Detroit Lions Lookback: Herman Moore, The 1995 season
In my new weekly review series called Lions Lookback, we will examine memorable Detroit Lions’ seasons and players through different eras of the franchise.
This series is an opportunity each week to look back at one memorable season from Detroit Lions who played in different eras. A chance to remember and pay homage to the hard work and dedication that allowed these men to put up the statistics that they did.
This week, we’ll be looking back at Herman Moore’s 1995 season.
1995 was a great year for me as a nine year old kid! My two favorite movies that year were Batman Forever and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie.
The Lions had themselves a respectable year in 1995 as well. Wayne Fontes was the head coach, Barry Sanders was at running back, and Scott Mitchell was the starting quarterback. The team also had Moore, Johnnie Morton, and Brett Perriman lining up at wide receiver.
After losing their first three of four games, the Lions rallied and won nine of their final twelve. They even won their last seven games consecutively! Heading into the playoffs that year, there wasn’t a team that was as hot as Detroit.
Moore’s receiving production was an amazing factor during Detroit’s winning streak. He was targeted an incredible 206 times and came down with a career high 123 receptions.
Moore also posted career highs in receiving yards and touchdowns with 1,686 and 14 respectively. He caught nearly 60% of passes thrown his way and had a nose for the end zone.
Herman averaged an intimidating 105.4 yards per game. Barry Sanders led the way on the ground and Moore did the same through the air. Motown had a scary one-two punch that year.
There was no way that the Lions would have finished as strongly as they did without the threat of Moore taking the top off of the opposing defense. His stats on the field got him voted first team All-Pro for the first time. He was also voted to his second consecutive Pro Bowl.
Though Detroit played their hearts out, they still finished a game behind Green Bay in the final division standings. The Packers won the old NFC Central division title at 11-5. The Lions’ 10-6 record was still good enough to warrant a spot in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Ultimately, Detroit didn’t move beyond that round with a 58-37 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Though the Detroit Lions only achieved moderate levels of success during Herman Moore’s tenure with the team, his high level of production was a near constant. The 1995 season was the first of three consecutive All-Pro nods for the wideout who ended up playing 11 years in the Motor City.