1995 Detroit Lions season

The 1995 Detroit Lions season was the team's 66th in the National Football League (NFL). Finishing at 10-6, it marked the Lions' third consecutive winning season, which had not been accomplished in Detroit since the team posted four consecutive winning seasons from 1969-1972.

1995 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Wayne Fontes
General manager	Chuck Schmidt
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Eagles) 37–58

It was also the Lions' third straight postseason appearance, and fourth in five seasons -- the franchises' best stretch since the 1950s.

The Lions started the season 0-3 and were 3–6 after a Week 10 loss in Atlanta. However, starting with a Week 11 win over Tampa Bay, the Lions won a franchise-record seven consecutive games to close out the season and clinch a playoff berth.

Herman Moore had a career season as he broke Cris Carter’s NFL record for most receptions in a season (123). Moore and teammate Brett Perriman (108 catches) became the first receiver duo to each have more than 100 receptions in the same season.

The Lions' 436 points scored was the most in franchise history until it was eclipsed by the 2011 team.[1]

For the third consecutive year, however, the Lions could not win a playoff game and were eliminated as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 58-37 in the wild card round.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1995 NFL Draft

1995 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Luther Elliss *	DT	Utah
3	70	David Sloan *	TE	New Mexico	from St. Louis
5	141	Stephen Boyd *	LB	Boston College	from Seattle
5	156	Kez McCorvey	WR	Florida State
5	163	Ronald Cherry	OT	McNeese State	from San Francisco
6	186	Kevin Hickman	TE	Navy	from Arizona
6	192	Cory Schlesinger *	FB	Nebraska
7	228	Hessley Hempstead	G	Kansas
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• Detroit traded its second-round selection (51st) to San Diego in exchange for the Chargers' first-round selection in 1996.
• Detroit traded up from its third-round selection (82nd) with St. Louis for the Rams' second-round selection (70th), giving up its fourth-round selection (115th).
• Detroit received Seattle's fifth-round selection (141st) in exchange for WR Reggie Barrett.
• Detroit received San Francisco's fifth-round selection (163rd) in exchange for RB Derrick Moore.

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1995 Detroit Lions staff

	Front office Owner and President – William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice Chairman – William Clay Ford, Jr. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Chuck Schmidt Director of Player Personnel – Ron Hughes 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 – Herb Paterra Linebackers – Don Clemons Outside Linebackers – Howard Tippett Defensive Backs – John Fontes Special teams coaches Special Teams – Frank Novak Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning/Defensive Assistant – Bert Hill

Roster

1995 Detroit Lions final roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Kent Graham  1 Don Majkowski 19 Scott Mitchell Running backs 26 Eric Lynch 34 Ron Rivers 20 Barry Sanders 30 Cory Schlesinger FB 21 Allen Williams Wide receivers 81 Anthony Carter 83 Aubrey Matthews 10 Kez McCorvey 84 Herman Moore 87 Johnnie Morton 80 Brett Perriman Tight ends 15 Kevin Hickman 82 Rodney Holman 86 David Sloan		Offensive linemen 75 Lomas Brown T 74 Mike Compton G 76 Scott Conover T 53 Kevin Glover C 70 Jeff Jones T 73 Dave Lutz G 71 Zefross Moss T 62 Tony Semple G 67 Doug Widell G Defensive linemen 96 Shane Bonham DE 94 Luther Elliss DT 90 Dan Owens DE 91 Robert Porcher DT 97 Tracy Scroggins DE 98 Henry Thomas DT 95 Mike Wells DT		Linebackers 57 Stephen Boyd MLB 99 Tracy Hayworth OLB 59 Mike Johnson MLB 52 Scott Kowalkowski MLB 55 Antonio London OLB 54 Chris Spielman ILB Defensive backs 48 Tom E. Beer 36 Bennie Blades FS 32 Willie Clay S 25 Greg Jeffries CB 40 Robert Massey CB 47 Ryan McNeil CB 39 Van Malone 31 Corey Raymond CB 29 Sean Vanhorse CB Special teams  3 Mark Royals P  4 Jason Hanson K		Reserve lists 66 Hessley Hempstead G (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics 53 active, 3 inactive, 4 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 23–20	58,002
2	September 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 20–10	52,234
3	September 17	Arizona Cardinals	L 20–17	58,727
4	September 25	San Francisco 49ers	W 27–24	76,236
5	Bye
6	October 8	Cleveland Browns	W 38–20	74,171
7	October 15	at Green Bay Packers	L 30–21	60,302
8	October 22	at Washington Redskins	L 36–30 OT	52,332
9	October 29	Green Bay Packers	W 24–16	73,462
10	November 5	at Atlanta Falcons	L 34–22	49,619
11	November 12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–24	60,644
12	November 19	at Chicago Bears	W 24–17	61,779
13	November 23	Minnesota Vikings	W 44–38	74,559
14	December 4	Chicago Bears	W 27–7	77,230
15	December 10	at Houston Oilers	W 24–17	35,842
16	December 17	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 44–0	70,204
17	December 23	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 37–10	50,049

Season summary

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Vikings 7 21 3 7 38 • Lions 14 10 10 10 44 Date: November 23 Location: Pontiac Silverdome Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 74,559 Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Scoring summary Q1 DET Perriman 2 yard pass from Mitchell (Hanson kick) DET 7–0 Q1 1:56 DET Perriman 20 yard pass from Mitchell (Hanson kick) DET 14–0 Q1 MIN Reed 55 yard pass from Moon (Reveiz kick) DET 14–7 Q2 DET Morton 16 yard pass from Mitchell (Hanson kick) DET 21–7 Q2 MIN Palmer 74 yard punt return (Reveiz kick) DET 21–14 Q2 7:53 MIN Thomas 17 yard fumble return (Reveiz kick) Tie 21–21 Q2 DET Hanson 32 yard field goal DET 24–21 Q2 MIN Carter 10 yard pass from Moon (Reveiz kick) MIN 28–24 Q3 MIN Reveiz 49 yard field goal MIN 31–24 Q3 DET Hanson 40 yard field goal MIN 31–27 Q3 8:48 DET Moore 27 yard pass from Mitchell (Hanson kick) DET 34–31 Q4 DET Sanders 50 yard run (Hanson kick) DET 41–31 Q4 MIN Carter 7 yard pass from Moon (Reveiz kick) DET 41–38 Q4 DET Hanson 39 yard field goal DET 44–38

• Scott Mitchell 30/45, 410 Yds
• Barry Sanders 24 Rush, 138 Yds
• Herman Moore 12 Rec, 153 Yds
• Brett Perriman 8 Rec, 127 Yds
• Johnnie Morton 7 Rec, 102 Yds

[3]

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Green Bay Packers	11	5	0	.688	404	314	W2
^(5) Detroit Lions	10	6	0	.625	436	336	W7
Chicago Bears	9	7	0	.563	392	360	W2
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	412	385	L2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7	9	0	.438	238	335	L2

Playoffs

NFC Wild Card Game: At Philadelphia Eagles

NFC Wild Card Game: Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	7	0	14	16	37
Eagles	7	31	13	7	58

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 66,099
• Referee: Ron Blum
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

Game information

First quarter PHI – Charlie Garner 15 yard rush (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 7–0 DET – David Sloan 32 yard pass from Scott Mitchell (Jason Hanson kick). Tie 7–7 Second quarter PHI – Gary Anderson 21 yard field goal. Eagles 10–7 PHI – Fred Barnett 22 yard pass from Rodney Peete (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 17–7 PHI – Barry Wilburn 24 yard interception return (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 24–7 PHI – Ricky Watters 1 yard rush (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 31–7 PHI – Rob Carpenter 43 yard pass from Rodney Peete (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 38–7 Third quarter PHI – Ricky Watters 45 yard pass from Rodney Peete (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 45–7 PHI – Gary Anderson 31 yard field goal. Eagles 48–7 PHI – Gary Anderson 39 yard field goal. Eagles 51–7 DET – Herman Moore 68 yard pass from Don Majkowski (Jason Hanson kick). Eagles 51–14 DET – Johnnie Morton 7 yard pass from Don Majkowski (Jason Hanson kick). Eagles 51–21 Fourth quarter PHI – William Thomas 30 yard interception return (Gary Anderson kick). Eagles 58–21 DET – David Sloan 2 yard pass from Don Majkowski (Ron Rivers run). Eagles 58–29 DET – Ron Rivers 1 yard run (Herman Moore pass from Don Majkowski). Eagles 58–37 Top passers DET – Don Majkowski – 14/23, 206 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT PHI – Rodney Peete – 17/25, 270 yards, 3 TD Top rushers DET – Barry Sanders – 10 rushes, 40 yards PHI – Ricky Watters – 18 rushes, 49 yards, 1 TD Top receivers DET – Herman Moore – 7 rec, 133 yards, 1 TD PHI – Fred Barnett – 8 rec, 109 yards, 1 TD Turnovers DET – 7 PHI – 1

The Eagles scored 31 points in the second quarter, recorded six interceptions, forced seven total turnovers and held future Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders to just 40 rushing yards en route to a 58–37 victory in the second highest scoring game in NFL postseason history, which was also the first occasion the Lions had played the Eagles since 1986.[4] The two teams combined for 874 total yards of offense.

Awards and honors

• Scott Mitchell, Thanksgiving Day Record, Most passing yards by a Lions quarterback, 410 yards
• Herman Moore, Single Season Record, Most Receptions in a Season
• Barry Sanders, All-Pro
• Barry Sanders, NFC Pro Bowl Selection

Milestones

• Barry Sanders, 7th consecutive 1000 yard season
• Herman Moore, 100 reception season,[5]

References

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, playing for the Detroit Lions, in the regular season, sorted by descending Points For.
2. "1995 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-Dec-10.
4. Detroit Lions v Philadelphia Eagles
5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440

External links

• 1995 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com