The 1986 Detroit Lions season was their 57th in the league. The team failed to improve1986 Detroit Lions upon their previous season's output of 7–9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season with a 5–11 record. The highlight of the season was first round draft choice Chuck Long’s first pass for a TD against Tampa Bay. Long would start in a Monday Night game against the Chicago Bears.
Offseason
NFL draft
Round Pick Player Position College 1 12 Chuck Long QB Iowa 2 29 Garry James RB LSU 3 69 Joe Milinichik OT North Carolina State 4 92 Devon Mitchell S Iowa 5 119 Oscar Smith RB Nicholls State 8 205 Allyn Griffin WR Wyoming 9 231 Lyle Pickens DB Colorado 10 258 Tracy Johnson LB Morningside 11 290 Leland Melvin WR Richmond 12 317 Allan Durden DB Arizona
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 7 at Minnesota Vikings W 13–101–0 54,851 2 September 14 Dallas Cowboys L 31–71–1 73,812 3 September 21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 24–201–2 38,453 4 September 28 at Cleveland Browns L 24–211–3 72,029 5 October 5 Houston Oilers W 24–132–3 41,960 6 October 12 at Green Bay Packers W 21–143–3 52,290 7 October 19 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–103–4 50,992 8 October 26 at Chicago Bears L 13–73–5 62,064 9 November 2 Cincinnati Bengals L 24–173–6 52,423 10 November 9 Minnesota Vikings L 24–103–7 53,725 11 November 16 at Philadelphia Eagles W 13–114–7 54,568 12 November 23 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 38–175–7 30,029 13 November 27 Green Bay Packers L 44–405–8 61,199 14 December 7 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–175–9 45,042 15 Chicago Bears L 16–135–10 75,602 16 December 21 Atlanta Falcons L 20–65–11 35,255Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.
Season summary
Week 1 at Vikings
Week 6
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
References