NFL Old School Game of the Week: Lions Roar Back From 20-Point Deficit to Beat 49ers

Tom Tracy scored two touchdowns late in the third quarter of the Lions' comeback win against the 49ers.

Before the Super Bowl era, the postseason of the National Football League often consisted of just one game as the top two teams or the best team from each conference would meet in a winner-take-all game for the NFL championship.

Sometimes there would be a one-game playoff to determine who would play in the championship game if two teams ended the regular season in a tie for the best record.

That was such the case in 1957 when the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers finished with identical 8-4 records in the Western Conference which meant the two teams had to meet in one-game playoff to determine who would play the Cleveland Browns for the NFL title.

The Lions were seeking to return to the NFL championship game after a two-year absence following a three-year streak where Detroit faced the Cleveland Browns in the title game from 1952-54 with the Lions winning it in 1952 + 53 before being routed by the Browns 56-10 in the '54 title game.

The Lions entered the '57 season with a new head coach as George Wilson took over from Buddy Parker who resigned almost two months before the season began.

On the field, the Lions were led by quarterback Bobby Layne, who had been the Lions' starter since 1950 while linebacker Joe Schmidt led the defense which also featured defensive backs Jack Christiansen and Yale Lary.

However in the next-to-last game of the regular season, the Lions lost Layne for the rest of the season as he broke his right ankle and was replaced by Tobin Rote.

Rote would lead the Lions back from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Chicago Bears 21-13 in the regular season finale to earn a trip to San Francisco to take on the 49ers with the NFL's Western conference championship on the line.

The 49ers endured a roller coaster season in 1957 as they jumped out to a 5-1 start only to go on a three-game losing streak before winning their final three games of the regular season to earn a spot in the tiebreaker with the Lions.

San Francisco was led by head coach Frankie Albert, who was in his second season as the 49ers' head coach as the 49ers got to play a postseason game for the first time since their inclusion into the NFL back in 1946.

On the field, the 49ers were led by quarterback Y.A. Tittle, who along with wide receiver R.C. Owens, had created the "alley-oop" pass in which Tittle would throw the ball high into the air that only the 6 foot 3-inch Owens could catch it.

The "alley-oop" was used in the final seconds of the 49ers' game against the Lions on October 6 as the game-winning touchdown from 41 yards out with 11 seconds to play.

Two weeks later, the Lions would defeat the 49ers which meant neither team could use the head-to-head tiebreaker to determine the Western Conference champion as the two teams would face in Kezar Stadium on December 22, 1957.

After both teams punted on their first possessions of the game, the 49ers would get the first break of the game when defensive tackle Bill Herchman recovered a fumble by Lions fullback John Henry Johnson to give San Francisco the ball at the Detroit 21-yard-line.

A one-yard run by fullback Joe Perry followed by a holding penalty would push the 49ers back to the Detroit 34-yard-line when Tittle threw an alley-oop pass, this time for R.C. Owens who outjumped Lions defensive back Jim David to make the catch for the 34-yard touchdown to give San Francisco a 7-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first quarter.

The 49er defense would force the Lions to punt on their ensuing possession to give their football the ball back at their 42-yard-line as a run by halfback Hugh McElhenny went for no gain which was followed by a quarterback sack of Tittle to force 3rd & 17 at the San Francisco 35-yard-line.

The 49ers would get out of the hole as Tittle found Wilson for 18 yards and a 1st down at the Lions' 47-yard-line when on the next play Tittle fired a pass down the middle for McElhenny, who made the catch at the 15-yard-line and eluded two tacklers to get in the end zone for the touchdown that with the extra point extended San Francisco's lead to 14-0 with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter.

The Lions would begin their next possession at their 39-yard-line as Detroit would put together its best drive of the game up to this point behind the right arm of Rote as he completed four of six passes for 54 yards on the eight-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with a three-yard touchdown pass from Rote to Steve Junker on the first play of the second quarter to cut the 49ers' lead in half to 14-7.

The 49ers would respond by holding the ball for almost eight-and-a half minutes as they would drive 88 yards on 19 plays as Tittle would connect with Wilson three times for 35 yards on the drive including the 12-yard touchdown to push the lead back to 14 points at 21-7 with 6:20 to go in the second quarter.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Lions on their next possession when Rote lost the football when he was hit by 49ers linebacker Matt Hazeltine as defensive end Ed Hinke would make the recovery to give San Francisco the ball at the Detroit 41-yard-line.

A 15-yard pass from Tittle to Wilson would help set up a 25-yard field goal by Gordie Soltau which extended the 49ers' lead to 24-7 with 2:25 left before halftime as neither team would make another scoring threat before the end of the first half.

As the two teams went into the locker room for the halftime break, Lions players could hear the commotion coming from the 49ers locker room as Detroit interpreted this as thinking the game was over and that San Francisco was on its way to the NFL Championship Game.

In fact, the folks at Kezar Stadium starting printing tickets for the upcoming title game pictured below:

The 49ers would get the ball to start the second half when on the first play from scrimmage, Tittle would pitch the ball to McElhenny, who took it around the right side and then cut up field before tackled at the nine-yard-line after a 71-yard run.

San Francisco was seemingly on the cusp of putting the game away as another touchdown would extend their lead to 31-7 only for the Detroit defense to keep the 49ers out of the end zone as three straight running plays picked up six yards to set up 4th & goal from the three-yard-line when Albert sent in the field goal unit.

Soltau would make the 10-yard field goal(Goalposts were at the front of the end zone in 1957)to extend the 49ers' lead to 27-7 with 12:38 left in the third quarter as the Lions needed three touchdowns to take the lead without giving up any more points to San Francisco.

Things would not improve for the Lions on their next possession as they would punt the ball back to the 49ers who would then turn it over for the first time in the game as Tittle fumble the snap from center as linebacker Bob Long would make the recovery to give Detroit the ball at the San Francisco 27-yard-line.

Rote would complete passes of 11 yards to Junker and 14 yards to Cassady to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Tom Tracy to cut the 49ers' lead to 27-14 with 3:45 to go in the third quarter.

Following a San Francisco, the Lions would get the ball back at their 42-yard-line as Rote handed the ball to Tom Tracy, who busted though a hole behind his left tackle and outran the 49ers defense for a 58-yard touchdown to make it an one-score game at 27-21 with 2:15 left in the third quarter.

The Detroit defense would force another punt to give their offense the ball back at their 46-yard-line as a 36-yard pass from Rote to Junker would be the key play of the five-play, 54-yard drive that ended with Gene Gedman punching it in from two yards out that with the extra point gave the Lions a 28-27 lead with 14:17 to go in the game.

In a span of just 4 minutes and 28 seconds, the Lions had scored three touchdowns to erase a 20-point deficit and take their first lead of the game.

On their ensuing possession, the 49ers would pick up two 1st downs as they moved to their 47-yard-line until Perry fumbled the football, which was recovered by Detroit defensive tackle Gil Mains, though the Lions could not take advantage as they would punt the ball back to the 49ers.

The 49ers would drive to almost the same spot at their 46-yard-line until Tittle was intercepted by defensive back Carl Karlivacz whose 10-yard return gave the Lions the ball in San Francisco territory.

The Lions would drive to the San Francisco four-yard-line with a chance to make it an eight-point game only for Tracy to fumble the football when he was hit by 49ers defensive back Bill Stilts who would also recover the fumble to give the 49ers the ball back at their one-yard-line.

However, the 49ers would give it right back to the Lions as Tittle was intercepted by Schmidt who would run the pick 16 yards to the San Francisco two-yard-line to give Detroit another chance to put the game out of reach for the 49ers.

But once again the Lions could not punch into the end zone as a delay of game penalty would force Detroit to settle for a 13-yard field goal by Jim Martin to make it 31-27 in favor of the Lions with 2:05 left in the game.

That was enough time for the 49ers to drive down for the winning touchdown and secure a spot in the NFL Championship Game.

The 49ers chase quarterback Tobin Rote who would throw for 214 yards on 16-of-30 passes.

It looked like the 49ers would get a short field to start their ensuing possession as a 43-yard return by J.D. Smith was set to give San Francisco the ball at their 43-yard-line, only for the 49ers be called for an offsides penalty which meant the kickoff had to be redone as the second kickoff would result in a touchback for the 49ers.

Three straight passes from Tittle to McElhenny gained 31 yards to put the 49ers at the Lions' 49-yard-line when Lions defensive end Darris McCord dropped Tittle for an 11-yard-loss to set up 2nd & 21 when a Detroit defender hit Tittle's right arm as he let go of the ball as linebacker Roger Zatkoff would pick it off to give the Lions the ball with 1:05 remaining in the game.

The Lions would run the ball three straight times to run out the clock as Detroit came away with the 31-27 win to earn a trip to the NFL Championship Game.

One week later, the Lions would destroy the Browns 59-14 as Rote would throw for 280 yards and four touchdown passes as Detroit secured its third NFL championship in six years.