| Team: | Detroit Lions |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Record: | 5–11 |
| Division Place: | 5th NFC Central |
| Coach: | Wayne Fontes |
| General Manager: | Chuck Schmidt |
| Owner: | William Clay Ford Sr. |
| Stadium: | Pontiac Silverdome |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | WR Herman Moore RB Barry Sanders |
| Ap All-Pros: | WR Herman Moore (1st team) RB Barry Sanders (2nd team) |
| Uniform: | File:NFC-Throwback2-Uniform-DET.PNG |
| Shortnavlink: | Lions seasons |
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. Following a 4–2 start, the Lions would proceed to lose nine of their final ten games to finish 5–11, missing 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.
| Additions | Subtractions | |
|---|---|---|
| RB Glyn Milburn (Broncos) | T Lomas Brown (Cardinals) | |
| TE Pete Metzelaars (Panthers) | LB Chris Spielman (Bills) | |
| T Ray Roberts (Seahawks) | LB Tracy Hayworth (Falcons) | |
| S Willie Clay (Patriots) | ||
| G Doug Widell (Colts) | ||
| DE Dan Owens (Falcons) |
See main article: 1996 NFL draft.
Notes
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 | Record | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–13 | 0–1 | 52,972 | |
| 2 | September 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 21–6 | 1–1 | 54,229 | |
| 3 | September 15 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 24–17 | 1–2 | 66,007 | |
| 4 | September 22 | Chicago Bears | W 35–16 | 2–2 | 70,022 | |
| 5 | September 29 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 27–0 | 3–2 | 34,961 | |
| 6 | October 6 | Atlanta Falcons | W 28–24 | 4–2 | 58,666 | |
| 7 | October 13 | at Oakland Raiders | L 37–21 | 4–3 | 50,037 | |
| 8 | Bye | |||||
| 9 | October 27 | New York Giants | L 35–7 | 4–4 | 63,501 | |
| 10 | November 3 | at Green Bay Packers | L 28–18 | 4–5 | 60,695 | |
| 11 | L 27–21 | 4–6 | 60,425 | |||
| 12 | November 17 | Seattle Seahawks | W 17–16 | 5–6 | 51,194 | |
| 13 | November 24 | at Chicago Bears | L 31–14 | 5–7 | 55,864 | |
| 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 28–24 | 5–8 | 75,079 | ||
| 15 | December 8 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–22 | 5–9 | 46,043 | |
| 16 | December 15 | Green Bay Packers | L 31–3 | 5–10 | 73,214 | |
| 17 | L 24–14 | 5–11 | 61,921 | |||
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||