The 1940 National Football League Championship Game: Biggest defeat in NFL history – Part 1
The 1940 National Football League Championship game featured the Washington Redskins against the Chicago Bears. It was the eighth championship game in the history of the NFL and was played on 8 December, 1940. The game is considered memorable for many aspects.
For one, it was the first NFL title game that was broadcasted on the radio. It was also the last game in which a player would play without a helmet.
However, the most memorable fact for the 36,034 fans attending the game at Washington, D.C.’s Griffith Stadium and the millions more listening to it on the radio was the score. It is the considered the biggest defeat in NFL history.
The Redskins had defeated the Bears, 7-3, three weeks before the Championship Game. After the game, the owner of the Redskins, George Preston Marshall, told the media that the Bears were quitters when the going got tough and were crybabies. As the Bears
got ready for the rematch, the team became fired up after their head coach, George Halas, showed the team the newspaper articles about Marshall’s comments.
Also, Halas’ friend, Clark Shaughnessey, helped out with the Bears’ game plan. Shaughnessey was, at the time, head coach of the Stanford University Indians, who were undefeated.
The Bears dominated the Redskins right from the start of the game, winning in the end, 73-0.
Yes, 73-0.
The Bears started with the T Formation as their main offensive strategy. On the second play of the game, Bears’ running-back Bill Osmanski made a touchdown on a 68 yard run. On the ensuing Redskins possession, the team made it to the 26 yard line but the
touchdown pass that would have tied the game was dropped by wide receiver Charlie Malone in the end zone.
Later, when Redskins’ quarter-back Sammy Baugh was being interviewed, he was asked if the game would have been different if Malone had not dropped the touchdown pass. Baugh replied, “Sure. The final score would have been 73-7.”
Later in the first quarter, on the Bears’ second possession, quarter-back Sid Luckman ran one yard to score a touchdown, increasing their lead to 14-0. On their third possession, Joe Maniaci ran for a 42 yard touchdown, making the score 21-0.
Following Maniaci’s touchdown run, Ken Kavanaugh caught a 30 yard pass from Luckman, making the score 28-0, at which point the game went into half-time.
The Bears did even better in the second half. Where they scored 28 points in the first half, they came back even more with 45 points in the second. Even after Halas took the starters out of the game, the backups continued to rack in points.
In the third quarter, Hampton Pool made an interception and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown, making the score 35-0. Ray Nolting then ran 23 yards for another touchdown, putting the Bears even further ahead 41-0. George McAfee then came out defensively
and made an interception, returning it for 35 yards and a touchdown. The score was then 54-0. The rushing came and made another amazing play with a player known only as “Clarke” running 44 yards for another touchdown, making the score 60-0.
The remaining article will be discussed in the next parts. Take a look!
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