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| Date | December 21, 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Wrigley Field, Chicago,Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Chicago by 15 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 13,341 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Mutual | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Elson,Red Barber | ||||||||||||||||||
The1941 NFL Championship Game was the ninth annualchampionship game of theNational Football League (NFL), held atWrigley Field inChicago on December 21.[2][3] Played two weeks after theJapaneseattack on Pearl Harbor, the attendance was 13,341, the fewest to see an NFL title game. However, this statistic might be explained in part by wartime restrictions.[4][5][6]
Before the title game, the Western Division champion needed to be determined. The defending NFL championChicago Bears (10–1) had ended the regular season on December 7 tied with theGreen Bay Packers (10–1), the1939 NFL champions. The two had split their season series in 1941, with the road teams winning, so the tiebreaker was the first-everdivisional playoff game in the NFL, played on December 14 at Wrigley Field.
The Packers had completed their regular season on November 30 and the playoff game was sold out by Tuesday, December 9, at over 46,484,[7] with over 10,000 seats to Packer fans.[8] Chicago was favored,[8][9] and attendance on game day was slightly lower than capacity at 43,425, the week after Pearl Harbor. The Bears jumped to a 30–7 halftime lead under clear skies and 16 °F (−9 °C) temperatures and easily won, 33–14.[10][11][12] The Eastern Division championNew York Giants (8–3) completed their regular season on December 7 with a 21–7 loss to the runner-upBrooklyn Dodgers (7–4), who had defeated the Giants twice in the regular season.
The Bears were making their fifth appearance in the title game, the Giants were making their sixth, and each had two victories. It was the third time the two teams matched up in the big game; the home teams had won both: the Bears in1933 and the Giants in1934. The Bears were favored by two touchdowns and 35,000 were expected to attend.[1][13] The game time temperature was unseasonably warm at 47 °F (8 °C).[2]
The hometown Bears kicked three field goals in the first half to lead 9–6 at the intermission.[3] The Giants took the opening drive of the second half down to the five but settled for a short field goal to tie the score. Chicago dominated the rest of the second half with four unanswered touchdowns and won 37–9.[2][4][5][14]
The Bears became the first team in the NFL championship game era (since1933) to win consecutive titles; it was the franchise's fifth league title (1921,1932,1933,1940, 1941).
Sunday, December 21, 1941
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.CST
| Quarter | Team | Scoring Information | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYG | CHI | |||
| 1 | CHI | 14-yard field goal byBob Snyder | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | NYG | George Franck scores a 31-yard touchdown fromTuffy Leemans. Extra point no good. | 6 | 3 |
| 2 | CHI | 39-yard field goal by Bob Snyder | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | CHI | 37-yard field goal by Bob Snyder | 6 | 9 |
| 3 | NYG | 16-yard field goal byWard Cuff | 9 | 9 |
| 3 | CHI | 2-yard rush byNorm Standlee. Extra point is good by Bob Snyder | 9 | 16 |
| 3 | CHI | 7-yard rush by Norm Standlee. Extra point is good byJoe Maniaci | 9 | 23 |
| 4 | CHI | 5-yard rush byGeorge McAfee. Extra point is good byLee Artoe | 9 | 30 |
| 4 | CHI | Ken Kavanaugh returns a 42-yard fumble. Extra point is good byRay McLean ^ | 9 | 37 |
^ With under two minutes remaining,Ray "Scooter" McLean elected todrop kick theextra point on the last touchdown,[16] which was the last successful drop kick in the NFL for 64 years.Doug Flutie of theNew England Patriots kicked one in his final regular season game, in the fourth quarter of the last game of the2005 regular season on January 1, 2006.[17]
The NFL had only four game officials in1941; the back judge was added in1947, the line judge in1965, and the side judge in1978.
With the low attendance, the net gate receipts were a record low at under$42,000. Each Bears player received $431, while each Giants player saw $288, less than half of theprevious year's.[14][18]
Ticket prices were $4.40 for the grandstand and $2.20 for bleachers.[19]
Two players in the game, backYoung Bussey of the Bears and endJack Lummus of the Giants, werekilled in action three years later inWorld War II, in early 1945.Navylieutenant Bussey died in theInvasion of Lingayen Gulf in thePhilippines andMarinelieutenant Lummus was posthumously awarded theMedal of Honor for valor at theBattle of Iwo Jima.
41°56′53″N87°39′22″W / 41.948°N 87.656°W /41.948; -87.656
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