The Eagles hired Buck Shaw as their head coach after the 1957 season and announced a move from Connie Mack Stadium to Franklin Field. There were some good things that happened in 1958. The attendance almost doubled from the previous year. Parking was much easier and Franklin Field to me was the best place ever to watch a game. More on this later. The incline at Franklin Field is sharp and bad seat there is non-existent. Philadelphia also traded for Norman Van Brocklin from the Los Angeles Rams. Philadelphia won only two games in 1958, both at home. They defeated the New York Giants 27 to 24, the biggest upset of the NFL season. Later came the rousing 49 to 21 win over the Chicago Cardinals. More later on both of these games.
In all, Buck Shaw's team went down by a game and a half from 1957, 4-8 to 2-9-1. The loss that really hurt was on the road to the Green Bay Packers. It was the Packers only win of the season-they were 1-10-1. Vince Lombardi would arrive the following year.The game itself was interesting and generally a passing duel between Norman Van Brocklin and Babe Parilli from Green Bay. Van Brocklin went 22 for 39 for 293 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Pete Retzlaff caught six passes for 121 yards. Parilli was good as well going 14 for 25 for 200 yards and four touchdowns. Max McGee caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. It was a close game at halftime, 17 to 14 Packers, with an interesting second half.
The Packers dominated the third quarter with three touchdowns and a 38 to 17 lead. Oddly enough, Philadelphia came back with three touchdown to trim the margin to 38 to 35. A last minute on-side kick failed and the Eagles lost 38 to 35. Two years later, Babe Parilli would start for the Boston Patriots and then back up Joe Namath for the New York Jets in the AFL. Of course, we all know what happened when the Eagles and Packers met in 1960.