1965 Detroit Lions season

The 1965 Detroit Lions season was the 36th season in franchise history. Harry Gilmer replaced George Wilson as the Lions head coach. The Lions failed to improve on their 1964 record of 7–5–2, finishing at 6–7–1.

1965 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Harry Gilmer
Home field	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	6–7–1
Division place	6th NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	11	Tom Nowatzke	Fullback	Indiana

Regular season

Main article: 1965 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 19	Los Angeles Rams	W 20–0	1–0	46,941
2	September 26	at Minnesota Vikings	W 31–29	2–0	46,826
3	October 3	Washington Redskins	W 14–10	3–0	52,627
4	October 10	at Baltimore Colts	L 7–31	3–1	60,238
5	October 17	Green Bay Packers	L 21–31	3–2	56,712
6	October 24	at Chicago Bears	L 10–38	3–3	45,658
7	October 31	at Los Angeles Rams	W 31–7	4–3	35,137
8	November 7	at Green Bay Packers	W 12–7	5–3	50,852
9	November 14	San Francisco 49ers	L 21–27	5–4	54,534
10	November 21	Chicago Bears	L 10–17	5–5	51,499
11	November 25	Baltimore Colts	T 24–24	5–5–1	55,036
12	December 5	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–17	5–6–1	38,463
13	December 12	Minnesota Vikings	L 7–29	5–7–1	45,420
14	December 19	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 35–28	6–7–1	56,718

• Thursday (November 25: Thanksgiving)

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	10	3	1	.769	8–3–1	316	224	T1
Baltimore Colts	10	3	1	.769	8–3–1	389	284	W1
Chicago Bears	9	5	0	.643	7–5	409	275	L1
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	421	402	T1
Minnesota Vikings	7	7	0	.500	5–7	383	403	W2
Detroit Lions	6	7	1	.462	4–7–1	257	295	W1
Los Angeles Rams	4	10	0	.286	2–10	269	328	L1

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

Roster

1965 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 16 Milt Plum 15 George Izo 18 Tom Myers Running backs 23 Tom Watkins 31 Amos Marsh 32 Joe Don Looney HB 33 Nick Pietrosante FB 35 Tom Nowatzke 45 Bobby Felts Wide receivers 41 Terry Barr 89 Gail Cogdill 87 John Henderson Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons 88 Ron Kramer		Offensive linemen 54 Ed Flanagan C 75 John Gordy G 62 Ted Karras Sr. G 70 Daryl Sanders T 79 John Gonzaga LG 51 Bob Whitlow C 66 Jim Simon G 73 Roger Shoals T Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown DT 74 Larry Hand DE 71 Alex Karras DT 78 Darris McCord DE 82 Jerry Rush DT 88 Sam Williams		Linebackers 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 59 Ernie Clark 67 Wally Hilgenberg 53 Mike Lucci Defensive backs 44 Dick LeBeau CB 21 Bruce Maher S 47 Wayne Rasmussen FS 27 Bobby Thompson CB 43 Jimmy Hill DB 43 Bobby Smith DB 46 Jim Kearney DB 48 Tom Vaughn FS 81 Night Train Lane CB Special teams 55 Wayne Walker 25 Pat Studstill		Reserve lists currently vacant rookies in italics

Playoffs

Did not qualify.

References

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database