1940 Detroit Lions season

1940 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Potsy Clark
Home field	University of Detroit Stadium
Results
Record	5–5–1
Division place	3rd NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1940 Detroit Lions season was their 11th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 6–5, winning only five games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

Due to a dispute between new Lions owner Fred Mandel and Detroit Tigers owner Walter Briggs, the Lions played the entire 1940 home schedule at University of Detroit Stadium.

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 15	at Chicago Cardinals	T 0–0	0–0–1	War Memorial Stadium	18,048	Recap
2	September 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–10	0–1–1	Dinan Field	15,310	Recap
3	September 29	Cleveland Rams	W 6–0	1–0–1	Dinan Field	15,347	Recap
4	October 5	Chicago Cardinals	W 43–14	2–0–1	Dinan Field	20,619	Recap
5	October 13	at Chicago Bears	L 0–7	2–1–1	Soldier Field	34,217	Recap
6	October 20	at Green Bay Packers	W 23–14	3–1–1	City Stadium	21,001	Recap
7	October 27	Washington Redskins	L 14–20	3–3–1	Dinan Field	28,809	Recap
8	November 3	at Cleveland Rams	L 0–24	3–4–1	Cleveland Stadium	18,881	Recap
9	November 10	Chicago Bears	W 17–14	4–4–1	Dinan Field	21,735	Recap
10	November 17	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–0	5–4–1	Shibe Park	6,327	Recap
11	November 24	Green Bay Packers	L 7–50	5–5–1	Briggs Stadium	26,019	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears	8	3	0	.727	6–2	238	152	W2
Green Bay Packers	6	4	1	.600	4–3–1	238	155	T1
Detroit Lions	5	5	1	.500	4–3–1	138	153	L1
Cleveland Rams	4	6	1	.400	2–5–1	171	191	T1
Chicago Cardinals	2	7	2	.222	2–5–1	139	222	L3

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

NFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	9	2	0	.818	6–2	245	142	W1
Brooklyn Dodgers	8	3	0	.727	6–2	186	120	W4
New York Giants	6	4	1	.600	5–2–1	131	133	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	7	2	.222	1–6–1	60	178	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	1	10	0	.091	1–7	111	211	L1

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

External links

• 1940 Detroit Lions at Pro Football Reference
• 1940 Detroit Lions at jt-sw.com
• 1940 Detroit Lions at The Football Database