The 1940 National Football League Championship Game: Biggest defeat in NFL history – Part 3
This is the second part of a series of articles discussing the 1940 National Football League Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins, which is widely considered the biggest defeat in NFL history.
The Bears rushing leaders are even more impressive than the quarter-backs. Osmanski led in carries with 10 for 109 yards and one touchdown. He had an average of 10.9 yards per rush and his longest was for 68 yards. Clarke also played well, running eight
times for 73 yards and two touchdowns. He had an average of 9.1 yards per rush with his longest for 44 yards.
Maniaci rushed six times for 60 yards and two touchdowns. He had an average 10 yards per rush and longest for 42 yards. Nolting had more rushing attempts, but less rushing yards. His 13 rushing attempts yielded 68 yards and one touchdown and he had an average
of 5.2 yards per carry with his longest run being for 23 yards.
Maniaci made three receptions for the Bears for 39 yards, an average of 13 yards per reception. Kavanaugh had two receptions for 32 yards, one of which was for a touchdown, as he had an average of 16 yards per reception, although his longest reception was
for 30 yards.
Now, let us move on over to the Redskins. Baugh completed 10 passes out of 17 attempts for 102 yards, as he had an average of six yards per attempt and 10.2 yards per completion. He was intercepted twice. The Redskins’ backup quarter-back, Frankie Filchock,
completed seven passes out of 23 attempts for 87 yards, giving him an average of only 3.8 yards per attempt and 12.4 yards per completion, as he was picked off five times.
The Redskins’ rushing was just as dismal as their passing. For one, Filchock was also the lead rusher with two carries for 20 yards, an average of 10 per rush. “Seymour” was in second with four rushes for 16 yards, with an average of four yards per carry.
A player called “Justice” ran one for one yard, whose average you can probably figure out on your own. Even more pitiful is that another player, named “Johnson,” ran five times but did not get anywhere, yielding no yards.
The Redskins’ receiving was a bit more impressive than the runners, maybe even better than the Bears’ receivers depending on how you look at it. Although they did not get any touch-downs, a player named “Millner” had five receptions for 84 yards, an average
of 16.8 yards per catch. Another unknown player name “Masterson,” recorded three catches for 33 yards, an average of 11 per reception. Sadly, neither Millner nor Masterson was able to get any touch-downs.
Now it must be noted that most of the details about this game have been lost in history, seeing as the game took place over 60 years ago. Sources do not exactly tell why the Bears did so much better, but it can be assumed that they had a good knowledge of
the Redskins offence and defence and introduced their own offensive formation. The new formation, called the “T Formation” by Halas, called for two running backs instead of the usual one in the backfield.
This historic game is still known as the most lop-sided result in NFL history.
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