# 1959 Detroit Lions season

The 1959 Detroit Lions season marked their 30th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 4–7–1, winning only three games. They missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

## Regular season

According to the team, a total of 41,029 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1959 campaign. 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.
For the 1959 season the Lions offered box seat tickets for $6.00, upper grandstand seats for $4.50, lower grandstand seats for $3.50, and bleacher seats for $2.00. Season tickets were similarly tiered, with prices of $36, $27, $21, and $12 for the full slate of six home games.

### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 27 | at Baltimore Colts | L 9–21 | 0–1 | Memorial Stadium | 55,588 | Recap |
| 2 | October 4 | at Green Bay Packers | L 10–28 | 0–2 | New City Stadium | 32,150 | Recap |
| 3 | October 11 | Baltimore Colts | L 24–31 | 0–3 | Briggs Stadium | 54,197 | Recap |
| 4 | October 18 | San Francisco 49ers | L 13–34 | 0–4 | Briggs Stadium | 52,585 | Recap |
| 5 | October 25 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 17–7 | 1–4 | L.A. Memorial Coliseum | 74,288 | Recap |
| 6 | November 1 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 7–33 | 1–5 | Kezar Stadium | 59,064 | Recap |
| 7 | November 8 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | T 10–10 | 1–5–1 | Forbes Field | 24,614 | Recap |
| 8 | November 15 | Los Angeles Rams | W 23–17 | 2–5–1 | Briggs Stadium | 52,217 | Recap |
| 9 | November 22 | Chicago Bears | L 14–24 | 2–6–1 | Briggs Stadium | 54,059 | Recap |
| 10 | November 26 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–24 | 2–7–1 | Briggs Stadium | 49,221 | Recap |
| 11 | December 6 | Chicago Cardinals | W 45–21 | 3–7–1 | Briggs Stadium | 45,811 | Recap |
| 12 | December 13 | at Chicago Bears | L 14–25 | 3–8–1 | Wrigley Field | 40,890 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. November 26: Thanksgiving |||||||||

## Standings

NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Baltimore Colts | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 9–1 | 374 | 251 | W5 |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 6–4 | 252 | 196 | W7 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 5–5 | 255 | 237 | L2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 248 | 246 | W4 |
| Detroit Lions | 3 | 8 | 1 | .273 | 2–8 | 203 | 275 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | 2–8 | 242 | 315 | L8 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | 8–2 | 284 | 170 | W4 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 268 | 278 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 270 | 214 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 6–4 | 257 | 216 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 2–8 | 185 | 350 | L5 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | 2–8 | 234 | 324 | L6 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.