1998 Detroit Lions season

1998 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
General manager	Chuck Schmidt
Head coach	Bobby Ross
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1998 Detroit Lions season was their 69th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 9–7 and did not make a repeat playoff appearance, instead posting their third 5–11 mark in seven seasons. This was the last year Barry Sanders would ever play in the NFL.

Personnel

Staff

1998 Detroit Lions staff
Front Office Owner and Chairman – William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr. Executive Vice President and COO – Chuck Schmidt Vice President of Football Operations – Larry Lee Vice President of Player Personnel – Ron Hughes Director of Pro Scouting – Kevin Colbert Head Coaches Head Coach – Bobby Ross Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Sylvester Croom Quarterbacks – Jim Zorn Running Backs – Frank Falks Wide Receivers – Jerry Sullivan Tight Ends – Bob Palcic Offensive Line – Jack Henry Offensive Assistant – Stan Kwan Quality Control/Offense – John Misciagna			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Larry Peccatiello Defensive Line – Brian Baker Linebackers – Gary Moeller Defensive Backs – Richard Selcer Defensive Assistant – Don Clemons Quality Control/Defense – Dennis Murphy Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Chuck Priefer Special Teams Assistant – Stan Kwan Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bert Hill

Roster

1998 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) 81 Pete Chryplewicz 86 David Sloan

Offensive linemen (OL) Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1998	at Green Bay Packers	L 38–19	60,102
2	September 13, 1998	Cincinnati Bengals	L 34–28 OT	66,354
3	September 20, 1998	at Minnesota Vikings	L 29–6	63,107
4	September 28, 1998	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–6	74,724
5	October 4, 1998	at Chicago Bears	L 31–27	66,944
6	Bye
7	October 15, 1998	Green Bay Packers	W 27–20	77,932
8	October 25, 1998	Minnesota Vikings	L 34–13	77,885
9	November 1, 1998	Arizona Cardinals	L 17–15	66,087
10	November 8, 1998	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–9	66,785
11	November 15, 1998	Chicago Bears	W 26–3	63,152
12	November 22, 1998	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 28–25	64,265
13	November 26, 1998	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 19–16 OT	78,139
14	December 6, 1998	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 37–22	70,717
15	December 14, 1998	at San Francisco 49ers	L 35–13	68,585
16	December 20, 1998	Atlanta Falcons	L 24–17	67,143
17	December 27, 1998	at Baltimore Ravens	L 19–10	68,045

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) Minnesota Vikings	15	1	0	.938	556	296	W8
(5) Green Bay Packers	11	5	0	.688	408	319	W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	8	8	0	.500	314	295	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	306	378	L4
Chicago Bears	4	12	0	.250	276	368	L1

Awards and Records

Barry Sanders retired as the third leading rusher in NFL history.

• 15,269 yards.
• 109 touchdowns
• 5.0 average per rush attempt