Highlights The 1958 season is regarded as a watershed year in which the popularity of professional football in the United States began to rival that of
baseball in the public imagination. "Professional football was beyond coming of age in 1958," one writer enthused, "it was on an even plane with baseball as the game of the people." Stadium attendance was robust throughout the league, with crowds in excess of 100,000 twice filling the
Los Angeles Coliseum to see the
Los Angeles Rams, while the
Detroit Lions managed to sell a staggering 42,000 season tickets in advance of the 1958 campaign, ensuring home sellouts at
Briggs Stadium. The powerful Cleveland runner smashed the previous NFL record of 1,146 yards in a 12-game season, set by
Steve Van Buren in 1949. Young
wide receiver Del Shofner of the Los Angeles Rams led all receivers with 1,097 yards gained on 51 catches — a bountiful average of 21.5 yards per completion. Unitas' interception percentage of 2.7% was also a league low among starting quarterbacks. Quarterback sacks were not an official statistic in this era, but the league-low 183 points allowed by the New York Giants (15.25 per game) give testimony to the stoutness of their defensive unit.
Divisional races The 1958 Colts–Giants title game was a milestone in the popularity of pro football, but the Giants almost did not qualify. The
Cleveland Browns led the Eastern Division title race up until the final week. On December 14, the 9–2 Browns visited the 8–3 Giants. As a snowstorm swept over
Yankee Stadium, the Browns' 10–3 lead gave way to a 10–10 tie game on
Frank Gifford's pass to
Bob Schnelker, which would still have suited Cleveland. The Giants'
Pat Summerall missed a 31-yard field goal with 4½ minutes left. With two minutes to play, Summerall had another opportunity from 49 yards out, in inclement weather and connected for a 13–10 win. The Browns and Giants finished with 9–3 records, and in the
playoff the next week, the Giants won again at Yankee Stadium, 10–0. The Western Division race was over after ten games, with the Colts at 9–1, and the Bears and Rams mathematically eliminated at 6–4. The Colts lost their final two games on the road in California to finish at 9–3, a game ahead of Chicago and Los Angeles. The
Green Bay Packers finished with a league-worst record of 1–10–1 and hired
Vince Lombardi, offensive coach of the Giants, as head coach in January
1959. Philadelphia finished tied for worst in the East, at 2–9–1. Two years later, both the Eagles and Packers would play for the championship. ==Final standings==