1958 Detroit Lions season

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

The 1958 Detroit Lions season was their 29th in the National Football League. The defending NFL champions failed to improve on their previous season and finished at 4–7–1, fifth in the six-team Western Conference.[1]

Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne, age 31, was traded after the second game to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Earl Morrall and two draft choices.[2][3] After losing their first two games without Layne, the Steelers finished at 7–4–1.

The Lions won only one game in the first half of the season, then spilt the final six games. It was one of the poorest performances by a defending league champion in league history.

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 28, 1958 at Baltimore Colts L 28–15
48,377
2 October 5, 1958 at Green Bay Packers T 13–13
32,035
3 October 12, 1958 Los Angeles Rams L 42–28
55,648
4 October 19, 1958 Baltimore Colts L 40–14
55,190
5 October 26, 1958 at Los Angeles Rams W 41–24
81,703
6 November 2, 1958 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–21
59,213
7 November 9, 1958 at Cleveland Browns W 30–10
75,363
8 November 16, 1958 San Francisco 49ers W 35–21
54,523
9 November 23, 1958 Chicago Bears L 20–7
55,280
10 November 27, 1958 Green Bay Packers W 24–14
50,971
11 December 7, 1958 New York Giants L 19–17
50,115
12 December 14, 1958 at Chicago Bears L 21–16
38,346

Game summaries

Week 10

1 234Total
Packers 7 070 14
• Lions 10 077 24

[4]

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 7–3 334 278 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

  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. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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