1958 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season November 2013 March 2026 1958-Lions-mediaguide.jpg Detroit Lions 1958 4–7–1 5th NFL Western George Wilson Briggs Stadium Did not qualify Lions seasons 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.1958 Detroit Lions 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.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0WscAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G08EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7023%2C2284688 Pittsburgh Press Livingston Pat Layne takes over as Steeler QB October 7, 1958 27https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=19FaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4msDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4681%2C867976 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sell Jack Steelers get Layne for Morrall October 7, 1958 1https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eAhPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5gAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4035%2C5745681 Toledo Blade Ohio Associated Press Layne peddled to Pittsburgh October 7, 1958 27 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),https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9vFVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=deIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6700%2C540310 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press 49ers 24, Lions 21 November 3, 1958 3B 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.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AvZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6666%2C2557333 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press All-Stars upset Lions, 35-19 August 16, 1958 6 Preseason WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 August 15, 1958 vs. College All-Stars L 19–35 0–1 Soldier Field 70,000 2 August 22, 1958 Cleveland Browns W 17–7 1–1 Briggs Stadium 36,662 3 August 29, 1958 New York Giants W 26–7 2–1 Briggs Stadium 33,090 4 September 5, 1958 vs. Chicago Bears L 17–24 2–2 Cotton Bowl 40,000 5 September 13, 1958 vs. Philadelphia Eagles L 24–31 2–3 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium 61,000 6 September 20, 1958 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.Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4. 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. GameDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecapSources 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 Packers 7 0 7 0 Lions 10 0 7 7 November 27 Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan 50,971 yes 1 GB Max McGee 28 yard pass from Bart Star (Paul Hornung kick) GB 7–0 1 DET Ken Webb 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick) Tie 7–7 1 DET Jim Martin 32 yard field goal DET 10–7 3 GB Don McIlhenny 1 yard run (Paul Hornung kick) GB 14–10 3 DET Tobin Rote 1 yard run (Jim Martin kick) DET 17–14 4 DET Gene Gedman 4 yard run (Jim Martin kick) DET 24–14 yes Source:Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings Roster Detroit Lions 1958 roster Quarterbacks 14 Earl Morrall 18 Tobin Rote Running backs 40 Howard Cassady 26 Gene Gedman 35 John Henry Johnson 45 Dan Lewis 34 Ken Webb Receivers 80 Jim Gibbons 84 Dave Middleton 87 Perry Richards 81 Tom Rychlec Offensive linemen 50 Charlie Ane C/T 67 Stan Campbell G 76 Lou Creekmur T 64 Doug Hogland G 73 Ken Russell T 66 Harley Sewell G Defensive linemen 85 Gene Cronin DE/DT 53 Bill Glass DT/C 71 Alex Karras DT 72 Gil Mains DT 78 Darris McCord DE 74 Bob Miller DT 79 Gerry Perry DT/DE/K Linebackers 86 Bob Long OLB/DE 47 Jim Martin MLB/K 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 55 Wayne Walker OLB 57 Roger Zatkoff OLB Defensive backs 41 Terry Barr CB 24 Jack Christiansen S 25 James David CB 28 Yale Lary S/P 43 Gary Lowe S 23 Dave Whitsell CB Reserve lists -- Hal Boutte WR (Military) 83 Jim Doran WR (IR) 7px -- Steve Junker WR (IR) 7px -- Jerry Reichow WR (IR) 7px rookies in italics References 2 Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Detroit Lions Category:1958 in Detroit