Washington Redskins. In the following season, the Lions won 9 games in to capture the NFL Central division championship. On December 31, 1983, the Lions faced the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round. After the 49ers took a 14–3 in the first quarter, the Lions were able to trim the deficit to 14–9 by halftime on couple of field goals by kicker Eddie Murray, who made what was then a postseason record 54-yard kick in the closing seconds of the first half. Thanks to two touchdown runs by Billy Sims, the Lions led for the first time by the score of 23–17 with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter. Joe Montana then made one of his signature fourth quarter drives by completing six passes, the last of which was the go-ahead touchdown to Freddie Solomon, which gave the 49ers a 24–23 lead with 1:23 left. The Lions were not done. Even though backup quarterback Gary Danielson, who had replaced an injured Eric Hipple, had a horrible game with five interceptions, he pieced together a closing drive to put the team within field goal range with 11 seconds left. Murray, who had previously made three of four field goals, missed for the second time from 43 yards on a kick that went wide right, which secured the victory for the 49ers. On October 21, 1984, during a game against the Minnesota Vikings, Billy Sims suffered a career ending knee injury. He spent two years trying to rehab his injury before retiring in 1986. Sims' injury would set the tone for the rest of the season as the Lions finished with a 4–11–1 record. Monte Clark was fired after the season. The Lions brought in Darryl Rogers, considered to be an offensive guru who previously coached at the college level. However, his tenure was marked with much disappointment. From 1985 to mid-season in 1988, he had acquired the record of 18–40 and was 2–9 in 1988 before he was fired. He was replaced by interim head coach Wayne Fontes, who by the end of his coaching career, was considered to be one of the best coaches in franchise history and had the distinction of having the most wins and losses of any head coach in franchise history. Barry Sanders era (1989–1998) With the third overall draft pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, the Lions selected another Heisman Trophy-winning running back,