2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE

1978
Record: 7-9, 3rd NFC Central
Date W/L Score Opponent Att
9/3 L 7-13 Green Bay 51,167
9/9 W 15-7 at Tampa Bay 64,445
9/17 L 0-19 Chicago 65,982
9/24 L 16-28 at Seattle 56,781
10/1 L 14-35 at Green Bay (Mil) 54,601
10/8 L 19-21 Washington 60,555
10/15 L 0-14 at Atlanta 51,172
10/22 W 31-14 San Diego 54,031
10/29 W 21-17 at Chicago 53,376
11/5 L 7-17 at Minnesota 46,008
11/12 W 34-23 Tampa Bay 60,320
11/19 L 17-29 at Oakland 44,517
11/23 W 17-14 Denver 71,185
12/3 L 14-21 at St. Louis 39,200
12/9 W 45-14 Minnesota 78,685*
12/17 W 33-14 San Francisco 56,674
* Silverdome sellout
Usual Starters
Offense
WR 89 Luther Blue
TE 81 David Hill
LT 76 Karl Baldischwiler
LG 61 Homer Elias
C 54 Larry Tearry
RG 62 Lynn Boden
RT 74 Brad Oates
WR 87 Fred Scott
QB 16 Gary Danielson
RB 24 Dexter Bussey
RB 25 Horace King
Defense
LE 75 Dave Pureifory
LT 77 John Woodcock
RT 78 Doug English
RE 60 Al Baker
LLB 50 Paul Naumoff
MLB 55 Ed O’Neil
RLB 59 Charlie Weaver
LCB 21 Walt Williams
FS 40 Jimmy Allen
SS 29 Mike Burns
RCB 27 Luther Bradley
Pro Bowl Selections: Al Baker (DE), Doug English (DT), David Hill (TE)
Team Statistics Det Opp
Total First Downs 269 276
Rushing 105 115
Passing 141 125
Penalty 23 26
3rd Down: Made/Att 75/236 76/220
3rd Down Pct. 31.8 34.5
Total Net Yards 4465 4483
Avg. Per Game 279.1 280.2
Total Plays 1001 970
Avg. Per Play 4.5 4.6
Net Yards Rushing 2163 2184
Avg. Per Game 135.2 136.5
Total Rushes 525 565
Net Yards Passing 2302 2299
Avg. Per Game 143.9 143.7
Sacked/Yards Lost 47/444 55/482
Gross Yards 2746 2781
Att./Completions 429/247 350/191
Completion Pct. 57.6 54.6
Had Intercepted 18 22
Punts/Average 87/42.0 87/40.2
Penalties/Yards 125/1003 128/1043
Fumbles/Ball Lost 35/15 41/19
Touchdowns 33 39
Rushing 12 18
Passing 19 19
Returns 2 2
Points Scored Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT Pts
Lions 70 106 57 57 - 290
Opponents 50 86 75 89 - 300
Scoring TD Ru Pa Rt PAT FG S Pts
Ricardo 0 0 0 0 32/33 20/28 0 92
Bussey 6 5 1 0 0/0 0/0 0 36
King 6 4 2 0 0/0 0/0 0 36
Hill 4 0 4 0 0/0 0/0 0 24
J. Thompson 4 0 4 0 0/0 0/0 0 24
L. Thompson 4 0 4 0 0/0 0/0 0 24
Blue 2 0 2 0 0/0 0/0 0 12
Kane 2 2 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 12
Scott 2 0 2 0 0/0 0/0 0 12
Allen 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
Bradley 1 0 0 1 0/0 0/0 0 6
Gaines 1 1 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 6
Lions 33 12 19 2 32/33 20/28 0 290
Opponents 39 18 19 2 38/39 8/13 0 300
Rushing Att Yds Avg Lg TD
Bussey 225 824 4.1 36 5
King 155 660 4.3 75t 4
Gaines 54 178 3.3 12 1
Kane 44 153 3.5 19 2
Danielson 22 93 4.2 25 0
Scott 4 53 13.3 36 0
Landry 5 29 5.8 19 0
O’Neil 1 25 25.0 25 0
Hill 3 12 4.0 13 0
Blue 5 9 1.8 10 0
Daykin 1 8 8.0 8 0
L. Thompson 1 7 7.0 7 0
J. Thompson 2 7 3.5 10 0
Bolton 2 5 2.5 3 0
Reed 1 0 0.0 0 0
Lions 525 2163 4.1 75t 12
Opponents 565 2184 3.9 76t 18
Receiving Rec Yds Avg Lg TD
Hill 53 633 11.9 32 4
King 48 396 8.3 34 2
Scott 37 564 15.2 47 2
Blue 31 250 11.3 26 2
Bussey 31 275 8.9 18t 1
J. Thompson 18 175 9.7 21 4
Kane 16 161 10.1 26 0
L. Thompson 10 167 16.7 45t 4
Gaines 2 16 8.0 9 0
Jarvis 1 9 9.0 9 0
Lions 247 2746 11.1 47 19
Opponents 191 2781 14.6 55t 19
Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Avg TD TD% Int Int% Lg Sk/Y Rtg
Danielson 351 199 2294 56.7 6.54 18 5.1 17 4.8 47t 25/237 73.6
Landry 77 48 452 62.3 5.87 1 1.3 1 1.3 20 21/205 77.4
Skladany 1 0 0 0.0 0.00 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0/0 2.1
King 0 0 0 0.0 0.00 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 1/2 -
Lions 429 247 2746 57.6 6.40 19 4.4 18 4.2 47t 47/444 73.9
Opponents 350 191 2781 54.6 7.95 19 5.4 22 6.3 55/482 72.6
Interceptions Int Yds Avg Lg TD
Allen 5 70 14.0 27 0
O’Neil 4 49 12.3 31 0
Bradley 3 85 28.3 76t 1
Weaver 3 32 10.7 22 0
Hunter 2 -4 -2.0 0 0
Rhodes 1 24 24.0 24 0
Pinkney 1 22 22.0 22 0
Naumoff 1 12 12.0 12 0
Williams 1 2 2.0 2 0
Burns 1 0 0.0 0 0
Lions 22 292 13.3 76t 1
Opponents 18 75 4.2 23 0
Punting Pnt Yds Avg In Lg B
Skladany 86 3654 42.5 18 63 1
Lions 87 3654 42.0 18 63 1
Opponents 87 3500 40.2 19 59 0
Punt Returns PR FC Yds Avg Lg TD
J. Thompson 16 2 161 10.1 35 0
Leonard 10 0 114 11.4 24 0
Scott 8 1 55 6.9 15 0
Blue 7 7 59 8.4 15 0
L. Thompson 3 1 19 6.3 9 0
Hunter 2 0 21 10.5 19 0
Williams 1 0 1 1.0 1 0
Lions 47 11 430 9.1 35 0
Opponents 54 8 467 8.6 49 0
Kickoff Returns KR Yds Avg Lg TD
J. Thompson 14 346 24.7 42 0
L. Thompson 8 207 25.9 31 0
Kane 8 156 19.5 27 0
Blue 7 170 24.3 60 0
Terry 7 145 20.7 30 0
Scott 3 72 24.0 29 0
Callicutt 2 12 6.0 10 0
Hunter 1 21 21.0 21 0
McGee 1 0 0.0 0 0
Lions 51 1129 22.1 60 0
Opponents 69 1424 20.6 77 0
Field Goals 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+
Ricardo 3/3 7/7 6/8 4/9 0/1
Lions 3/3 7/7 6/8 4/9 0/1
Opponents 0/0 5/5 1/2 2/4 0/1
NFL Standings
NFC Central W L T Pct Pts OP
Minnesota 8 7 1 .531 294 306
Green Bay 8 7 1 .531 249 269
DETROIT 7 9 0 .438 290 300
Chicago 7 9 0 .438 253 274
Tampa Bay 5 11 0 .313 241 259
NFC East
Dallas 12 4 0 .750 384 208
Philadelphia 9 7 0 .563 270 250
Washington 8 8 0 .500 273 283
St. Louis 6 10 0 .375 248 296
NY Giants 6 10 0 .375 264 298
NFC West
Los Angeles 12 4 0 .750 316 245
Atlanta 9 7 0 .563 240 290
New Orleans 7 9 0 .438 281 298
San Francisco 2 14 0 .125 219 350
AFC Central W L T Pct Pts OP
Pittsburgh 14 2 0 .875 356 195
Houston 10 6 0 .625 283 298
Cleveland 8 8 0 .500 334 356
Cincinnati 4 12 0 .250 252 284
AFC East
New England 11 5 0 .688 358 286
Miami 11 5 0 .688 372 254
NY Jets 8 8 0 .500 359 364
Buffalo 5 11 0 .313 302 354
Baltimore 5 11 0 .313 239 421
AFC West
Denver 10 6 0 .625 282 198
Oakland 9 7 0 .563 311 283
Seattle 9 7 0 .563 345 358
San Diego 9 7 0 .563 355 309
Kansas City 4 12 0 .250 243 327
Atl defeated Phi, 14-13, in NFC wild card. Dal defeated Atl, 27-20, and LA defeated Min, 34-10, in NFC
playoffs. Dal defeated LA, 28-0, for NFC title. Hou defeated Mia, 17-9, in AFC wild card. Hou defeated NE,
14-13, and Pit defeated Den, 33-10, in AFC playoffs. Pit defeated Hou, 34-5, for AFC title. Pit defeated Dal,
35-31, for NFL title in SB XIII.
IN 1978: John Paul I, 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days as Pope.
DETROIT LIONS
YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS