1997 Detroit Lions season

1997 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
General manager	Chuck Schmidt
Head coach	Bobby Ross
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Buccaneers) 10–20
Uniform

The 1997 Detroit Lions season was their 68th in the National Football League (NFL).

This season marked the Lions qualifying for the playoffs. Bobby Ross replaced Wayne Fontes as head coach. The highlight of the season was Barry Sanders becoming the third player in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season. Sanders shared the 1997 Associated Press MVP Award with Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

As a team, the Lions set an NFL rushing record, gaining 5.51 yards per rushing attempt. The Lions scored 379 points in 1997, the fourth-most of any team in the league.

Personnel

Staff

1997 Detroit Lions staff

Front office Chairman and President – William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Chuck Schmidt Vice President of Player Personnel – Ron Hughes Vice President of Football Administration – Larry Lee Director of Pro Scouting – Kevin Colbert Head coaches Head Coach – Bobby Ross Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Sylvester Croom Quarterbacks – Marc Trestman Running Backs – Frank Falks Wide Receivers – Jerry Sullivan Tight Ends – Bob Palcic Offensive Line – Jack Henry Quality Control–Offense/Administrative Assistant – John Misciagna

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Larry Peccatiello Defensive Line – Brian Baker Linebackers – Gary Moeller Secondary – Richard Selcer Defensive Assistant/Assistant Strength – Don Clemons Quality Control–Defense – Dennis Murphy Special teams coaches Special Teams – Chuck Priefer Offensive/Special Teams Assistant – Stan Kwan Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bert Hill

Roster

1997 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Scott Mitchell Running backs (RB) 33 Glyn Milburn 20 Barry Sanders 30 Cory Schlesinger FB 44 Tommy Vardell FB Wide receivers (WR) 84 Herman Moore 87 Johnnie Morton Tight ends (TE) 81 Pete Chryplewicz 89 Pete Metzelaars 86 David Sloan

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Mike Compton G 53 Kevin Glover C 64 Jeff Hartings G 66 Hessley Hempstead G 72 Ray Roberts T 73 Juan Roque T 62 Tony Semple G 71 Larry Tharpe T Defensive linemen (DL) 96 Shane Bonham DT 94 Luther Elliss DT 91 Robert Porcher DE 97 Tracy Scroggins DE 92 Marc Spindler DE 93 Kerwin Waldroup DE 95 Mike Wells DT

Linebackers (LB) 57 Stephen Boyd 59 Reggie Brown 58 George Jamison 51 Antonio London 52 Scott Kowalkowski 54 Matt Russell Defensive backs (DB) 24 Kevin Abrams 28 Ron Rice SS 32 Bryant Westbrook CB Special teams  4 Jason Hanson K 18 John Jett P

Rookies in italics

Regular season

The final game of the regular season, on December 21, was marked by emotional highs and lows. Entering the game at 8–7 and needing a win to secure a playoff berth, the Lions played host to the 9–6 New York Jets, who like the Lions would be eliminated from the playoffs with a loss (although the Jets still had a chance to win the AFC East and get a home playoff game). In addition, Barry Sanders entered the game with a chance to potentially break the NFL's single season rushing record— Sanders entered the game with 1,869 rushing yards, leaving him 131 from 2,000 and 237 away from what would have been a record setting 2,106 yards, topping Eric Dickerson's 2,105 set in 1984. The Lions won the game 13–10, clinching the playoff spot and eliminating the Jets from the playoffs. A fourth-quarter touchdown run by Sanders proved decisive, and he finished with 184 yards to top out at 2,053 for the year. At the time, Sanders became only the third man to rush for 2,000 yards in a season behind O. J. Simpson and Dickerson and had rushed for the second most yards in a season (since Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis, Chris Johnson, and Adrian Peterson have accomplished the feat; Sanders' total is now the fourth highest total behind Dickerson's 2105, Peterson's 2096 in 2012, and Lewis' 2066 in 2003).

The mood, however, was somewhat tempered due to a career-ending injury suffered by Lions linebacker Reggie Brown. Brown was assisting on a tackle made on Jets running back Adrian Murrell when his head was struck by another player's leg. Brown suffered a spinal cord injury on the play and lost consciousness. At one point Brown actually stopped breathing and nearly died on the field, but was resuscitated. Brown did not move for seventeen minutes, and was eventually carried by ambulance out of the Silverdome. Brown was diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion and never played in the NFL again, although surgery did enable him to continue to be mobile. Brown's injury evoked memories of former Lion Mike Utley's paralyzing injury in 1991 and former Jet Dennis Byrd's broken neck in 1992. Brown was also not the only Lion to suffer a career ending neck injury in 1997, as defensive back Harry Colon suffered damage to his neck during an earlier game against the New York Giants.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 31, 1997	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–17	61,244
2	September 7, 1997	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–17	58,234
3	September 14, 1997	at Chicago Bears	W 32–7	59,147
4	September 21, 1997	at New Orleans Saints	L 35–17	50,116
5	September 28, 1997	Green Bay Packers	W 26–15	78,110
6	October 5, 1997	at Buffalo Bills	L 22–13	78,025
7	October 12, 1997	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–9	72,095
8	October 19, 1997	New York Giants	L 26–20 OT	70,069
9	Bye
10	November 2, 1997	at Green Bay Packers	L 20–10	60,126
11	November 9, 1997	at Washington Redskins	L 30–7	75,261
12	November 16, 1997	Minnesota Vikings	W 38–15	68,910
13	November 23, 1997	Indianapolis Colts	W 32–10	62,803
14	November 27, 1997	Chicago Bears	W 55–20	77,904
15	December 7, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	L 33–30	72,266
16	December 14, 1997	at Minnesota Vikings	W 14–13	60,982
17	December 21, 1997	New York Jets	W 13–10	77,624

Game summaries

Week 17

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 10 0 0 0 10 • Lions 0 3 3 7 13 Date: December 21 Location: Pontiac Silverdome • Detroit, Michigan Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome)

Scoring summary 1 NYJ John Hall 32-yard field goal Jets 3–0 1 NYJ Adrian Murrell 14-yard run (John Hall kick) Jets 10–0 2 DET Jason Hanson 44-yard field goal Jets 10–3 3 DET Jason Hanson 25-yard field goal Jets 10–6 4 DET Barry Sanders 15-yard run (Jason Hanson kick) Lions 13–10

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Green Bay Packers	13	3	0	.813	422	282	W5
(4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers	10	6	0	.625	299	263	W1
(5) Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	379	306	W2
(6) Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	354	359	W1
Chicago Bears	4	12	0	.250	263	421	L1

Playoffs

NFC Wild Card Game: At Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC Wild Card Game: Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	0	3	7	10
Buccaneers	3	10	7	0	20

at Houlihan's Stadium, Tampa, Florida

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), partly cloudy
• Game attendance: 73,361
• Referee: Mike Carey
• TV announcers (Fox): Pat Summerall and John Madden

Tampa Bay won their first playoff game since 1979 with quarterback Trent Dilfer's 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Horace Copeland, running back Mike Alstott's 31-yard touchdown run, and two field goals. Their defense limited Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell to just 10 of 25 completions for 78 yards.

Awards and honors

• Barry Sanders, All-Pro
• Barry Sanders, NFC Pro Bowl Selection
• Barry Sanders, NFL MVP
• Barry Sanders, NFL Offensive Player of the Year

External links

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com