See also: 1957 NFL playoffs.
| Type: | nflc |
| 1957 | |
| Visitor: | Cleveland Browns |
| Home: | Detroit Lions |
| Visitor Coach: | Paul Brown |
| Home Coach: | George Wilson |
| Visitor Conf: | Eastern |
| Visitor Abbr: | CLE |
| Home Conf: | Western |
| Home Abbr: | DET |
| Visitor Record: | 9–2–1 |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Qtr1: | 0 |
| Visitor Qtr2: | 7 |
| Visitor Qtr3: | 7 |
| Visitor Qtr4: | 0 |
| Visitor Total: | 14 |
| Home Qtr1: | 17 |
| Home Qtr2: | 14 |
| Home Qtr3: | 14 |
| Home Qtr4: | 14 |
| Home Total: | 59 |
| Date: | December 29, 1957 |
| Stadium: | Briggs Stadium |
| City: | Detroit, Michigan |
| Attendance: | 55,263 |
| Network: | NBC |
| Announcers: | Van Patrick, Ken Coleman, Red Grange |
| Radio: | NBC, WGAR, WWJ |
| Radioannouncers: | Ray Scott, Bill McColgan |
| Hofers: | Browns: Paul Brown (coach/gm), Jim Brown, Len Ford, Lou Groza, Henry Jordan, Mike McCormack Lions: Jack Christiansen, Lou Creekmur, Frank Gatski, John Henry Johnson, Yale Lary, Bobby Layne, Joe Schmidt |
The 1957 NFL Championship Game was the 25th annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), held on December 29 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The Detroit Lions (8–4), winners of the Western Conference in a playoff the previous week,[7] hosted the Cleveland Browns (9–2–1), champions of the Eastern Conference. Detroit had won the regular season game 20–7 three weeks earlier on December 8, also at Briggs Stadium, but lost quarterback Bobby Layne with a broken right ankle late in the first half.[8] [9] Reserve quarterback Tobin Rote, a starter the previous year with Green Bay, filled in for Layne and won that game with Cleveland, the next week at Chicago, and the tiebreaker playoff game at San Francisco.[7]
It was the fourth pairing of the two teams in the championship game; they met previously in 1952, 1953, and 1954. The Browns, idle the previous week, were favored by three points,[10] [11] [12] but the home underdog Lions scored two touchdowns in each quarter and won in a rout, 59–14.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Until 2006, this was the last time that major professional teams from Michigan and Ohio met in a postseason game (or series) in any sport. This was the last NFL playoff game played in the city of Detroit other than Super Bowl XL until 2024 as the Lions' other two home playoff games prior (1992 and 1994) were at the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac. This also remains as the Lions' fourth and most recent league title and most recent championship appearance (including the Super Bowl) as of 2024, starting a sixty-seven year championship drought for the Lions.
| Detroit | Position | Cleveland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | |||
| LE | Pete Brewster | ||
| Lou Creekmur‡ | LT | Lou Groza‡ | |
| LG | Herschel Forester | ||
| Frank Gatski‡ | C | Art Hunter | |
| RG | Fred Robinson | ||
| Ken Russell | RT | Mike McCormack‡ | |
| RE | Preston Carpenter | ||
| QB | Tommy O'Connell | ||
| LHB | Ray Renfro | ||
| RHB | Lew Carpenter | ||
| John Henry Johnson‡ | FB | Jim Brown‡ | |
| DEFENSE | |||
| LDE | Bill Quinlan | ||
| LDT | Bob Gain | ||
| RDT | Don Colo | ||
| RDE | Len Ford‡ | ||
| LLB | Galen Fiss | ||
| Joe Schmidt‡ | MLB | Vince Costello | |
| RLB | Walt Michaels | ||
| DB | Junior Wren | ||
| Jack Christiansen‡ | DB | Ken Konz | |
| Yale Lary‡ | DB | Warren Lahr | |
| DB | Don Paul | ||
Of those listed above, Lions' QB Bobby Layne was injured earlier in the month and did not play, and future Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Henry Jordan was a rookie for the Browns.
The home underdog Lions were without starting quarterback Layne due to a broken ankle three weeks earlier against the Browns.[8] [9] [10] Backup quarterback Tobin Rote filled in admirably following Layne's injury, winning every game, including a 24-point rally in the tiebreaker playoff over the 49ers the previous week.[7] In his eighth season, Rote threw four touchdown passes in the title game, completing 12 of 19 passes for 280 yards, and also ran for a touchdown. Browns quarterbacks Tommy O'Connell and Milt Plum, on the other hand hit on a combined total of 9 of 22 passes for 112 yards. Taking full advantage of a pass interception and a fumble, Detroit ran up a 17–0 lead in the first quarter. Rookie running back Jim Brown gave the Cleveland rooters some hope with a 29-yard touchdown run at the start of the second period.
Things went from bad to worse for the Browns, hampered by injuries to quarterbacks O'Connell and Plum. The Lions romped for 14 points in each of the last three quarters,[3] [13] and won by 45 points, 59–14.[2] [3] [4] In their final six quarters of play (including their previous divisional playoff), the Lions outscored their opponents 83–17.
Sunday, December 29, 1957
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. EST[10]
The NFL had five game officials in ; the line judge was added in and the side judge in .
The gross receipts for the game, including radio and television rights, were just under $594,000, the highest to date. Each player on the winning Lions team received $4,295, while Browns players made $2,750 each.[3] [4]
The Lions have not appeared in an NFL championship game (including the Super Bowl) since this title . It was their last postseason appearance until 1970, and their last postseason home game and victory until 1992.
1992 was also the first time the Lions advanced as far as the NFC Championship game, losing the NFC Championship Game 41–10 to the Washington Redskins, who went on to win Super Bowl XXVI. They would advance to the NFC Championship game again 32 years later in 2024, where they would fall to the San Francisco 49ers 34–31 after leading by as many as 17 points, which is the closest the Lions have ever gotten to a Super Bowl to date.