The Lions had only one win entering November, but had only one loss in their final seven games and finished at 7–5, one game short of the Western Conference championship (won by Green Bay).

Due to this being the NFL's last 12-game regular season and the addition of the Dallas Cowboys giving the league 13 teams - meaning each team was required to have a bye during the season - the 1960 Lions are the last NFL team that did not play its season opener until October: Detroit drew its bye during Week One, which was in the last week of September.

According to the team, a total of 39,153 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1960 campaign.

[1] The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.

[1] Thanksgiving Day game Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends Defensive linemen Defensive backs Special teams rookies in italics The first Playoff Bowl game for third place was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the week following the NFL Championship game.