1960 Detroit Lions season
NFL team season (won NFL Playoff Bowl)
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The 1960 Detroit Lions season was the 27th in the Motor City, and 31st season overall in franchise history. The Lions had only one win entering November, but had only one loss in their final seven games and finished at 7–5, one game short of the Western Conference championship (won by Green Bay). However, the Lions won the inaugural third place Playoff Bowl over the Cleveland Browns at the Miami Orange Bowl.
| 1960 Detroit Lions season | |
|---|---|
| |
| Head coach | George Wilson |
| Home stadium | Briggs Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–5 |
| Division place | 2nd NFL Western |
| Playoffs | Won NFL Playoff Bowl (vs. Browns) 17–16 |
Due to this being the NFL's last 12-game regular season and the addition of the Dallas Cowboys giving the league 13 teams - meaning each team was required to have a bye during the season - the 1960 Lions are the last NFL team that did not play its season opener until October: Detroit drew its bye during Week One, which was in the last week of September.
Oddly, in the next season in which each NFL team had a bye week (in 1966, due to addition of the Atlanta Falcons giving the league 15 teams), the Lions did not have their bye until Week 15 (the last week of that season).
Offseason
NFL draft
| 1960 Detroit Lions draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Johnny Robinson * † | Safety | LSU | |
| 2 | 15 | Warren Rabb | Quarterback | LSU | |
| 3 | 27 | Bob Scholtz | Center | Notre Dame | |
| 4 | 39 | Jim Andreotti | Center | Northwestern | |
| 4 | 42 | Roger Brown * | Defensive tackle | Maryland State | |
| 6 | 63 | Gail Cogdill * | Wide receiver | Washington State | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Roster
| 1960 Detroit Lions roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
|
Reserve lists
| |||
- Source:
Regular season
According to the team, a total of 39,153 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1960 campaign.[1] 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.[1]
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bye | ||||
| 2 | October 2 | at Green Bay Packers | L 9–28 | 0–1 | 32,150 |
| 3 | October 9 | San Francisco 49ers | L 10–14 | 0–2 | 49,825 |
| 4 | October 16 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 10–28 | 0–3 | 38,065 |
| 5 | October 23 | Baltimore Colts | W 30–17 | 1–3 | 53,854 |
| 6 | October 30 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 35–48 | 1–4 | 53,295 |
| 7 | November 6 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 24–0 | 2–4 | 48,447 |
| 8 | November 13 | Los Angeles Rams | W 12–10 | 3–4 | 54,019 |
| 9 | November 20 | at Chicago Bears | L 7–28 | 3–5 | 46,267 |
| 10 | November 24 | Green Bay Packers | W 23–10 | 4–5 | 54,123 |
| 11 | December 4 | at Baltimore Colts | W 20–15 | 5–5 | 57,808 |
| 12 | December 11 | Dallas Cowboys | W 23–14 | 6–5 | 43,272 |
| 13 | December 18 | Chicago Bears | W 36–0 | 7–5 | 51,017 |
- Thursday (November 24: Thanksgiving)[2][3]
- A bye week was necessary in 1960, as the league expanded to an odd-number (13) of teams (Dallas); one team was idle each week.
Game summaries
Week 9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| • Lions | 9 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 23 |
- Date: November 24
- Location: Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
- Game attendance: 54,123
- Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
| Q1 | DET | Safety, blocked punt through end zone | DET 2–0 | |
| Q1 | DET | Jim Ninowski 7 yard run (Jim Martin kick) | DET 9–0 | |
| Q2 | DET | Ken Webb 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick) | DET 16–0 | |
| Q3 | GB | Paul Hornung 12 yard field goal | DET 16–3 | |
| Q3 | GB | Paul Hornung 8 yard run (Paul Hornung kick) | DET 16–10 | |
| Q3 | DET | Jim Gibbons 11 yard pass from Jim Ninowski (Jim Martin kick) | DET 23–10 | |
Thanksgiving Day game
Standings
| NFL Western Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 7–4 | 332 | 209 | W3 | |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 7–4 | 239 | 212 | W4 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 7–4 | 208 | 205 | W1 | |
| Baltimore Colts | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5–6 | 288 | 234 | L4 | |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 5–5–1 | 194 | 299 | L3 | |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 4–6–1 | 265 | 297 | L1 | |
| Dallas Cowboys | 0 | 11 | 1 | .000 | 0–6 | 177 | 369 | L1 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Playoff Bowl
The first Playoff Bowl game for third place was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the week following the NFL Championship game.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff Bowl | January 7, 1961 | Cleveland Browns | W 17–16 | Orange Bowl | 34,981 |