The T-Formation of the Chicago Bears vs. the single wing of the Washington Redskins. The Bears would be led by the most successful quarterback in their history, Sid Luckman. The Bears had faced the Redskins a few weeks prior and had lost 7-3. The final play of the game was an incomplete pass in the end zone. Coach George Halas stormed the field demanding an interference call on the defense. The officials were mum. Following the game, George Marshall, the president and owner of the Redskins, wasted no time in telling the press what he thought about the Bears, calling them, "a bunch of crybabies." That's called bulletin board material. Coaches today hate it. Players are urged to keep their mouths shut, so as not to inflame the opposition. Halas, being the innovator he was, seized the opportunity and plastered the walls of the locker room with newspaper clippings of Marshall's taunts.
Was it redemption or just superior talent that day? No one knows. But what happened on the field on December 8, 1940 has yet to be repeated. The Bears would go on to score 73 points, the most ever in a professional football game. Marshall's Redskins failed to move off zero. By far the most lopsided victory in any NFL championship. Ironically, 26 years later, the Redskins scored 72 points in a victory against the Giants. 73 still stands as the most points scored by an NFL team.
Learn more about the "perfect team" by taking a look at From Black Sox to Three-peats edited by Ron Rapoport or Chicago Bears by Lew Freedman. Both selections are filled with details and great photographs of Da Bears.
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