1958 Detroit Lions season

1958 Detroit Lions season
Head coachGeorge Wilson
Home stadiumBriggs Stadium
Results
Record4–7–1
Division place5th NFL Western
PlayoffsDid not qualify

The 1958 season was Detroit Lions' 29th in the National Football League (NFL), their 18th playing in Briggs Stadium, and their second under head coach George Wilson. The defending NFL champions failed to improve on their 8–4 record from the previous season and finished at 4–7–1, fifth in the six-team Western Conference.[1]

Following the second game of the regular season in early October, the Lions made a major trade. Future hall of fame quarterback Bobby Layne, the Lions' primary starter for eight seasons and leader of three championship teams, was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for third-year quarterback Earl Morrall and two draft choices.[2][3][4]

This supposedly led to Layne "cursing" the Lions, allegedly saying that Detroit "would not win for fifty years." The story is considered a hoax, as no contemporaneous account exists and Layne himself denied saying it. (Real or not, the "curse" bedeviled the Lions franchise for the next half-century, and beyond: as of 2024, 66 years after the trade, Detroit has not won another championship, and indeed has won only three playoff contests [two of them in 2023] in that time.) Meanwhile, after losing their first two games without Layne, the Steelers finished at 7–4–1, their best record in over a decade.

The Lions won only one game in the first half of the season (1–4–1),[5] then spilt the final six games; one of the poorest performances by a defending league champion in NFL history. The preseason began on a sour note in mid-August as they lost 35–19 to the 14-point underdog College All-Stars at Soldier Field in Chicago, closing the margin with a late touchdown.[6]

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 15 vs. College All-Stars L 19–35 0–1 Soldier Field 70,000
2 August 22 Cleveland Browns W 17–7 1–1 Briggs Stadium 36,662
3 August 29 New York Giants W 26–7 2–1 Briggs Stadium 33,090
4 September 5 vs. Chicago Bears L 17–24 2–2 Cotton Bowl 40,000
5 September 13 vs. Philadelphia Eagles L 24–31 2–3 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium 61,000
6 September 20 at Cleveland Browns L 7–41 2–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 35,543

Regular season

According to the team, a total of 42,154 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1957 campaign.[7] 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.[7]

Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources
1 September 28 at Baltimore Colts L 15–28 0–1 Memorial Stadium 48,377 Recap
2 October 5 at Green Bay Packers T 13–13 0–1–1 New City Stadium 32,035 Recap
3 October 12 Los Angeles Rams L28–42 0–2–1 Briggs Stadium 55,648 Recap
4 October 19 Baltimore Colts L 14–40 0–3–1 Briggs Stadium 55,190 Recap
5 October 26 at Los Angeles Rams W 41–24 1–3–1 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 81,703 Recap
6 November 2 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–24 1–4–1 Kezar Stadium 59,350 Recap
7 November 9 at Cleveland Browns W 30–10 2–4–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 75,563 Recap
8 November 16 San Francisco 49ers W 35–21 3–4–1 Briggs Stadium 54,523 Recap
9 November 23 Chicago Bears L 7–20 3–5–1 Briggs Stadium 55,280 Recap
10 November 27 Green Bay Packers W 24–14 4–5–1 Briggs Stadium 50,971 Recap
11 December 7 vs. New York Giants L 17–19 4–6–1 Briggs Stadium 50,115 Recap
12 December 14 at Chicago Bears L 16–21 4–7–1 Wrigley Field 38,346 Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. Thanksgiving: November 27.

Game summaries

Week 10

Team 1 234Total
Packers 7 070 14
• Lions 10 077 24
Scoring summary
1GBMax McGee 28 yard pass from Bart Star (Paul Hornung kick)GB 7–0
1DETKen Webb 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick)Tie 7–7
1DETJim Martin 32 yard field goalDET 10–7
3GBDon McIlhenny 1 yard run (Paul Hornung kick)GB 14–10
3DETTobin Rote 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick)DET 17–14
4DETGene Gedman 4 yard run (Jim Martin kick)DET 24–14

Source:[8]

Standings

NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts 9 3 0 .750 8–2 381 203 L2
Los Angeles Rams 8 4 0 .667 7–3 344 278 W3
Chicago Bears 8 4 0 .667 7–3 298 230 W2
San Francisco 49ers 6 6 0 .500 4–6 257 324 W2
4 7 1 .364 3–6–1 261 276 L2
Green Bay Packers 1 10 1 .091 0–9–1 193 382 L7
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
New York Giants 9 3 0 .750 7–3 246 183 W4
Cleveland Browns 9 3 0 .750 8–2 302 217 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 7 4 1 .636 6–3–1 261 230 W1
Washington Redskins 4 7 1 .364 3–6–1 214 268 W1
Chicago Cardinals 2 9 1 .182 2–7–1 261 356 L6
Philadelphia Eagles 2 9 1 .182 2–7–1 235 306 L4
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. ^ 1958 Detroit Lions
  2. ^ Livingston, Pat (October 7, 1958). "Layne takes over as Steeler QB". Pittsburgh Press. p. 27.
  3. ^ Sell, Jack (October 7, 1958). "Steelers get Layne for Morrall". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Layne peddled to Pittsburgh". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. October 7, 1958. p. 27.
  5. ^ "49ers 24, Lions 21". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 3, 1958. p. 3B.
  6. ^ "All-Stars upset Lions, 35-19". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 16, 1958. p. 6.
  7. ^ a b Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4.
  8. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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