The Philadelphia Eagles had won the 1948 NFL title in a
game played amidst blizzard conditions. On December 18, 1949 they were once
again playing for the league championship while facing extreme weather. The
Eagles, under Head Coach Earle “Greasy” Neale, were an even better club than in
’48. They repeated as Eastern Division champs with an 11-1 record, leading the
NFL both in points scored (364) and fewest points surrendered (134). The key to
the offense was star HB Steve Van Buren (pictured above), who won his fourth league rushing
title in five years with a record 1146 yards. QB Tommy Thompson was a fine
passer and had an able receiving corps in ends Pete Pihos, Jack Ferrante, and
Neill Armstrong. Neale’s innovative 5-2-4
defense was highly effective.
The winners of the Western Division were the Los Angeles
Rams, who went 8-2-2. Head Coach Clark Shaughnessy was one of the architects of
the T-formation and fashioned a high-scoring offense. Veteran QB Bob Waterfield
was joined by rookie Norm Van Brocklin and HB Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch was
moved out to flanker where he joined ends Tom Fears and Bob Shaw to create an
exciting and productive passing attack. However, after winning their first six
games they lost badly at Philadelphia and struggled through the remainder of
the schedule.
Heavy rains struck Los Angeles the previous day and
continued through the Sunday of the title game, dumping some three inches of
rain on Los Angeles and making the field at the Memorial Coliseum a sea of mud.
A record crowd was expected to attend the contest in the cavernous stadium, but
the heavy downpour limited attendance to a disappointing 22,245 – a particular
disappointment to the players, who were looking forward to a large gate with
healthy shares going to the winning team. Thus, there were players, and for that matter
fans, who wanted to see the game postponed a week, but it went on as scheduled.
With conditions that essentially grounded the offenses,
neither team scored in the opening period. In the second quarter, the Eagles
put together a 63-yard drive. Tommy Thompson completed passes to Jack Ferrante
that gained 11 and 16 yards, respectively, and then hit Pete Pihos from 31
yards out, who made a leaping grab at the 15 and proceeded unmolested into the
end zone. Cliff Patton’s extra point attempt was successful and the defending
champs held a 7-0 lead at the half.
Philadelphia added to its lead in the third quarter. With
the Rams backed up to their 10 yard line, a punt by Bob Waterfield was blocked
by DE Leo Skladany who then managed to gain possession of the ball that had
rolled back to the two and cross the goal line for another TD. It was a career
highlight for Skladany, a rookie who was playing semipro football until signed
by the Eagles during the season when star DE Johnny Green went down with an
injury. Once again Patton added the PAT.
The Rams only threatened twice, reaching the Philadelphia
25 and 37 yard lines, but came up empty. A field goal try by Waterfield from 45
yards sailed wide. Likewise, the Eagles had an opportunity to add to their
margin but HB Jim Parmer fumbled the ball away at the LA 7. The key to the game
was Philadelphia’s ability to run the ball effectively and thus control time of
possession as well as being able to shut the Rams down defensively. The Eagles
won their second consecutive title by a score of 14-0.
Philadelphia’s domination was complete. The Eagles ran
far more plays (70 to 51), gained more total yards (342 to 109), and had more
first downs (17 to 7). The Rams didn’t make a first down on a running play and
set a team record for lowest rushing yardage in a title game (21 yards on 24
carries). Philadelphia, on the other hand, did the opposite (274 yards on 61
attempts).
Steve Van Buren was the game’s dominant player, gaining a
postseason-record 196 yards on 31 carries (it remained the NFL standard until
1975). Tommy Thompson threw just 9 passes and completed 5 for 68 yards and a
touchdown along with two interceptions. Jack Ferrante was the only Eagle to
catch more than one pass, with two for 27 yards, although Pete Pihos was the
receiving yardage leader with 31 on his lone reception for a TD.
For the Rams, Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin
combined for 10 completions in 27 attempts for 98 yards and one interception.
Four receivers caught two passes apiece, with tackle Dick Huffman the leader in
yards with 26. The anemic ground game was led by HB Fred Gehrke who gained 13
yards on three attempts – FB Dick Hoerner had 7 carries, for just 10 yards.
“My boys did their best,” summed up Clark Shaughnessy. “I
can’t think of a single change I would make if the game were played again.”
The win over the Rams made the Eagles the first
back-to-back NFL Champions since the 1940-41 Bears and crowned a run in which
they topped the Eastern Division for three straight years. They dropped to 6-6
and third place in the revamped American Conference in 1950 primarily as the
result of injuries (particularly to Van Buren) – and the arrival of the
Cleveland Browns from the AAFC. Philadelphia would not win another title until
1960. The Rams, on the other hand, made it back to the Championship game in
each of the next two seasons, winning in 1951 and tying for first place in the
National Conference in ’52.
