1957 Detroit Lions season

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1957 Detroit Lions season
Head coach George Wilson
Home field Briggs Stadium
Results
Record 8–4
Division place 1st NFL Western (playoff)
Playoff finish Won NFL Championship

The 1957 Detroit Lions season resulted in the Lions winning their fourth and most recent NFL championship.[1][2][3]

In the penultimate regular season game with the Cleveland Browns on December 8, hall of fame quarterback Bobby Layne was lost for the season with a broken right ankle. With backup Tobin Rote in at quarterback in the second quarter,[4] the Lions won that game and overcame a ten-point deficit at halftime the following week to defeat the Chicago Bears 21–13, whom they had lost to three weeks earlier at home.[5] They ended the regular season with three consecutive wins and an 8–4 record. All four losses were within the Western Conference, splitting the two games with all but the Green Bay Packers, whom they swept.

Detroit tied with the San Francisco 49ers (8–4) for the conference title, which required a tiebreaker playoff game. Played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco on December 22, the 49ers entered the game as three point favorites.[6] Down by twenty points in the third quarter, Detroit rallied with a 24–0 run to win 31–27.[7]

The Lions were home underdogs for next week the NFL championship game on against Cleveland.[8]Played on December 29 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, the Lions led 17–0 after the first quarter and won in a rout, 59–14.[1][2][3]

Through the 2015 season, the Lions have yet to return to the NFL title game (including the Super Bowl), an absence of nearly sixty years.

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 29, 1957 at Baltimore Colts L 34–14
40,112
2 October 6, 1957 at Green Bay Packers W 24–14
32,132
3 October 13, 1957 Los Angeles Rams W 10–7
55,914
4 October 20, 1957 Baltimore Colts W 31–27
55,764
5 October 27, 1957 at Los Angeles Rams L 35–17
77,314
6 November 3, 1957 at San Francisco 49ers L 35–31
59,702
7 November 10, 1957 at Philadelphia Eagles W 27–16
29,302
8 November 17, 1957 San Francisco 49ers W 31–10
56,915
9 November 24, 1957 Chicago Bears L 27–7
55,769
10 November 28, 1957 Green Bay Packers W 18–6
54,301
11 December 8, 1957 Cleveland Browns W 20–7
55,814
12 December 15, 1957 at Chicago Bears W 21–13
41,088

Game summaries

Week 2: at Green Bay Packers

1 2 3 4 Total
Lions 14 3 0 7 24
Packers 0 0 0 14 14

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 0 7 0 0 7
• Lions 0 10 0 0 10

[9]

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total
Colts 7 14 6 0 27
• Lions 0 3 7 21 31

[10]

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Conference December 22, 1957 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–27
60,118
Championship December 29, 1957 Cleveland Browns W 59–14
55,263

Standings

NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Detroit Lions 8 4 0 .667 6–4 251 231 W3
San Francisco 49ers 8 4 0 .667 7–3 260 264 W3
Baltimore Colts 7 5 0 .583 6–4 303 235 L2
Los Angeles Rams 6 6 0 .500 5–5 307 278 W2
Chicago Bears 5 7 0 .417 4–6 203 211 L1
Green Bay Packers 3 9 0 .250 2–8 218 311 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Detroit Lions 1957 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve Lists
  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics

Postseason

Western Conference Playoff Game

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Main article: 1957 NFL playoffs
  • Detroit 31, SAN FRANCISCO 27

NFL Championship Game

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Main article: 1957 NFL Championship Game
1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 0 7 7 0 14
Lions 17 14 14 14 59

Scoring

  • DET – FG Martin 31
  • DET – Rote 1-yard run (Martin kick)
  • DET – Gedman 1-yard run (Martin kick)
  • CLE – Brown 29-yard run (Groza kick)
  • DET – Junker 26-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
  • DET – Barr 19-yard interception (Martin kick)
  • CLE – Carpenter 5-yard run (Groza kick)
  • DET – Doran 78-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
  • DET – Junker 23-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
  • DET – Middleton 32-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
  • DET Cassady yard pass from Reichow (Martin kick)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-05.
  10. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-05.
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