DETROIT – The Detroit Lions are 8-2 for the first time in over 60 years. But what happened the last time they did it?
The NFL looked very different back in 1962. For one, the Lions played their home games at Tiger Stadium, and they even played a couple of road games at Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field.
Also, there wasn’t really a playoff system. Two division winners played in a BCS-style championship game while the second-place teams from both divisions battled for third place.
Detroit had won the NFL championship three times during the 1950s and continued to contend into the early ‘60s. There were only 14 teams, but still, the Lions were among the top franchises in the league.
On Nov. 18, 1962, the Lions went to Metropolitan Stadium in a suburb of Minneapolis and beat the Vikings to improve to 8-2 on the season. That hot 10-game start to the season hadn’t been matched until Sunday, when the Lions mounted a 12-point comeback in the final minutes to beat the Bears.
The 1962 Lions went on to win their next three games, including a 26-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day. It’s quite a coincidence that this year’s team will also try to improve to 9-2 against the Packers on Thanksgiving.
Detroit ultimately lost its final game of the season -- a 3-0 snoozer against the Bears at Wrigley -- and finished second in the Western Conference.
Green Bay finished 13-1 and beat the New York Giants in the championship game. One week later, the Lions defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Orange Bowl in Miami to lock up third place.
That’s a pretty impressive season, and I think most Lions fans would consider a trip to the NFC Championship Game a major success for this year’s team. But for now, everyone is just enjoying the ride and hoping to watch the first-ever playoff game at Ford Field.