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1951 Detroit Lions season
1951 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Buddy Parker
Home field	Briggs Stadium
Results
Record	7–4–1
Division place	T-2nd NFL National
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1950; Lions seasons; 1952 →;

The 1951 Detroit Lions season was their 22nd in the league. It was the first season under Buddy Parker as head coach. They were 7–4–1, tied for second in the National Conference, a half game behind the Los Angeles Rams. A loss at San Francisco in the regular season finale cost the Lions the conference title,^[1]^[2] and they failed to qualify for the playoffs for a sixteenth consecutive season. The team improved on their previous season's output of 6–6.^[3]

In their 52–35 win over the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving, Detroit became the first team in NFL history to score three touchdowns of 70 yards or more in one quarter (a run and two punt returns in the third period).^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] It was the first of thirteen consecutive appearances for the Packers in Detroit on Thanksgiving, through 1963.

Regular season

According to the team, a total of 10,094 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1951 campaign.^[8] The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.^[8]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 30	Washington Redskins	W 35–17	1–0	Briggs Stadium	27,831
2	October 8	New York Yanks	W 37–10	2–0	Briggs Stadium	24,194
3	October 14	Los Angeles Rams	L 21–27	2–1	Briggs Stadium	50,567
4	October 21	New York Yanks	T 24–24	2–1–1	Briggs Stadium	21,807
5	October 28	Chicago Bears	L 23–28	2–2–1	Briggs Stadium	34,778
6	November 4	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–17	3–2–1	City Stadium	18,165
7	November 11	at Chicago Bears	W 41–28	4–2–1	Wrigley Field	43,709
8	November 18	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–10	5–2–1	Shibe Park	25,098
9	November 22	Green Bay Packers	W 52–35	6–2–1	Briggs Stadium	32,247
10	December 2	San Francisco 49ers	L 10–20	6–3–1	Briggs Stadium	45,757
11	December 9	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24–22	7–3–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	52,937
12	December 16	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–21	7–4–1	Kezar Stadium	26,465
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text

Monday night (October 8),^[9]^[10] Thursday (November 22: Thanksgiving)^[4]^[5]^[6]

Standings

NFL National Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	8	4	0	.667	7–2	392	261	W1
San Francisco 49ers	7	4	1	.636	5–2–1	255	205	W3
Detroit Lions	7	4	1	.636	5–4–1	336	259	L1
Chicago Bears	7	5	0	.583	6–2	286	282	L1
Green Bay Packers	3	9	0	.250	1–8	254	375	L7
New York Yanks	1	9	2	.100	1–7–2	241	382	L2

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

NFL American Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	1	0	.917	9–0	331	152	W11
New York Giants	9	2	1	.818	7–2–1	254	161	W4
Washington Redskins	5	7	0	.417	4–5	183	296	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	4	7	1	.364	3–5–1	183	235	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	4	8	0	.333	3–6	234	264	L2
Chicago Cardinals	3	9	0	.250	0–8	210	287	W1

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

References

^ "4 battle for pro grid lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 16, 1951. p. 4, part 2.
^ "49ers pull 21-17 upset". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 17, 1951. p. 4, part 2.
^ 1951 Detroit Lions
^ ^a ^b "Packers bow to Layne's passing wizardry, 52-35". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1951. p. 3, part 2.
^ ^a ^b "Lions trim crippled Packers in wild scoring game, 52-35". Milwaukee Journal. November 23, 1951. p. 2, part 2.
^ ^a ^b "Layne's 4 TD passes lead Lions over Packers, 52-35". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. November 23, 1951. p. 40.
^ "Elias Says..." ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4.
^ "Walker, Harder score twice in Lions victory". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. October 9, 1951. p. 8, part 2.
^ "Lions take lead in NFL's National loop". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. October 9, 1951. p. 24.