The 1957 season was the Detroit Lions' 28th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 24th as the Detroit Lions, and their first under head coach George Wilson. Despite dropping one more game than the previous season, the Lions tied the San Francisco 49ers for first place in the NFL Western Conference. In the tiebreaker game, the Lions defeated the 49ers 31–27 to advance to their fourth championship appearance of the decade. Playing as underdogs, the Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 59–14 to win their fourth NFL championship. As of the 2025 season, this is the last time the Lions have appeared in an NFL title game, the second-longest drought in the NFL and fourth-longest in the four major sports.
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, 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. 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.
Schedule Regular season
According to the team, a total of 39,844 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.
Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Sources 1 September 29 at Baltimore Colts L 14–34 0–1 Memorial Stadium 40,112 2 October 6 at Green Bay Packers W 24–14 1–1 New City Stadium 32,132 3 October 13 Los Angeles Rams W 10–7 2–1 Briggs Stadium 55,764 4 October 20 Baltimore Colts W 31–27 3–1 Briggs Stadium 55,764 5 October 27 at Los Angeles Rams L 17–35 3–2 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 77,314 6 November 3 at San Francisco 49ers L 31–35 3–3 Kezar Stadium 59,702 7 November 10 at Philadelphia Eagles W 27–16 4–3 Connie Mack Stadium 29,320 8 November 17 San Francisco 49ers W 31–10 5–3 Briggs Stadium 56,915 9 November 24 Chicago Bears L 7–27 5–4 Briggs Stadium 55,769 10 November 28 Green Bay Packers W 18–6 6–4 Briggs Stadium 54,301 11 December 8 Cleveland Browns W 20–7 7–4 Briggs Stadium 55,814 12 December 15 at Chicago Bears W 21–13 8–4 Wrigley Field 41,088 Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.
Thursday (November 28: Thanksgiving)
Playoffs
Game Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Sources Conference December 22 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–27 Kezar Stadium 60,118 Championship December 29 Cleveland Browns W 59–14 Briggs Stadium 55,263
Standings
Roster Detroit Lions 1957 roster Quarterbacks 22 Bobby Layne K 18 Tobin Rote
Running backs 40 Howard Cassady 26 Gene Gedman 82 Leon Hart 35 John Henry Johnson 30 Tom Tracy
Receivers 87 Dorne Dibble 83 Jim Doran 88 Steve Junker 84 Dave Middleton 80 Jerry Reichow Offensive linemen 50 Charlie Ane T/C 67 Stan Campbell G 76 Lou Creekmur T 52 Frank Gatski C 75 John Gordy G 73 Ken Russell T 66 Harley Sewell G
Defensive linemen 68 Gene Cronin DE 70 Ray Krouse DT 72 Gil Mains DE/DT 78 Darris McCord DE 74 Bob Miller DT 79 Gerry Perry DE/DT Linebackers 86 Bob Long OLB 47 Jim Martin OLB/MLB/K 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 57 Roger Zatkoff OLB
Defensive backs 41 Terry Barr CB 24 Jack Christiansen S 25 James David CB 21 Carl Karilivacz CB 28 Yale Lary S/P 43 Gary Lowe S Reserve lists 85 Sonny Gandee LB (IR) -- Dick Marazza T (IR) -- Tom Rychlec WR (Military)
rookies in italics
Season summary At the "Meet the Lions" banquet on Monday, August 12, seventh-year head coach Buddy Parker surprised the audience by abruptly announcing his resignation; longtime assistant coach George Wilson was promoted the following day. Two weeks later, Parker became the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pre-season Week 1: at Baltimore
The Lions opened the regular season on the road with a 34–14 loss to the Baltimore Colts on September 29. Quarterback Johnny Unitas threw four touchdown passes while the Baltimore defense held the Lions to 23 rushing yards and intercepted Bobby Layne three times. Detroit's touchdowns were scored by Howard Cassady (a short run for his first NFL touchdown) and Jerry Reichow on a 32-yard pass from backup quarterback Tobin Rote.
Week 2: at Green Bay Packers
Week 3: Los Angeles Rams
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-05.
Week 4: Baltimore Colts
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-05.
Playoffs vs. San Francisco
On December 22, the Lions defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31–27, in a Western Conference playoff game. The two teams had finished the regular season tied in the standings at 8–4, which called for a tiebreaker game.
The 49ers took a 24–7 lead at halftime, as Y. A. Tittle threw three touchdown passes in the first half. A field goal early in the third quarter extended the lead to 27–7, then the Lions responded with 24 unanswered points. Detroit's touchdowns were scored by Steve Junker on a four-yard pass from Tobin Rote, two runs by Tom Tracy (1-yard and 58-yard runs), and Gene Gedman on a two-yard run.
NFL Championship Game
On December 29, the Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 59–14 in the NFL championship game. The Browns had been favored to win by three points. Tobin Rote, filling in at quarterback after Bobby Layne broke his ankle on December 8, was credited with "a brilliant performance" as he completed 12 of 19 passes for 280 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown, leading the Lions to their greatest point total in history. The Lions capitalized on five interceptions and two fumble recoveries, including a 19-yard interception return for touchdown by Terry Barr, and held Cleveland star rookie Jim Brown to 69 rushing yards on 20 carries.
The longest play of the game was a 78-yard touchdown pass from Rote to Jim Doran. Rookie Steve Junker was the Lions' leading scorer with 12 points on touchdown receptions covering 26 and 23 yards. Jim Martin followed with 11 points on eight extra-point conversions and a 31-yard field goal. The victory gave the Lions their third NFL championship in six years. It was also referred to as "the perfect revenge" for the Browns' 56–10 rout of the Lions in the title game in 1954.
References
Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com