	9	0	.250	2–8	131	279	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	3	0	.750	8–2	336	162	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	4	1	.636	7–3	284	230	W1
New York Giants	7	5	0	.583	7–3	293	184	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	7	0	.417	4–6	219	263	L2
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	207	432	W1
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	183	347	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
NFL Championship	December 26	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–56	Cleveland Stadium	43,827

Roster

The Detroit Lions 1954 Football Highlights (1954) (34:19)

Highlight reel of the Lions' 1954 season

**1954 Detroit Lions roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Tom Dublinski 22 Bobby Layne Running backs (RB) 14 Bob Hoernschemeyer HB 43 Dick Kercher HB 34 Lew Carpenter HB 33 Bill Bowman (American football) FB 37 Doak Walker HB Wide receivers (WR) 80 Cloyce Box E 82 Leon Hart E 84 Dorne Dibble E Tight ends (TE)		Offensive linemen (OL) 50 Charlie Ane T 52 Andy Miketa C 51 Vince Banonis C 62 Jim Martin (American football) G 63 Dick Stanfel G 66 Harley Sewell G/T 76 Lou Creekmur G 70 Gerry Perry T Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Les Bingaman 72 Gil Mains DT 74 Bob Miller (American football) DT 73 Thurman McGraw 83 Jim Doran 84 Hal Turner DT 88 Jim Cain DE 78 Bob Dove DE		Linebackers (LB) 53 LaVern Torgeson LB 56 Joe Schmidt LB 85 Sonny Gandee LB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Carl Karilivacz 20 Bill Stits DB 24 Jack Christiansen S 25 Jim David 28 Yale Lary S 40 Bob Smith Special teams 37 Doak Walker K 36 Bob Smith 28 Yale Lary PR 24 Jack Christiansen KR		Rookies in italics

References

^ 1954 Detroit Lions
^ Falls, Joe (October 20, 1955). "Low Draft Choices Hurt Detroit Lions This Year". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 21. Retrieved September 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
^ ^a ^b Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4.

External links

[1] 1954 Detroit Lions

[2] Falls, Joe (October 20, 1955). "Low Draft Choices Hurt Detroit Lions This Year". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 21. Retrieved September 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .

[MG63-3] Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4.

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