coach. Despite the turmoil, the Lions finished 8–4, tied with the San Francisco 49ers for first in the Western Conference. As a result, the two teams faced each other in a playoff game in San Francisco. During the game, the 49ers took a 24–7 lead into halftime behind three touchdown passes from Y. A. Tittle. During halftime, the 49ers, who assumed they had the game locked up, celebrated in their locker room. Because the walls in Kezar Stadium were so thin and the locker rooms were right next to each other, the Lions could hear it. George Wilson stood up and said, "I was going to say something, but that's what they think of you". On the first play of the second half, 49ers running back Hugh McElhenny broke off a 71-yard run to the Detroit 9 yard line, but the Lions held the 49ers to a field goal, which was San Francisco's last points of the day. Bobby Layne had been lost to injury three weeks prior, but Lions backup quarterback Tobin Rote led the team to 24 unanswered points and a 31–27 come from behind win. The next week, in the NFL Championship Game, Rote threw for four touchdowns and ran in another as the Lions routed the Browns 59–14, claiming their third championship in six years. To date, this is the last championship they have won. In 1958, the Lions traded Bobby Layne to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for Earl Morrall and two future draft picks. According to legend, as he was leaving for Pittsburgh, Layne said that the Lions would not win another championship for 50 years. Since this time, the Lions have not won another championship and the franchise's subsequent years of (mostly) futility has been labeled "The Curse of Bobby Layne." Without Layne, the Lions finished with a 4–7–1 record. Adjusting to life without Bobby Layne and committing to defense (1959–1969) A 3–8–1 season in 1959 meant the Lions closed out their most successful decade in disappointing fashion. Going into the 1960s, the Lions decided to go with a new rebuild, this time centered around defense. The team started by trading defensive end Gerry Perry to the St. Louis Cardinals for cornerback Dick "Night Train" Lane. Joe Schmidt later called it "one of the best trades that will ever be made in any sport". Lane made three Pro Bowls and four All Pro