1996 Detroit Lions season

1996 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Wayne Fontes
General manager	Chuck Schmidt
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1996 Detroit Lions season was their 67th in the National Football League (NFL). The team declined severely from their previous season's output of 10–6 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.^[1] Following the season, longtime head coach Wayne Fontes was fired and Bobby Ross was hired to be the team's head coach the following season.

Personnel

Staff

1996 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 – Wayne Fontes Assistant Head Coach – Dave Levy Assistant Head Coach/Defense – John Teerlinck Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Tom Moore Quarterbacks – Greg Landry Running Backs – Mo Forte Receivers – Charlie Sanders Tight Ends/Offensive Assistant – Steve Kazor Offensive Line – Paul Boudreau			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jim Eddy Linebackers – Howard Tippett Defensive Backs – John Fontes Defensive Assistant/LBs and DBs – Don Clemons Special teams coaches Special Teams – Frank Novak Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning/Special Teams Assistant – Bert Hill

Regular season

Schedule

1996 was the first time since 1984 that the Lions played the San Diego Chargers,^[2] and the first time they had met the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season since 1986.^[3] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.^[4]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	at Minnesota Vikings	L 17–13	52,972
2	September 8, 1996	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 21–6	54,229
3	September 15, 1996	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–17	66,007
4	September 22, 1996	Chicago Bears	W 35–16	70,022
5	September 29, 1996	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–0	34,961
6	October 6, 1996	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–24	58,666
7	October 13, 1996	at Oakland Raiders	L 37–21	50,037
8	Bye
9	October 27, 1996	New York Giants	L 35–7	63,501
10	November 3, 1996	at Green Bay Packers	L 28–18	60,695
11	November 11, 1996	at San Diego Chargers	L 27–21	60,425
12	November 17, 1996	Seattle Seahawks	W 17–16	51,194
13	November 24, 1996	at Chicago Bears	L 31–14	55,864
14	November 28, 1996	Kansas City Chiefs	L 28–24	75,079
15	December 8, 1996	Minnesota Vikings	L 24–22	46,043
16	December 15, 1996	Green Bay Packers	L 31–3	73,214
17	December 23, 1996	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–14	61,921

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Green Bay Packers	13	3	0	.813	456	210	W5
^(6) Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	298	315	L1
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	283	305	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	10	0	.375	221	293	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	302	368	L5

References

1. 1996 Detroit Lions
2. Detroit Lions v San Diego Chargers
3. Detroit Lions v Philadelphia Eagles
4. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats

External links

• 1996 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com