NFL 1943

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1943 NFL season
Regular season
season September 19 - December 26, 1943
East Champions Washington Redskins
West Champions Chicago Bears
Championship game
NFL Champion Chicago Bears
NFL season
 <1942 1944> 

The 1943 NFL season was the National Football League's 24th regular season . As more and more players left teams to serve in World War II , three teams were hit by under- squads. The Cleveland Rams were allowed to cease operations that season. The Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers partnered for that one season. The joint team, known as Phil-Pitt or as Steagles , played four home games in Philadelphia and two in Pittsburgh.

The season ended with the NFL championship game between the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins , which the Bears won 41:21 and was played the day after Christmas (this was the first time in NFL history that a play-off game so late in the year). Chicago ended the regular season on November 28 with the win of the Western Division with an 8-1-1 record. However, the Bears had to wait three weeks for the Eastern Division to play their champions. Washington and the New York Giants ended their regular season against each other on two consecutive Sundays, December 5th and December 12th (the game of December 12th was a catch-up game of October 3rd). The Redskins won the playoff game and faced the Bears.

Despite the war, the league's popularity continued to grow. The league attracted a total of 1,072,462 fans, 7,000 fewer than in the previous year, although 15 fewer games were played. The jump in attendance was attributed to the increased competitiveness of the weaker teams.

Important rule changes

  • Free substitution was introduced. The rule was introduced during the Second World War due to the dwindling squad, but it changed the game fundamentally. Before that, a player could be replaced once in the first three quarters; In the fourth quarter, two players from each team could be substituted twice. Because of this limitation, the players played "both ways," meaning they played both offense and defense . This rule change eventually led to the fact that the teams had separate offensive and defensive players and different specialists ( placekickers , punters , returners , etc.) emerged. A similar rule was introduced in college football a few years earlier .
  • The wearing of helmets becomes compulsory for all players.

NFL draft

The 1943 NFL Draft was conducted on April 8 at Chicago 's Palmer House Hotel. With the first pick who chose Detroit Lions to running back Frank Sinkwich from the University of Georgia from.

Division phase

The NFL played a game plan shortened to ten games. In the Eastern Division, the Phil-Pitt won the first two games and led in the week four with 1–0–0 standing Washington shortly behind, while in the Western Division, the Bears and Packers drew in the first game 21–21 and after Weeks four 2–0–1 stood.

The division leaders played against each other on week five on October 17th. The Bears defeated the Steagles 48:21 and the Redskins defeated the Packers 33-7, making the two winners the leaders.

The Redskins (5–0–1) and the Bears (7–0–1) went unbeaten in week eleven in Washington on November 21, with the Redskins winning 21-7. The Redskins suffered their first loss in week twelve when they lost to Phil-Pitt at 14:27 on November 28th. The Bears won the Western Division on the same day with 35:24 the Cardinals achieved an 8-1-1 final balance. In week thirteen Phil-Pitt lost their last game against Green Bay with 28:38 and were with a 5-4-1 record from the championship race. Meanwhile, the Giants beat the Redskins with 14:10 in New York. In the next week, the Giants (5-3-1) defeated the Redskins (6-2-1) in Washington with 31: 7, which led to a tie in the Eastern Division. For the third consecutive weekend New York and Washington met, this time in the Divisional Playoff, which the Redskins won 28-0.

Final results

Eastern Division
team S. N U SQ P + P-
Washington Redskins 6th 3 1 .667 229 137
New York Giants 6th 3 1 .667 197 170
Phil-Pitt "Steagles" 5 4th 1 .556 225 230
Brooklyn Dodgers 2 8th 0 .200 65 234
Western Division
team S. N U SQ P + P-
Chicago Bears 8th 1 1 .889 303 157
Green Bay Packers 7th 2 1 .778 264 172
Detroit Lions 3 6th 1 .333 178 218
Chicago Cardinals 0 10 0 .000 95 238

Note: Until 1972, the NFL officially did not have any draws in the final scores

Legend:

S iege N iederlagen U nentschieden SQ games won (relative)
P + points made P- opposing points Championship participant

Postseason

The Eastern Division play-off game took place on December 19, 1943 at the Polo Grounds , New York City.

1 2 3 4th total
New York Giants 0 0 0 0 0
Washington Redskin 0 14th 0 14th 28

The NFL Championship game took place on December 26, 1943 at Wrigley Field , Illinois .

1 2 3 4th total
Chicago Bears 0 14th 13 14th 41
Washington Redskin 0 7th 7th 7th 21st

Award winners

Joe F. Carr Trophy (Most Valuable Player) Sid Luckman , quarterback , Chi. Bears

Season best

statistics Surname team value
fit yards Sid Luckman Chicago 2,194
yards run Bill Paschal new York 572
trapped yards Don Hutson Green Bay 776

Video

Head coach

Eastern Division

Western Division

credentials

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ '43 Pro Grid Cracks Attendance Records . In: Pittsburgh Press , December 7, 1943, p. 28. Retrieved May 26, 2011. 
  2. ^ On any given Sunday: a life of Bert Bell . ISBN 978-1-59213-731-2 .