Fontes recalls Lions' last playoff win over Cowboys

The Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys for their only playoff win of the Super Bowl era 23 years ago Monday, and the coach who led them to that victory thinks the organization is poised for another postseason victory this week.

"I'm taking my team," former Lions coach Wayne Fontes said Friday by phone from his home in Florida. "I've watched basically every game the Lions have played on TV and they're an excellent football team. I was back there maybe a month ago and I had a chance to talk to Coach (Jim) Caldwell and he's done a great job. The building's excited about that football team, the city's excited about that football team and so am I."

The Lions and Cowboys will meet in the playoffs Sunday for the first time since Jan. 5, 1992, when Erik Kramer threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-6 Lions win at the Pontiac Silverdome.

The Lions and Cowboys were considered two of the NFL's up-and-coming teams at the time, with star running backs (Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith) and high-scoring offenses (they ranked ninth and seventh, respectively, in points per game), but only one went on to sustained success.

The Lions lost in the NFC championship game to Washington a week after beating the Cowboys and missed the playoffs in the 1992 season, while Dallas won Super Bowls three of the next four years.

Still, Fontes said that playoff win is recalled fondly by everyone involved.

"It was outstanding," Fontes said. "(The Silverdome) was deafening. You couldn't even hear yourself think it was so loud, and the fans were so appreciative. When we were leaving the dome, they were still in the parking lot and blowing their horns. It was big for the city, big for our football team, big for our program. It was outstanding for the city. It was something that Detroit, the city needed for a long time, and that football team gave it to them."

Despite having Sanders, who finished second to Smith for the rushing title that year (1,563 yards to 1,548 yards, in one fewer game), the Lions used a pass-first approach to beat a Cowboys team that started Steve Beuerlein at quarterback over a just-returning-from-injury Troy Aikman.

Sanders finished with just 12 carries for 69 yards, 47 of which came on a fourth-quarter touchdown run, while Willie Green (eight catches, 115 yards, two touchdowns) and Herman Moore (6-87-1) both had big days.

"I remember Dallas came into the dome and their whole concept was they were going to try and stop Barry Sanders," Fontes said. "They played eight men in the box probably almost the whole football game to prevent us from running the football and we threw the ball very well that afternoon. And we kept throwing it and kept throwing it.

"I remember (then offensive coordinator) Dave Levy came up to me right before the half and he said, 'You know, Barry's only touched the ball two or three times this whole half' – Sanders had four carries for 8 yards at halftime – "So I went up to Barry and I said, 'Barry, I know we haven't given you the ball I said is that OK with you?' He said, 'That's fine. We're winning aren't we?'"

As the final minutes of that game ticked off the clock, William Clay Ford joined Fontes on the sideline to watch his only playoff victory as owner.

"The game ended, I turned to Mr. Ford and as I did, the players, unbeknownst to me and Mr. Ford, the players had the Gatorade shower that hit both of us and it kind of surprised both of us," Fontes said. "We're lucky we didn't get a heart attack at the time. But it was exciting and I'll never forget that game."

The Lions lost 41-10 at Washington in the NFC championship game the next week, and are 0-6 in postseason games since.

Fontes said it was "very surprising" to hear the Lions haven't won a playoff game in 23 years, but he said Friday, "They can do it now."

"They have all the parts now, but again, it's not easy," he said. "Nineteen-nintey-one? My God, I didn't know that? Oh goodness. But anyway, I'm sitting here trying to think, I don't know if they really have or not, but I guess you're right. It's a long time and if they can do it, they can do it now.

"I'll tell you what, I'm pulling hard. I'll be sitting by that TV and I'm pulling hard."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.