NFL History - 1940 NFL Championship: Chicago Bears 73-0 Victory
Chicago Bears QB Sid Luckman

Before 36,034 stunned fans at Washington's Griffith Stadium on December 8, 1940 at the 1940 NFL Championship Game, the Chicago Bears played near-perfect football to defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the league title.

Yes, 73-0.

Ten Chicago players combined to score 11 total touchdowns. The Bears rushed for 381 yards and completed seven of 10 passes for 138 yards.

On defense, the "Monsters of the Midway" played just as effectively, allowing only 22 rushing yards and intercepting eight passes, including three third-quarter touchdown returns.

The 73-point margin was, and still is, the largest margin of victory of any game in NFL history.

"That game never should have happened that way and it probably never will happen that way again," said Redskins quarterback SAMMY BAUGH. "You don't see but one game like that in a lifetime."

"It would be like winning the World Series with four no-hitters," said Bears quarterback SID LUCKMAN of the Bears' flawless performance.

When asked what the score would have been had one of his teammates not dropped a sure touchdown pass early in the game, Baugh replied, "Seventy-three to seven."

After a November loss to the Redskins, Bears owner and coach GEORGE HALAS had brought in Stanford coach CLARK SHAUGHNESSY to help his team perfect the T-formation. It was the birth of the modern-T.

"That day in football was like going from the Ford Model T to the super deluxe Rolls-Royce," said Luckman of the Bears' new offensive system. "Our biggest fear was we were over-prepared. On the train, the boys would play bridge or cards and joke and laugh. This time, you could have heard a pin drop. We were studying our playbooks."

The studying paid off.

On the second play of the game, Chicago running back BILL OSMANSKI took a handoff from Luckman and sped around left end toward the sideline where teammate GEORGE WILSON threw a block, knocking down not one, but two Washington defenders. Osmanski raced to a 68-yard touchdown and gave Chicago a 7-0 lead. The perfectly executed run and block typified the day that lay ahead for both clubs.

The game was also the first in NFL history to be broadcast on network radio. The Mutual Broadcasting System paid $2,500 for the rights to send the game to over 120 stations across the country. Legendary broadcaster RED BARBER was at the microphone.

1940 NFL Championship - Bears 73 Redskins 0

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FINAL
December 8, 1940, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. (Source: National Football League)
Chicago Bears217261973
Washington Redskins00000

 

Chi - Osmanski 68 run (Manders kick)

Chi - Luckman 1 run (Snyder kick)

Chi - Maniaci 42 run (Martinovich kick)

Chi - Kavanaugh 30 pass from Luckman (Snyder kick)

Chi - Pool 15 interception return (Plasman kick)

Chi - Nolting 23 run (kick failed)

Chi - McAfee 35 interception return (Stydahar kick)

Chi - Turner 20 interception return (kick failed)

Chi - Clark 44 run (kick failed)

Chi - Famiglietti 2 run (Maniaci pass from Sherman)

Chi - Clark 1 run (pass failed)

 

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NFL Anniversaries - 1940 NFL Championship: Chicago Bears 73-0 Victory