1940: Bears Demolish Redskins 73-0 for NFL Title

The NFL Championship game on December 8, 1940 remains the most one-sided in pro football history. It represents an astounding domination of one championship-caliber team by another. It also served as a demonstration of the capabilities of the revamped T-formation which, over the coming decade, would replace the single-wing as the offense of choice for most pro football teams.

There were 36,034 fans at Washington’s Griffith Stadium to see the Redskins, champions of the Eastern Division, take on the first place team in the Western Division, the Chicago Bears. The Redskins, under Head Coach Ray Flaherty, ran a double-wing offense and had the league’s best passer, tailback Sammy Baugh, to direct it. He had good receivers to throw to in ends Wayne Millner and Charley Malone, and FB Jimmy Johnson and HB Dick Todd were both effective receivers out of the backfield as well. In an era when defenses operated with three defensive backs, Washington typically sent four receivers down the field, and Baugh could usually find an open one.

Chicago, under the direction of George Halas, the owner and head coach, had been using variations of the T-formation for several years, but had recently refined it. He had an outstanding quarterback to operate it in Sid Luckman, a second-year ex-tailback out of Columbia. The club also had rookie HB George McAfee, who had quickly laid claim to being the best open-field runner in the league, Ray Nolting at the other halfback spot, and FB Bill Osmanski, as well as a stable of capable players who could spell them. The line was anchored by another rookie, center Clyde “Bulldog” Turner, and contained other eventual Hall of Famers in guard Danny Fortmann and tackle Joe Stydahar.

The two teams had met three weeks previously in Washington and the Redskins won by a score of 7-3. Also owning a better record (9-2 to Chicago’s 8-3), they were the favorites coming into the title contest. However, the motivational seeds had been sown after that earlier game when several of the Bears complained about a referee’s call that had nullified a potential game-winning touchdown. Washington’s imperious owner, George Preston Marshall, publicly referred to the Bears as “cry-babies” and “first-half ballplayers” – quotes that the Chicago players took careful note of.

Not only was there a motivational element to fuel the Bears, but Halas had been meeting with his offensive consultant, Stanford’s Head Coach Clark Shaughnessy, and several new plays were developed to attack the Redskins’ defense (primarily counter plays to take advantage of the tendency of the linebackers to shift toward the man-in-motion). The club was well-prepared and sky-high emotionally upon arrival in Washington.

It didn’t take long for the Bears to strike. On the second play of the game, Osmanski took a handoff, found a big hole at left tackle, cut to the sideline, and ran 68 yards for a touchdown (pictured at top). The last two Redskins with an opportunity to catch him were taken out in a single block by end George Wilson. Chicago was up by 7-0 less than a minute into the first quarter.

Washington came right back, however, getting a good kickoff return and then running the ball effectively. On a third down play, Baugh passed for the first time and had Malone open for what would have been an easy touchdown – he dropped it and the Redskins came up empty. Chicago responded by driving 80 yards in 17 plays. Only one was a pass, and it was to McAfee for 15 yards to the Washington two yard line. Shortly thereafter, Luckman scored on a quarterback sneak from less than a yard out.

The Bears got the ball back at the Redskins’ 42, and on the first play Luckman pitched out to FB Joe Maniaci, who went the distance. It was 21-0 after one quarter of play. Baugh was pulled out of the game and played little the rest of the way. The Bears scored just once in the second quarter, as Luckman connected with end Ken Kavanaugh for a 30-yard TD, and the quarterback was rested during the second half.

Chicago poored it on in the third quarter, adding another 26 points, three on interceptions that were returned for touchdowns (15 yards by end Hamp Pool, 34 yards by McAfee, and 24 by Turner). The offense also contributed a 23-yard scoring run by Nolting. Two of the extra point attempts failed, but it didn’t matter as the Bears were leading 54-0 with a quarter to go.

HB Harry Clarke made it 60-0 in the fourth quarter with a 44-yard touchdown run, followed by a failed extra point attempt, and as there was now a shortage of footballs due to PAT attempts sailing into the stands (there were just a dozen balls available for the game), for the remaining scores Halas told the team to run plays for the extra point attempts (under the rules of the time, they still counted for just one point). FB Gary Famiglietti ran for a two-yard TD, followed by a successful pass from QB Solly Sherman to Maniaci, and Clarke ended the scoring with a one-yard touchdown, after which the pass for the extra point fell incomplete. The lead was large enough, in any event, as the Bears became NFL Champions by a score of 73-0.

The domination was complete statistically, too. The Bears rolled up 519 total yards, to 231 for Washington. The Redskins gained just five net yards on 15 carries, to 381 on 53 attempts by Chicago, and also turned the ball over nine times (eight interceptions, one fumble). The Bears suffered just one turnover, on a fumble.

Bill Osmanski, who started it all, ran for 109 yards on 10 carries. Twelve Bears ran with the ball during the course of the game, with other notable contributors being Harry Clarke (73 yards on 8 carries and two TDs), Ray Nolting (68 yards on 13 attempts and a score), and Joe Maniaci (60 yards on 6 rushes and a TD).


As a whole, the Bears threw ten passes, and Sid Luckman (pictured at left with Halas) was good on three of four attempts for 88 yards and a touchdown. Maniaci was the leading receiver with three catches for 39 yards.

Sammy Baugh was successful on 10 of 17 passes for 102 yards with two intercepted. His capable backup, Frank Filchock, completed 7 of 23 throws for 87 yards and was picked off four times; he also led the Redskins with 20 yards on two carries. Wayne Millner caught 5 passes for 84 yards.

Afterward, Baugh was asked if the result might have been different if Malone had not dropped the sure scoring pass in the first quarter. The laconic Texan reportedly replied, “Yeah, it would have been 73-7.” He also called the game “the most humiliating thing I ever went through on the football field.” Such was Chicago’s total domination.

The Bears went on to repeat as champions in 1941 and, by 1943, had gone to four straight title games and won three of them. They aptly earned the nickname “Monsters of the Midway”. Washington fell short of a rematch in ’41 but won the Eastern Division in 1942 and upset Chicago for the championship to gain at least some measure of revenge for the trouncing in 1940.

1940: Rookie George McAfee Keys Bears to Romp Over Packers

When HB George McAfee was chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 1940 draft out of Duke, the Chicago Bears traded three players for his rights. It was a move that the Bears and their owner/Head Coach George Halas never regretted. In a single-platoon era when all-around skills were especially valued, McAfee could run, pass, and kick - but the running was his most significant asset.

The 6’0”, 177-pound halfback made an immediate impression in training camp and the preseason. He won an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers with a 73-yard punt return in the last minute. On September 22, 1940 he made an even bigger impression as the Bears opened their regular season against the arch-rival Packers at Green Bay’s City Stadium.

The Packers, under founder and Head Coach Curly Lambeau, had placed first in the Western Division in both 1938 and ’39 and were the defending NFL champions. They had opened their regular season the preceding week and defeated the Eagles 27-20. There was a then-record crowd of 23,557 on hand to see the Packers face the club most likely to threaten their perch atop the division.

Green Bay scored first, on a 25-yard field goal by Tiny Engebretsen. But on the ensuing kickoff, McAfee ran 93 yards for a touchdown – his first time touching the ball in a regular season contest.

The Packers would get a further taste of McAfee’s abilities as the game wore on. In the third quarter, with the Bears leading 21-10, he tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to another noteworthy rookie, end Ken Kavanaugh. Then in the fourth quarter, McAfee scored his second touchdown of the contest on a nine-yard run.

Green Bay’s strong offense piled up plenty of yards, outgaining the Bears 333 to 290 and running off 19 first downs to Chicago’s 5. But the Packers also turned the ball over nine times and the Bears capitalized by making big plays. In addition to McAfee’s heroics, HB Ray Nolting returned the second half kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown and Kavanaugh scored a second TD to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard pass play from QB Bob Snyder. Chicago was up by 21-3 in the third quarter before Green Bay managed to score again, on a 35-yard touchdown pass from tailback Arnie Herber to star end Don Hutson. But that was it for the Packers – the Bears won decisively, 41-10.

The pattern was established during McAfee’s rookie season of inserting him selectively during a game – Halas deployed him when his big-play abilities could be put to best use. He came to be referred to as “One-Play McAfee” both because he was typically limited to 30 minutes per game, and for his ability to turn a game on a very few touches of the football.

The Bears, with a deep and talented team and revamped T-formation, did indeed manage to place first in the Western Division, with an 8-3 record to Green Bay’s second place 6-4-1, and demolished Washington in the NFL Championship game by a 73-0 score. McAfee carried the ball 47 times for 253 yards (a team-leading 5.4-yard average gain) and two touchdowns, caught 7 passes for 117 yards (16.7 avg.) and threw two scoring passes. Kickoff and punt return statistics weren’t yet kept (that would begin the following year), but McAfee’s opening-game kickoff return for a touchdown was one of just three in the NFL that year. He also intercepted four passes on defense.

McAfee would have his greatest season in 1941, placing second in rushing (474 yards), rushing touchdowns (5, tied with three others), all-purpose yards (999), and points scored (72). He tied Green Bay’s Hutson for the most touchdowns with 12 and his six interceptions were right behind the two league leaders (the Cardinals’ Marshall Goldberg and Pittsburgh’s Art Jones with 7 apiece). Moreover, McAfee averaged 11.9 yards every time he touched the ball, over three yards more than league runner-up Jones (8.2).

After that, McAfee went into military service for three years during World War II, returning to play in three games in 1945 at age 27. He played until 1950, a total of eight seasons (in three of which he played three or fewer games), and his career numbers are hardly overwhelming. He gained a total of 1685 yards rushing, on 341 attempts for a 4.9 average with 21 touchdowns, and never had more than 92 carries in a season. In an era when backs typically weren’t a big part of the passing game (and teams didn’t pass as often in any case), McAfee had 85 catches for 1359 yards and a 16.0 average with 11 TDs. By far, his career high for pass receptions in a season was 32, for 492 yards and a score, in 1947.

McAfee returned 112 punts (aside from his rookie season), and his 12.8 average is still the career high for any NFL player with at least 75 returns. Two were returned for touchdowns. Used more sparingly to run back kickoffs, he had 18 for a 27.1 average and two TDs (again, the average doesn’t count his rookie season, prior to kick returns being compiled as an official statistic). McAfee also intercepted 25 passes on defense, twice picking off six in a season and with two returned for touchdowns.

Both left-handed and left-footed, as a passer McAfee tossed three touchdown passes in six career completions and as a punter averaged 36.7 yards on 39 punts, including a 79-yard boot in 1941.

The regard with which he was held by his own coach, “Papa Bear” George Halas, and other coaches around the league was unquestionably high. Green Bay’s Lambeau referred to McAfee as “the best and most dangerous man the Packers have ever faced.” Philadelphia’s Greasy Neale, who coached Hall of Fame halfback Steve Van Buren, called McAfee “the greatest plunging and quick-opening back I have ever seen.” Bears assistant Hunk Anderson said, “I played with (Notre Dame’s George) Gipp and I saw plenty of (Red) Grange, but McAfee is better than either one of them.”

The numbers in any individual category might look insignificant, but they add up to a versatile player who could do everything well. McAfee was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.