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 2 3 4 Total Packers 7 0 7 0 14 • Lions 10 0 7 7 24 Date: November 27 Location: Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan Game attendance: 50,971

Scoring summary 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

^[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