The Curse of Bobby Layne
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The Playoffs

When you take a look at the post season record of the Lions, you will notice that prior to the curse years the Lions did very well in playoff games with a 6-1 record (We do not count the Portsmouth Lions record). Now lets look at the record after the curse and their record is 1-9. Thats right folks one playoff win and nine losses since the curse. In the chart below you can see that obviously the changing point was when the curse started in 1958. In addition it took the Lions 13 years to make the playoffs after the curse and when they did they did not even score, it took another 12 years for that to happen. The curse was so strong that the Lions did not score a point in a playoff game for more than a quarter of a century! A 13 year drought to get to a playoff game and they follow that with a 12 year drought. That is not unlucky, that is cursed.


Year Wins Loss Ties Home Wins Home Loss Home Ties Road Wins Road Loss Road Ties Post Season
1935 7 3 2 5 1 2 3 1 W-Detroit 26, NY Giants 7
NFL Champions
1952 9 3 6 1 3 2 W-Detroit 31, Los Angeles 21
W-Detroit 17 Cleveland 7
NFL Champions
1953 10 2 5 1 5 1 W-Detroit 17 Cleveland 16
NFL Champions
1954 9 2 1 5 1 4 2 L-Cleveland 56 Detroit 10
1957 8 4 5 1 3 3 W-Detroit 31 San Francisco 27
W-Detroit 59 Cleveland 14
NFL Champions
CURSE OF BOBBY LAYNE TAKES EFFECT DURING 1958 SEASON
1970 10 4 6 1 4 3 L-Dallas 5 Detroit 0
1982 4 5 2 3 2 2 L-Washington 31 Detroit 7
1983 9 7 6 2 3 5 L-San Francisco 24 Detroit 23
1991 12 4 8 4 4 W-Detroit 38 Dallas 6
L-Washington 41 Detroit 10
1993 10 6 5 3 5 3 L-Green Bay 28 Detroit 24
1994 9 7 6 2 3 5 L-Green Bay 16 Detroit 12
1995 10 6 7 1 3 5 L-Philadelphia 58 Detroit 37
1997 9 7 6 2 3 5 L-Tampa Bay 20 Detroit 10
1999 8 8 6 2 2 6 L-Washington 27 Detroit 13