List of Detroit Lions seasons

The Lions have won four NFL championships. The Lions were the first franchise to finish a full (non-strike shortened) regular season with no wins or ties since the move to sixteen season games in 1978, going 0–16 during the 2008 NFL season. They are also one of four current teams, and the only one in the NFC, to have never played in the Super Bowl.

Seasons

NFL champions (1950–1969) Super Bowl champions (1970–present) Conference champions Division champions Wild Card berth One-game playoff berth
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results Awards Head coaches
Finish W L T
Portsmouth Spartans
1930 1930 NFL 8th 5 6 3 The NFL did not hold playoff games until 1932 Hal Griffin
1931 1931 NFL 2nd 11 3 0 George "Potsy" Clark
1932 1932 NFL 3rd[note 1] 6 2 4 Lost Playoff Game (at Bears) 9–0
1933 1933 NFL Western 2nd 6 5 0
Detroit Lions
1934 1934 NFL Western 2nd 10 3 0 George "Potsy" Clark
1935 1935 NFL Western 1st 7 3 2 Won NFL Championship (1) (Giants) 26–7
1936 1936 NFL Western 3rd 8 4 0
1937 1937 NFL Western T–2nd 7 4 0 Dutch Clark
1938 1938 NFL Western 2nd 7 4 0
1939 1939 NFL Western 3rd 6 5 0 Gus Henderson
1940 1940 NFL Western 3rd 5 5 1 George "Potsy" Clark
1941 1941 NFL Western 3rd 4 6 1 Bill Edwards
1942 1942 NFL Western 5th 0 11 0 Bill Edwards (0–3)
John Karcis (0–8)
1943 1943 NFL Western 3rd 3 6 1 Gus Dorais
1944 1944 NFL Western T–2nd 6 3 1 Frank Sinkwich (MVP)
1945 1945 NFL Western 2nd 7 3 0
1946 1946 NFL Western 5th 1 10 0
1947 1947 NFL Western 5th 3 9 0
1948 1948 NFL Western 5th 2 10 0 Bo McMillin
1949 1949 NFL Western 4th 4 8 0
1950 1950 NFL National 4th 6 6 0
1951 1951 NFL National T–2nd 7 4 1 Buddy Parker
1952 1952 NFL National T–1st 9 3 0 Won Conference Playoff (Rams) 31–21
Won NFL Championship (2) (at Browns) 17–7
1953 1953 NFL Western 1st 10 2 0 Won NFL Championship (3) (Browns) 17–16
1954 1954 NFL Western 1st 9 2 1 Lost NFL Championship (at Browns) 56–10
1955 1955 NFL Western 6th 3 9 0
1956 1956 NFL Western 2nd 9 3 0
1957 1957 NFL Western 1st 8 4 0 Won Conference Playoff (at 49ers) 31–27
Won NFL Championship (4) (Browns) 59–14 		George Wilson (COY) George Wilson
1958 1958 NFL Western 5th 4 7 1
1959 1959 NFL Western 5th 3 8 1
1960 1960 NFL Western T–2nd 7 5 0 Won Playoff Bowl[note 2] (vs. Browns) 17–16
1961[note 3] 1961 NFL Western 2nd 8 5 1 Won Playoff Bowl[note 2] (vs. Eagles) 38–10
1962 1962 NFL Western 2nd 11 3 0 Won Playoff Bowl[note 2] (vs. Steelers) 17–10
1963 1963 NFL Western T–4th 5 8 1
1964 1964 NFL Western 4th 7 5 2
1965 1965 NFL Western 6th 6 7 1 Harry Gilmer
1966 1966 NFL Western T–6th 4 9 1
1967[note 4] 1967 NFL Western Central 3rd 5 7 2 Mel Farr (OROY)
Lem Barney (DROY) 		Joe Schmidt
1968 1968 NFL Western Central 4th 4 8 2 Earl McCullouch (OROY)
1969 1969 NFL Western Central 2nd 9 4 1
1970 1970 NFL NFC Central 2nd 10 4 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Cowboys) 5–0
1971 1971 NFL NFC Central 2nd 7 6 1
1972 1972 NFL NFC Central 2nd 8 5 1
1973 1973 NFL NFC Central 2nd 6 7 1 Don McCafferty
1974 1974 NFL NFC Central 2nd 7 7 0 Rick Forzano
1975 1975 NFL NFC Central 2nd 7 7 0
1976 1976 NFL NFC Central 3rd 6 8 0 Greg Landry (CBPOY) Rick Forzano (1–3)
Tommy Hudspeth (5–5)
1977 1977 NFL NFC Central 3rd 6 8 0 Tommy Hudspeth
1978[note 5] 1978 NFL NFC Central 3rd 7 9 0 Al Baker (DROY) Monte Clark
1979 1979 NFL NFC Central 5th 2 14 0
1980 1980 NFL NFC Central 2nd 9 7 0 Billy Sims (OROY)
1981 1981 NFL NFC Central 2nd 8 8 0
1982 1982 NFL NFC — 8th[note 6] 4 5 0 Lost First Round Playoffs (at Redskins) 31–7
1983 1983 NFL NFC Central 1st 9 7 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 24–23
1984 1984 NFL NFC Central 4th 4 11 1
1985 1985 NFL NFC Central 4th 7 9 0 Darryl Rogers
1986 1986 NFL NFC Central 3rd 5 11 0
1987[note 7] 1987 NFL NFC Central 5th 4 11 0
1988 1988 NFL NFC Central 4th 4 12 0 Darryl Rogers (2–9)
Wayne Fontes (2–3)
1989 1989 NFL NFC Central 3rd 7 9 0 Barry Sanders (OROY) Wayne Fontes
1990 1990 NFL NFC Central 3rd 6 10 0
1991 1991 NFL NFC Central 1st 12 4 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 38–6
Lost NFC Championship (at Redskins) 41–10 		Wayne Fontes (COY)
1992 1992 NFL NFC Central 5th 5 11 0
1993 1993 NFL NFC Central 1st 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Packers) 28–24
1994 1994 NFL NFC Central 3rd 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Packers) 16–12 Barry Sanders (OPOY)
1995 1995 NFL NFC Central 2nd 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Eagles) 58–37
1996 1996 NFL NFC Central 5th 5 11 0
1997 1997 NFL NFC Central 3rd 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Buccaneers) 20–10 Barry Sanders (MVP) Bobby Ross
1998 1998 NFL NFC Central 4th 5 11 0
1999 1999 NFL NFC Central 3rd 8 8 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Redskins) 27–13
2000 2000 NFL NFC Central 4th 9 7 0 Bobby Ross (5–4)
Gary Moeller (4–3)
2001 2001 NFL NFC Central 5th 2 14 0 Marty Mornhinweg
2002 2002 NFL NFC North 4th 3 13 0
2003 2003 NFL NFC North 4th 5 11 0 Steve Mariucci
2004 2004 NFL NFC North 3rd 6 10 0
2005 2005 NFL NFC North 3rd 5 11 0 Steve Mariucci (4–7)
Dick Jauron (1–4)
2006 2006 NFL NFC North 4th 3 13 0 Rod Marinelli
2007 2007 NFL NFC North 3rd 7 9 0
2008 2008 NFL NFC North 4th 0 16 0
2009 2009 NFL NFC North 4th 2 14 0 Jim Schwartz
2010 2010 NFL NFC North 3rd 6 10 0 Ndamukong Suh (DROY)
2011 2011 NFL NFC North 2nd 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Saints) 45–28 Matthew Stafford (CBPOY)
2012 2012 NFL NFC North 4th 4 12 0
2013 2013 NFL NFC North 3rd 7 9 0
2014 2014 NFL NFC North 2nd 11 5 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Cowboys) 24–20 Jim Caldwell
2015 2015 NFL NFC North 3rd 7 9 0
2016 2016 NFL NFC North 2nd 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Seahawks) 26–6
2017 2017 NFL NFC North 2nd 9 7 0
2018 2018 NFL NFC North 4th 6 10 0 Matt Patricia
2019 2019 NFL NFC North 4th 3 12 1
2020 2020 NFL NFC North 4th 5 11 0 Matt Patricia (4–7)
Darrell Bevell (1–4)
2021 2021 NFL NFC North 4th 3 13 1 Dan Campbell
Totals
4 Division Titles
4 Conference Titles
4 NFL Titles 		570 694 34 (1930–2021, regular season)
7 13 0 (1930–2021, playoffs)
577 707 34 (1930–2021, regular season and playoffs)

Notes

  1. ↑ Finished tied for 1st (by winning percentage) at 6–1–4; lost tiebreaker playoff game to the Bears, which dropped them to 3rd place (by winning percentage). The tiebreaker game was considered a regular season game, so 3rd place at 6–2–4 is the Spartan's final standing.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Playoff Bowl is considered an unofficial, exhibition post-season game.
  3. ↑ In 1961, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 12 games since 1947, to 14 games.
  4. ↑ The 1967 NFL season marks the first season in the league's history where the league was divided into two conferences which were subdivided into two divisions. Up to 1967, the league was either divided into two divisions, two conferences, or neither.
  5. ↑ In 1978, the NFL expanded its regular season schedule, which had been 14 games since 1961, to 16 games.
  6. ↑ Due to the 1982 NFL strike, the league was split into two conferences, instead of its usual divisional alignment. The season was shortened to nine games, and the top eight teams in each conference earned berths in an expanded 16-team playoff tournament.
  7. ↑ The 1987 NFL strike caused the schedule to be reduced to 15 games.

References

  • "Detroit Lions History". CBS Sportsline. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  • "Detroit Lions History". Football @ JT-SW.com. John M. Troan. Retrieved December 3, 2016.