On This Date: Detroit Lions Win Last Playoff Game against Dallas Cowboys
Any team can go 30 years without winning a National Football League playoff game.
It happens.
As the current edition of the Detroit Lions embark on a multi-year rebuild, it is definitely worth taking a trip down memory lane.
On this date 30 years ago, the Lions defeated the Cowboys, 38-6.
The Lions entered the 1991 playoffs as a 12-4 football team.
Right guard Mike Utley suffered a career-ending injury, and was paralyzed in a Week 12 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Without quarterback Rodney Peete and Jerry Ball, both of whom also suffered season-ending injuries, Detroit advanced to the NFC Title game by defeating a team that pundits also felt were poised to be Super Bowl contenders for many years to come.
Wayne Fontes outcoached Jimmy Johnson on that afternoon in front of a capacity crowd at the Pontiac Silverdome.
The official attendance that day was announced as 79,835.
Lions backup quarterback Erik Kramer went on to throw for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Linebacker Chris Spielman had an interception, and cornerback Melvin Jenkins had a pick-six.
"You're watching the two teams of the 90s. The Lions and the Cowboys. We will hear a lot from these two teams for awhile," the late John Madden proclaimed on the broadcast.
“I remember Mr. Ford coming down to the tunnel, and the PR, Bill Keenist, brought him down to the tunnel, and he wouldn’t come on the field. And I remember asking the PR guy, Bill Keenist, I said, ‘Go over and get Mr. Ford and have him come on the field.’ And he didn’t want to do that. He was a special type owner, and I eventually got him to come on the field," Fontes recalled to the Detroit Free Press. "Then he stood behind us. Then I said, ‘Mr. Ford, stand right here. This is your team.’ And he moved up there, and he felt so good about it. I think that was a very special moment for him.”
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