1930: Nagurski’s 2 TDs Lead Bears to Win Against Giants

The Chicago Bears were a team in transition as they faced the New York Giants on November 16, 1930. Coming off of a disappointing 4-9-2 record in 1929, the Bears were in their first season under Head Coach Ralph Jones, with George Halas concentrating on front office duties. Jones revamped the offense and benefited from the arrival of two rookies in the backfield, QB Carl Brumbaugh and power-running FB Bronko Nagurski (pictured at right). Thus far the Bears were at 4-4-1 as they faced the Giants, a powerful club under Head Coach Roy Andrews that had a 10-1 record including five straight wins at home and an offense that featured tailback Benny Friedman, the best passer in pro football.

There were 5000 fans in attendance on a rainy day at the Polo Grounds and the field was muddy. The teams slogged through three scoreless quarters, with Chicago’s ground game dominating. Early in the first quarter, the Bears drove from their 27 to the New York 15, but the visitors came up empty when three runs and a pass came up short and they had to turn the ball over on downs.

In the third quarter, Chicago put together another promising drive fueled by the running of Bronko Nagurski  and halfbacks Red Grange and Joe Lintzenich. But after reaching the New York six, the Bears again failed to reach the end zone and had to turn the ball over on downs.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Bears took possession at their 41 and again moved the ball effectively. Nagurski ran for nine yards, Grange gained enough for a first down and followed up with a pass to end Luke Johnsos for 28 yards to the New York 22. Carries by Grange and Carl Brumbaugh got the ball down to the seven and Nagurski barreled over for a touchdown from there, but Garland Grange failed on the extra point attempt.

The Giants started out deep in their own territory following the kickoff.  Benny Friedman came out passing, but his third toss was intercepted by Lintzenich at the New York 20. He returned the ball to the 10 and, four plays later, Nagurski dove into the end zone from a yard out for a second touchdown. The try for point after was again unsuccessful, but it was of no consequence. Chicago won by a final score of 12-0.

The Bears led in first downs (13 to 5) and otherwise dominated the game. It was a precursor of good things to come as they won their remaining four contests to finish with a 9-4-1 record that placed third in the league standings. New York defeated Green Bay in a key battle the next week but lost two of four to finish second at 13-4.

For Bronko Nagurski, the two touchdowns against the Giants were part of five that he scored on the year. He received second-team All-NFL honors from Collyers Eye and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

1943: Luckman Leads Bears to NFL Championship Against Redskins

The Chicago Bears had topped the National Football League's Western Division for a fourth straight season as they hosted the Washington Redskins, defending league champions, to determine the NFL Championship on December 26, 1943. With George Halas, the owner and head coach, on active duty in the Navy due to World War II, the team was co-coached by assistants Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos. The wartime manpower depletion brought all-time great FB Bronko Nagurski out of retirement at age 34 after six years way from the game (he turned 35 during the season). But there was still plenty of talent available, starting with QB Sid Luckman (pictured above), who had a record-setting year in which he passed for 2194 yards and 28 touchdowns. Chicago compiled an 8-1-1 tally to once more play for the league title.

The Bears had been champions in 1940 and ’41, but were upset by Washington in 1942. The Redskins were coached by Dutch Bergman and had a 6-0-1 record after beating the Bears a month earlier. However, they lost their remaining three games to finish at 6-3-1 and tied with the Giants, who had beaten them in the last two regular season contests, for first in the Eastern Division. They defeated New York soundly by a 28-0 score in the tie-breaking playoff for the opportunity to defend their title against the powerful Bears. Washington had a great passer of its own in tailback Sammy Baugh, who placed second to Luckman in passing yards (1754) and TD passes (23) while also leading the league with 11 interceptions as a safety on defense.

There were 34,320 fans in attendance at Wrigley Field for the NFL title clash. In the first quarter, the Bears drove to the Washington 29 but got no further after four straight passes were incomplete. The Redskins in turn advanced to the Chicago 24 but also came away empty due to an interception. However, he Redskins ran into a major problem early when Baugh was kicked in the head and sat out the remainder of the first half.

Still, Washington put together a seven-play scoring drive following a 10-yard punt return by tailback George Cafego to the Redskins’ 40. Wingback Wilbur Moore made a sensational leaping grab of a pass from Cafego for a 35-yard gain and another throw intended for end Joe Aguirre drew an interference penalty that put the ball on the Chicago one. FB Andy Farkas hit the line and came up short on the last play of the opening period, but started off the second quarter by making it through the line standing up for a touchdown. Bob Masterson kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Bears came right back in four plays from their 33 yard line. Sid Luckman threw to HB Ray “Scooter” McLean for 29 yards and a screen pass to HB Harry Clarke was good for a 31-yard TD. Bob Snyder added the extra point to even the score.

Following a short possession by the Redskins that resulted in a punt, Chicago advanced 69 yards for another score. With a mix of runs and passes, the Bears gained four first downs along the way before Bronko Nagurski plowed over tackle for a touchdown. Snyder again kicked the extra point and the score was 14-7 at the half.

In a bizarre development, Washington owner George Preston Marshall, angry at the rough play on Chicago’s part, wandered over to the Bears’ bench before the half and was confronted by members of the Chicago staff, who accused him of attempting to spy on the Bears, before being escorted away.

In the third quarter, Luckman made a big play on defense by intercepting a Cafego pass and returning it 25 yards to the Washington 36. Luckman immediately threw to HB Dante Magnani (pictured below) for a 36-yard TD. Shortly thereafter, Luckman intercepted another pass to give the Bears the ball at their own 37. Once again, the Bears capitalized immediately on the turnover with Luckman tossing a screen pass to Magnani who again went the distance for a 66-yard touchdown. Snyder missed the extra point this time, but the Bears had a twenty-point lead thanks to the quick scores following the turnovers.

Still in the third quarter, but behind by 27-7, Baugh returned but appeared to be dazed and was not in top form. Nevertheless, he passed the Redskins into position for a score and Farkas had a catch for a 17-yard TD. With Masterson’s extra point, Chicago’s margin was narrowed to 27-14.

It didn’t remain narrowed for long, and any glimmers of hope for the visitors were extinguished when the Bears took the ensuing short kickoff that gave them good field position at their own 44 and drove to another score in eight plays. Nagurski twice ran for first downs and Luckman completed the series with a lob into the end zone to end Jim Benton for a 29-yard TD.

Another Chicago series culminated in Clarke making an outstanding catch and falling into the end zone for another touchdown on a play that covered 10 yards after Luckman, rolling out far to his right, threw across the field to him. The game was a route now, with the Bears comfortably leading by 41-14.

In the closing minutes, Baugh threw to Aguirre for a 20-yard TD, but it hardly mattered. The Bears were NFL Champions for the third time in four seasons by a convincing score of 41-21.

Chicago dominated in total yards (455 to 249) and compiled more first downs (14 to 11). The Bears accumulated 169 yards on the ground, to just 50 in 27 tries for Washington, and gained 286 net yards through the air against 199 for the Redskins. Most critically, Washington turned the ball over six times to devastating effect, while the Bears suffered no turnovers.

Sid Luckman had a brilliant all-around performance, completing 15 of 26 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns with none intercepted, running for 64 yards on 8 carries, and intercepting two passes on defense that led to critical scores. Dante Magnani had four catches for 122 yards and two TDs and Bronko Nagurski (pictured below), in his last game, rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

For the Redskins, Sammy Baugh was successful on 8 of 12 throws in limited play for 123 yards and two TDs while tossing one interception. George Cafego completed just three of his 12 passes for 76 yards and no TDs while giving up three interceptions. Wilbur Moore had 5 catches for 108 yards and Andy Farkas paced the ground attack with 36 yards on 11 attempts that included a TD.

The Bears, who had compiled a 37-5-1 regular season record over four years, finally slipped to second place in 1944. They would next return to the Championship game in 1946. Washington dropped to third while transitioning from the single-wing to T-formation, but came back to top the division in 1945.

1933: Bears Edge Giants in First NFL Championship Game

For the first thirteen years of its existence, the National Football League (American Professional Football Association originally) had no designated game to determine the annual champion. While season record was the determining factor, this occasionally led to controversy, especially when the teams didn’t play fixed schedules. In 1932, the clubs tied with the top winning percentage, the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans, arranged a game to determine the league champion – while this is sometimes referred to as the first NFL title game, it was not in fact a postseason contest, since the result figured in the season won-lost records (the Bears won).

Several innovations were put into effect for the 1933 season, including rules changes to promote scoring such as using hashmarks, allowing forward passes to be thrown from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage (as opposed to five yards behind), and moving the goal posts up to the goal line (where they would remain until moved back in 1974). There were also structural innovations that included breaking the league up into Eastern and Western divisions and creating a designated postseason championship game to be held between the division winners.

On December 17, 1933 the first official NFL Championship game occurred between the New York Giants, champions of the Eastern Division, and their hosts, the Western Division-champion Chicago Bears.


The Bears, defending league champs, were once again coached by team owner George Halas, who had stepped away from the sideline after the 1929 season for three years in favor of Ralph Jones. They won their first six games, briefly slumped during a midseason road trip to the East with two losses and a tie, and then finished up with four more victories to easily top the Western Division with a 10-2-1 record. Chicago was strong in all facets of the game, with FB Bronko Nagurski (pictured at right) providing the power running, QB Keith Molesworth leading the league by averaging 8.7 yards per pass, and end Bill Hewitt playing well both offensively and defensively.

New York was coached by Steve Owen and had dominated the Eastern Division with an 11-3 tally. Rookie tailback Harry Newman proved to be a top passer and FB Ken Strong, obtained after the Staten Island Stapletons folded, was a good runner and placekicker. Ends Red Badgro and Ray Flaherty and wingback Dale Burnett made for a capable receiving corps. The line was anchored by center Mel Hein and the Giants had proven their defensive prowess already in a shutout win over the Bears during the season.

There were some 26,000 fans in attendance at Wrigley Field on a foggy day with some light rain during the first half. The Giants drove to the Chicago 15 yard line and came up empty. With Nagurski running effectively, the Bears responded by driving into New York territory and scored the first points of the game on a 16-yard field goal by their outstanding placekicker, Jack Manders. Early in the second quarter, Manders booted a second field goal, from 40 yards, and the hosts were ahead by 6-0.

Late in the first half, FB Kink Richards broke off a 30-yard gain for the Giants and Newman threw to Badgro for a 29-yard touchdown. Strong was successful on the extra point attempt, and New York took a narrow 7-6 lead into halftime.

Manders put the Bears back in front in the third quarter with a 28-yard field goal, but the Giants came right back behind Newman’s passing on a 73-yard drive that ended with blocking back Max Krause plowing over from a yard out for a touchdown.

With the score 14-9, it was the turn of Chicago to make a big play. Facing a third-and-long situation, the Bears were set to punt but passed instead of kicking. HB George Corbett threw to QB Carl Brumbaugh for a 67-yard gain to the New York eight yard line (Brumbaugh shown running at top during the title game). From there, Nagurski took the handoff and headed for the line but held up and tossed a jump pass into the end zone. End Bill Karr hauled it in and Chicago regained the lead at 16-14.

Moving into the fourth quarter, once more Newman moved the Giants as he completed all four of his passes. At the Chicago eight, Strong took a handoff on a reverse and, seeing no running room, he lateraled back to Newman. Running to his right and hemmed in for a possible loss of yardage, the tailback saw that Strong had kept on going uncovered into the end zone and completed a TD pass to him. In the back-and-forth rhythm that the contest had settled into, New York was once more on top by a 21-16 tally.

It seemed as though that would be enough, but with time running down a shanked punt by the Giants that traveled only eight yards gave Chicago the ball in good field position at the New York 47. Molesworth passed to Brumbaugh for nine yards and then Nagurski ran for four. The Bears once again resorted to Nagurski on a jump pass (one of their most effective plays). This time the throw was to Hewitt for 14 yards, but when Dale Burnett closed in to make the tackle, he tossed the ball to Karr who ran the rest of the way for a 33-yard touchdown.

The outcome was still in doubt right down to the final play as Newman threw to Burnett in the open field, but DHB Red Grange, once a great running halfback but now better as a defensive back, was able to hold him up (and prevent a possible lateral) and the Bears won the NFL Championship by a score of 23-21.

The first postseason title game had been exciting, containing six lead changes, and highlighted the greater emphasis on passing in the pro game as opposed to college football at the time. As the report by the Associated Press put it, “The struggle was a revelation to college coaches who advocate no changes in the rules. It was strictly an offensive battle and the professional rule of allowing passes to be thrown from any point behind the line of scrimmage was responsible for most of the thrills.”

Total yards were almost even, with the Bears holding a slight edge of 311 to 307. Chicago gained most of its yardage on the ground (161 to 99) while the Giants went more often to the air (208 to 150). New York had the edge in first downs, 13 to 12. Notable individual performances were turned in by Bronko Nagurski, who ran for 65 yards on 14 carries, and Harry Newman (pictured below), who completed 12 of 17 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bears and Giants were still the best clubs in their respective divisions in 1934 and met again for the NFL title, this time at the Polo Grounds in New York and with a decidedly different result.

1934: Giants Upset Bears for NFL Title in “Sneakers Game”

The pairing for the NFL Championship game on December 9, 1934 at New York’s Polo Grounds was a rematch of the participants in the first official title game the year before, but also appeared to be a classic mismatch.

The visiting Chicago Bears, champions of the Western Division, had gone undefeated through the regular season at 13-0. Under Owner/Head Coach George Halas, they had allowed only three opponents to score as many as 10 points in a game, with Detroit (arguably the second best team in the league) achieving a high of 16 in a tough Thanksgiving Day encounter. The Bears boasted the first thousand-yard rusher in league history, rookie HB Beattie Feathers, who had compiled 1004 yards on just 119 carries (his season ended early due to injury) for a record 8.4-yard average gain. They still benefited from the power running of veteran FB Bronko Nagurski, who ranked fourth in league rushing with 586 yards and also helped Feathers with his excellent blocking. With HB Gene Ronzani contributing 485 yards at a 5.8 per carry clip, the Bears could rely on the strongest running game in the league (2847 yards and a 5.0 team average gain).

The Giants, coached by Steve Owen, had won the weaker Eastern Division with an 8-5 record. Tailback Harry Newman primarily ran the offense, behind a line led by All-Pros Mel Hein at center, G Butch Gibson, and T Bill Morgan. End Red Badgro tied for the league lead in receiving with Philadelphia’s Joe Carter (16 receptions). FB Ken Strong provided strong running and placekicking. New York had also come closest to beating the Bears during the regular season, losing just 10-9 at the same venue four weeks earlier.

On this day, the Bears were without Feathers and G Joe Kopcha due to injury, while Giants casualties included Newman and Badgro.

There were 35,059 fans present on a bitterly cold day in New York. The Polo Grounds turf was frozen, making footing difficult in many spots (particularly the half of the field that was shaded). The key to the game actually occurred when end Ray Flaherty suggested wearing sneakers to get better traction. Shortly before the opening kickoff, clubhouse attendant Abe Cohen was dispatched to Manhattan College to get sneakers.

In the meantime, the game proceeded with the Giants taking a 3-0 first quarter lead on a 38-yard field goal by Strong. However, the Bears proceeded to score 13 unanswered points. Nagurski (pictured above) plowed over for a touchdown from a yard out in the second quarter and placekicker “Automatic Jack” Manders booted field goals of 17 and 24 yards (although the usually reliable Manders missed a couple during the course of the game). Leading 13-3 after three quarters, it appeared that the Bears would successfully cap their undefeated season.

However, during the third quarter Abe Cohen finally arrived with a sack of sneakers. During a time out, the Giants players, amid much confusion, began changing into them. Halas complained to the officials, but was told that what was occurring on the opposite sideline was within the rules.


The Giants exploded in the fourth quarter thanks to the advantage of better footing. First, backup tailback Ed Danowski (pictured at left) hit end Ike Frankian with a 28-yard TD pass that Frankian had to pull away from a Bears defender as he fell into the end zone, which cut the Chicago margin to 13-10. The Bears did nothing on their next series and after a 20-yard punt, the Giants took the lead, 17-13, thanks to a straight-ahead 42-yard run by Strong.

On the ensuing series, the Giants stopped Nagurski on fourth and two at midfield and again took advantage. With momentum on their side (not to mention better mobility), New York drove downfield, with Strong scoring on an 11-yard reverse to increase the lead to 23-13 (he missed the ensuing extra point attempt).

Chicago attempted a desperation pass on first down, but Giants back Bo Molenda intercepted to set up the final New York touchdown on a 9-yard run by Danowski. The extra point was good, and the final score was 30-13 in favor of the underdog Giants. They had scored 27 points in a span of 10 minutes.

The Giants accumulated 282 total yards to Chicago’s 169 on the icy field. While both teams passed 13 times apiece, the Bears intercepted two while the Giants picked off three. Danowski had the only TD throw of the day. While individual statistics aren’t available, it was Danowski and Strong (pictured kicking below) keying the win – with some help from Manhattan College’s sneakers.