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]
| 1958 Detroit Lions season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | George Wilson |
| Home field | Briggs Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 4–7–1 |
| Division place | 5th NFL Western |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
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]
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),[4] 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.[5]
Schedule
edit| 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 |
Schedule
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 28 | at Baltimore Colts | L 15–28 | 0–1 | Memorial Stadium | 48,377 | |
| 2 | October 5 | at Green Bay Packers | T 13–13 | 0–1–1 | City Stadium | 32,035 | |
| 3 | October 12 | Los Angeles Rams | L28–42 | 0–2–1 | Briggs Stadium | 55,648 | |
| 4 | October 19 | Baltimore Colts | L 14–40 | 0–3–1 | Briggs Stadium | 55,190 | |
| 5 | October 26 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 41–24 | 1–3–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 81,703 | |
| 6 | November 2 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 21–24 | 1–4–1 | Kezar Stadium | 59,213 | |
| 7 | November 9 | at Cleveland Browns | W 30–10 | 2–4–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 75,363 | |
| 8 | November 16 | San Francisco 49ers | W 35–21 | 3–4–1 | Briggs Stadium | 54,523 | |
| 9 | November 23 | Chicago Bears | L 7–20 | 3–5–1 | Briggs Stadium | 55,280 | |
| 10 | November 27 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–14 | 4–5–1 | Briggs Stadium | 50,971 | |
| 11 | December 7 | vs. New York Giants | L 17–19 | 4–6–1 | Briggs Stadium | 50,115 | |
| 12 | December 14 | at Chicago Bears | L 16–21 | 4–7–1 | Wrigley Field | 38,346 | |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Game summaries
editWeek 10
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Source:[6]
Standings
edit| 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 | |
| Detroit Lions | 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.
References
edit- ^ 1958 Detroit Lions
- ^ Livingston, Pat (October 7, 1958). "Layne takes over as Steeler QB". Pittsburgh Press. p. 27.
- ^ Sell, Jack (October 7, 1958). "Steelers get Layne for Morrall". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
- ^ "49ers 24, Lions 21". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 3, 1958. p. 3B.
- ^ "All-Stars upset Lions, 35-19". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 16, 1958. p. 6.
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com