1969 Detroit Lions season

1969 Detroit Lions season
1969 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Joe Schmidt
Home field	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	9–4–1
Division place	2nd NFL Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1968; Lions seasons; 1970 →;

The 1969 Detroit Lions season was the 40th season in franchise history. The Lions enjoyed their best season in seven years, and their first winning campaign since 1964 by finishing in second place in the NFL Central Division with a solid 9–4–1 record led by a stingy defense that only allowed 188 total points on the season. However, the Lions still failed to qualify for the postseason for the 12th straight season.^[1] The Lions were the only team to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, doing so in week 1 of the season. Pittsburgh lost their remaining 13 games. The loss to the Steelers proved costly to the Lions as it served as a big blow to their playoff hopes.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1969 Detroit Lions draft
2	34	Altie Taylor	RB	Utah State
2	47	Jim Yarbrough	TE	Florida	from Los Angeles
3	59	Larry Walton	WR	Arizona State	from New Orleans
8	190	Jim Carr	OT	Jackson State
9	216	Rocky Rasley	G	Oregon State
10	242	Bob Bergum	DE	Wisconsin-Platteville
11	268	Ron Walker	DE	Morris Brown
12	294	Bob Hadlock	DT	George Fox (Ore.)
13	320	Wilson Bowie	RB	USC
14	346	George Hoey	WR	Michigan
15	372	Fred Gough	LB	Texas-Arlington
16	398	Ken Spain	DE	Houston
16	407	John Stahl	G	Fresno State
17	424	Gary Steele	TE	Army
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

Detroit traded its first-round selection (8th) and QB Milt Plum, P/WR Pat Studstill and RB Tommy Watkins to Los Angeles in exchange for QB Bill Munson and the Rams' third-round selection (73rd).
Detroit traded DT Roger Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' second-round selection (47th) and first- and third-round selections in 1968.
Detroit traded QB Karl Sweetan to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' third-round selection (59th).
Detroit traded its third-round selection (60th), fourth-round selection in 1970 and S Bruce Maher to N.Y. Giants in exchange for RB Bill Triplett and LB Bill Swain.
Detroit traded the third-round selection received from the Rams (73rd) to St. Louis in exchange for WR Billy Gambrell.
Detroit traded its fourth-round selection (86th) and third-round selection (65th) in 1968 to San Francisco in exchange for RB David Kopay.
Detroit traded its sixth- and seventh-round selections (138th) and (164th) to Atlanta in exchange for DT Chuck Sieminski and LB Andy Bowling.

Roster

1969 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

87 Craig Cotton
88 Charlie Sanders

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

72 Dan Goich DT
74 Larry Hand DE
71 Alex Karras DT
70 Denis Moore DE
84 Joe Robb DE
82 Jerry Rush DT

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

3 Rick Duncan P
12 Errol Mann K

Reserve lists

-- George Hoey DB

Practice squad

1 Garo Yepremian K

rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–16	0–1	Pitt Stadium	51,360
2	September 28	New York Giants	W 24–0	1–1	Tiger Stadium	54,358
3	October 5	at Cleveland Browns	W 28–21	2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	82,833
4	October 12	Green Bay Packers	L 17–28	2–2	Tiger Stadium	58,384
5	October 19	Chicago Bears	W 13–7	3–2	Tiger Stadium	54,732
6	October 26	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–24	3–3	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
7	November 2	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26–14	4–3	Kezar Stadium	35,100
8	November 9	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–21	5–3	Tiger Stadium	53,242
9	November 16	St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–0	6–3	Tiger Stadium	51,749
10	November 23	at Green Bay Packers	W 16–10	7–3	Lambeau Field	50,861
11	November 27	Minnesota Vikings	L 0–27	7–4	Tiger Stadium	57,906
12	December 7	at Baltimore Colts	T 17–17	7–4–1	Memorial Stadium	60,238
13	December 14	Los Angeles Rams	W 28–0	8–4–1	Tiger Stadium	53,256
14	December 21	at Chicago Bears	W 20–3	9–4–1	Wrigley Field	41,879
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 11 vs Vikings

Week Eleven: Minnesota Vikings (9–1) at Detroit Lions (7–3)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	7	3	7	10	27
Lions	0	0	0	0	0

at Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

Date: November 27
Game weather: Snow, 36 °F (2 °C)
Game attendance: 57,906
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

MIN – Dave Osborn 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 7–0. Drive:

Second quarter

MIN – Fred Cox 41-yard field goal. Vikings 10–0. Drive:

Third quarter

MIN – Oscar Reed 6-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 17–0. Drive:

Fourth quarter

MIN – Alan Page 15-yard interception return on a lateral (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 24–0.
MIN – Fred Cox 38-yard field goal. Vikings 27–0. Drive:

Top passers

MIN – Joe Kapp – 7/12, 61 yards, TD, INT
DET – Greg Landry – 12/25, 93 yards, 2 INT

Top rushers

MIN – Dave Osborn – 15 rushes, 36 yards, TD
DET – Nick Eddy – 11 rushes, 26 yards

Top receivers

MIN – Dave Osborn – 2 receptions, 27 yards
DET – Charlie Sanders – 3 receptions, 47 yards

Muddy field
Largest crowd for Thanksgiving game in Detroit history

Standings

NFL Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	12	2	0	.857	6–0	9–1	379	133	L1
Detroit Lions	9	4	1	.692	3–3	6–3–1	259	188	W2
Green Bay Packers	8	6	0	.571	3–3	5–5	269	221	W2
Chicago Bears	1	13	0	.071	0–6	0–10	210	339	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and records

References

^ Detroit Lions season history at Sports E-Cyclopedia

[1] Detroit Lions season history at Sports E-Cyclopedia

[1]