1964 Detroit Lions season

1964 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
Head coach	George Wilson
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	7–5–2
Division place	4th NFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1963 Lions seasons 1965  →

The 1964 Detroit Lions season was the 31st in Detroit and the 35th in franchise history. They finished at 7–5–2, fourth in the Western conference.

Offseason

• On January 21, William Clay Ford, Lions president since 1961, purchased the team, which as of 2025, continues to be held by the family, currently by his daughter Sheila. ^[1]
• On March 16, Lions Defensive Tackle Alex Karras was reinstated by Pete Rozelle after being suspended for betting. ^[1]

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	5	Pete Beathard	Quarterback	USC
2	20	Matt Snorton	Tight End	Michigan State
3

^[2]

Regular season

Main article: 1964 NFL season

For the first time since 1950, the Green Bay Packers were not the guest on Thanksgiving Day; they visited Tiger Stadium in late September for a rare Monday night game. ^{[3] [4]}

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 13	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26–17	1–0–0	33,204
2	September 19	at Los Angeles Rams	T 17–17	1–0–1	52,001
3	September 28	Green Bay Packers	L 10–14	1–1–1	59,203
4	October 4	New York Giants	W 26–3	2–1–1	54,836
5	October 11	at Minnesota Vikings	W 24–20	3–1–1	40,840
6	October 18	at Chicago Bears	W 10–0	4–1–1	47,567
7	October 25	Baltimore Colts	L 0–34	4–2–1	57,814
8	November 1	Los Angeles Rams	W 37–17	5–2–1	52,064
9	November 6	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–30	5–3–1	42,327
10	November 15	at Cleveland Browns	L 21–37	5–4–1	83,064
11	November 22	Minnesota Vikings	T 23–23	5–4–2	48,291
12	November 26	Chicago Bears	L 24–27	5–5–2	52,231
13	December 6	at Baltimore Colts	W 31–14	6–5–2	60,213
14	December 13	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	7–5–2	41,854

• Saturday night (September 19), ^[5] Monday night (September 28), ^{[3] [4]}
  Thursday (November 26: Thanksgiving) ^[6]

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 3 13 7 3 26 49ers 7 0 10 0 17 Date: September 13 Location: Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C); wind 16 mph (26 km/h)

Scoring summary 1 DET Wayne Walker 23 yard field goal DET 3–0 1 SF Bernie Casey 63 yard pass from John Brodie (Tommy Davis kick) SF 7–3 2 DET Wayne Walker 16 yard field goal SF 7–6 2 DET Nick Pietrosante 3 yard run (Wayne Walker kick) DET 13–7 2 DET Wayne Walker 31 yard field goal DET 16–7 3 DET Nick Pietrosante 1 yard run (Wayne Walker kick) DET 23–7 3 SF Tommy Davis 41 yard field goal DET 23–10 3 SF Bernie Casey 7 yard pass from John Brodie (Tommy Davis kick) DET 23–17 4 DET Wayne Walker 26 yard field goal DET 26–17

^[7]

Week 10: at Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns 37, Detroit Lions 21

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	14	7	0	0	21
Browns	7	13	7	10	37

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Date: November 15
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C), relative humidity 60%, wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
• Game attendance: 83,064
• TV announcers (CBS): Van Patrick (DET) (second half) and Ken Coleman (CLE) (first half) (play-by-play), Jim Morse (DET) (second half) and Warren Lahr (CLE) (first half) (color commentators)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First Quarter CLE - Jim Brown 6 yard rush - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 7-0 DET - Danny Lewis 92 yard pass from Milt Plum - (Wayne Walker kick) Tied 7-7 DET - Jim Gibbons 4 yard pass from Milt Plum - (Wayne Walker kick) Lions 14-7 Second Quarter CLE - Lou Groza 38 yard field goal - Lions 14-10 CLE - Jim Brown 2 yard rush - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 17-14 DET - Terry Barr 39 yard pass from Milt Plum - (Wayne Walker kick) Lions 21-17 CLE - Lou Groza 47 yard field goal - Lions 21-20 Third Quarter CLE - Paul Warfield 8 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 27-21 Fourth Quarter CLE - Lou Groza 36 yard field goal - Browns 30-21 CLE - Walter Beach 65 yard interception return - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 37-21 Lions Browns

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	12	2	0	.857	10–2	428	225	W1
Green Bay Packers [a]	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	342	245	T1
Minnesota Vikings	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	355	296	W3
Detroit Lions	7	5	2	.583	6–4–2	280	260	W2
Los Angeles Rams	5	7	2	.417	3–7–2	283	339	T1
Chicago Bears	5	9	0	.357	5–7	260	379	L2
San Francisco 49ers	4	10	0	.286	3–9	236	330	L1

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

1. Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
   by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

Roster

1964 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 16 Milt Plum 14 Earl Morrall 10 Sonny Gibbs Running backs 20 Dick Compton HB 30 Pat Batten FB 33 Nick Pietrosante FB 22 Tom Watkins 34 Nick Ryder FB 45 Dan Lewis Wide receivers 41 Terry Barr FL 87 Warren Wells 89 Gail Cogdill Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons 84 Hugh McInnis		Offensive linemen 79 John Gonzaga 72 J. D. Smith RT 75 John Gordy G 62 Ted Karras Sr. G 70 Daryl Sanders T 79 John Gonzaga LG 51 Bob Whitlow C 66 Jim Simon G Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown DT 71 Alex Karras DT 65 Roger LaLonde DT 78 Darris McCord DE 88 Sam Williams DE		Linebackers 59 Ernie Clark 53 Dennis Gaubatz 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 52 Monte Lee 57 Wally Hilgenberg Defensive backs 44 Dick LeBeau S 27 Bobby Thompson CB 47 Wayne Rasmussen DB 21 Bruce Maher S 28 Yale Lary Special teams 55 Wayne Walker 25 Pat Studstill		Reserve lists currently vacant rookies in italics

Awards and records

• Terry Barr, Outstanding Lineman, Pro Bowl ^[8]

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p.282
2. "1964 Detroit Lions Draftees".
3. Lea, Bud (September 28, 1964). "54,000 to see Pack, Lions". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3, part 2.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
4. Lea, Bud (September 29, 1964). "Packers whip stubborn Lions". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
5. "Lions rally to gain standoff with Rams". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 20, 1964. p. 2B.
6. "Bears shade Lions by 27-24". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 27, 1964. p. 3B.
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com
8. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 368

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database