1946 NFL season

Last updated

1946 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 20 – December 8, 1946
East Champions New York Giants
West Champions Chicago Bears
Championship Game
Champions Chicago Bears
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Giants
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Cardinals ....
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Eagles
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Steelers ....
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Redskins
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Yanks
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Bears
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Packers
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Rams
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Lions
NFL teams: Yellow ffff00 pog.svg West, Green pog.svg East

The 1946 NFL season was the 27th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, Elmer Layden resigned as NFL Commissioner and Bert Bell, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, replaced him. Meanwhile, the All-America Football Conference was formed to rival the NFL, and the Rams became the first NFL team based on the West Coast after they relocated from Cleveland, Ohio, to Los Angeles, California. A regular season game was played on Tuesday, the last until the 2010 season, on October 1, between New York and Boston.

Contents

The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.

Draft

The 1946 NFL Draft was held on January 14, 1946, at New York City's Commodore Hotel. With the first pick, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Frank Dancewicz from the University of Notre Dame.

Major rule changes

Division races

In the Eastern Division, the Giants, Eagles, and Steelers all had 4-2 records in Week Seven of an 11-week season, while in the Western Division, the Bears' 10–7 win over the Packers on November 3 put them a game ahead of the Rams.

In Week Eight, the Giants beat the Eagles 45–17, the Steelers lost to Detroit 17–7, and the Bears beat the Rams 27–21 to widen their lead.

Week Nine saw Giants tie with Boston, 28–28, putting them at 5–2–1, while the Steelers beat the Eagles 10–7 to be a half-game behind at 5–3–1.

The teams met in New York in Week Ten, and the Giants' 7–0 win put them in front again.

The final week of the season had the 6–3–1 Giants hosting the 5–4–1 Redskins: a Washington win would have given them both 6–4–1 records and forced a playoff.

That became a moot point with New York's 31–0 win in front of 60,337 at the Polo Grounds: more than the 58,346 that went there for the Championship Game a week later.

Final standings

NFL Championship Game

Chicago Bears 24, New York Giants 14, at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 15, 1946

League leaders

StatisticNameTeamYards
Passing Sid Luckman Chicago Bears1826
Rushing Bill Dudley Pittsburgh604
Receiving Jim Benton Los Angeles981

Awards

Joe F. Carr Trophy (Most Valuable Player)   Bill Dudley, Halfback, Pittsburgh

Coaching changes

Stadium changes

The relocated Los Angeles Rams moved from Cleveland's League Park to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Deaths

January

February

April

May

June

July

September

August

October

November

Related Research Articles

Below is a list of professional football Championship Games in the United States, involving:

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References

  1. The goal posts were on the goal line from 1933 until 1973.