'42 NFL Championship Game discussion

[74_75_78_79_]

An unbeaten team losing their very first game of the season in the title game itself. It happened, and to the very same franchise, eight years prior; and, of course, also would happen to the Pats in the Super Bowl 65 years after that.

However, this wasn't a case of a team with a much lesser W/L record pitching the upset. The mere modest 8-5 opponent would win it in '34, and the also nothing special 10-6 opponent - in both cases, of course, being the Giants - would win it all in 2007. In '42, though, it was a 10-1 Washington team that would upend the unbeaten opponent.

So not really much an upset, end of day, one would think; and this was a premiere franchise led by Flaherty/Baugh. But plenty of argument that it still was a shocker. Bears were actually a 20-point-favorite! A higher point-spread than SBIII!

Had Washington simply mustered themselves one more win in '42 to also make themselves unbeaten, the upcoming title game would have been seen as Yale/Harvard '68 or Penn State/Miami '86. Battle-of-Unbeatens, indeed, but such distance still generally seen between both opponents going in. Just a look at the back-to-back defending-Champ's regular-season body-of-work, and then look at Washington's. I say the former quite more dominant-looking.

Washington ended up winning it, in front of their fans at Griffith, by a score of 14-6 (Bears' TD being a fumble-recovery run back for a score; extra-point no good). I know I've asked this before, but just how much was the league (as well as Chi & Was) depleted, if at all, by the '42 regular season with our involvement in the War now in swing? And despite the Bears still showing sheer dominance down the stretch, should Halas's absence for this very contest possibly be seen as a legit reason for the loss?

Thoughts?

[TanksAndSpartans]

I think it was a good redemption game for the Baugh and Washington. Lets look at the Bears in '40:

Nowaskey LE (started at LT in '42)
Stydahar LT (came off the bench in '42)
Fortmann LG (both games)
Turner C (both games)
Musso RG (came off bench in '42)
Artoe RT (both games)
Wilson RE (both games)
Luckman QB (both games)
Nolting LHB (both games)
McAfee (DNP in '42)
Osmanski FB (came off bench in '42)

10/11 of the Bears played in both games. No question McAfee entering the Navy coming off a great '41 season was a big loss, but it's one player. You have to think Halas was a loss, but Luckman couldn't get the team moving and was benched. And a few players were coming off the bench by then likely just because they were a couple years older. I believe the depletion would get worse as the war went on, but this game doesn't look too bad to me. Baugh played well enough, not great. He actually intercepted Luckman which is pretty cool. I think Graham had an interception in an early AAFC title game, not something I can think of a lot of examples of off the top of my head though.

[Brian wolf]

Like T&S said, a great redemption game, especially for Baugh who intercepted Luckman to help win the game. Didnt Baugh get knocked out of the 43 Champ game by Luckman ?

[Bob Gill]

I agree that the NFL doesn't seem too depleted in 1942. The loss of players got serious a year later.

As for Baugh in the 1942 game, he averaged 52 yards or so on six punts that day too.

[rhickok1109]

I agree that the NFL doesn't seem too depleted in 1942. The loss of players got serious a year later.

202 NFL players missed the entire 1942 season because they were in the service. That number increased to 376 in 1943 and 418 in 1944 before declining slightly to 358 in 1945.

[74_75_78_79_]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Meandering on over to goldenrankings (and you can all confirm the accuracy if there is any lack of it), it says that the Bears lost almost half their roster in '42. Not just McAfee, but they say also Osmanski, Kavanaugh, and Stydahar. And for them to still be that dominant anyway...and just-as in Halas's absence those remaining games down the stretch!

Also according to GRs, the Giants who were the previous year's Eastern champs lost the most players at 27. Maybe Washington still wins it anyway, but it had to help being that NYG fell to 5-5-1. It helped the Steelers as well who finished in 2nd, posting their first winning season ever at 7-4.

And I think I knew of this previously but forgot about it, but Halas apparently was present at the NFLCG but on the bench. Why wouldn't he simply just HC them up if he already was there? I guess it was just out of momentum reasons and respect that Anderson/Jonsos were already at the helm together those last so many weeks. Halas also was at the owners' meeting the following day. Marshall made a comment to him suggesting that he "take off the uniform and let a younger guy do the job." GSH flipped out! Art Rooney is quoted, "I thought Halas would kill Marshall."

Washington maybe still beats Chicago even if GSH had been HC all along. This is a Flaherty/Baugh team we're talking of and the two were a true-blue interconference rivalry where anything can happen. Just look at '73-0'!! Not necessarily the result, but...(again)...'73-0' and against a premiere team, and that premiere team having had a better record during the regular season, and also beating them during that regular season, and also hosting that championship game event...

As I said before, the NFL simply having reached prominence in the '70s and the nostalgia that still flows to this day from that is what makes Steelers/Cowboys what it still is. But Browns/Lions in the '50s was an even bigger and slightly more-balanced interconference rivalry (at least Browns did beat Lions in a title game - and by blowout), and then you got Bears/Washington from '37-thru-'43 which was significantly greater thus the biggest interconference NFL rivalry of all-time! In those seven seasons, they split their total games at 4-wins-apiece along with splitting their NFLCG showdowns at 2-2!

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Meandering on over to goldenrankings (and you can all confirm the accuracy if there is any lack of it), it says that the Bears lost almost half their roster in '42. Not just McAfee, but they say also Osmanski, Kavanaugh, and Stydahar.

.

I still stand by 10 out of the 11 Bears starters from the '40 game played in the '42 game. Osmanski actually did miss the season, but was back for the championship game. I didn't originally consider Kavanaugh because he didn't start in '40. Stydahar looks incorrect. He missed '43 and '44, not '42.

Half the roster sounds high. They had their QB, a couple HOFers on the line - of course its not an ideal situation, but the other team had to deal with it too.

[rhickok1109]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Meandering on over to goldenrankings (and you can all confirm the accuracy if there is any lack of it), it says that the Bears lost almost half their roster in '42. Not just McAfee, but they say also Osmanski, Kavanaugh, and Stydahar. And for them to still be that dominant anyway...and just-as in Halas's absence those remaining games down the stretch!

According to Neft and Cohen's Pro Football: The Early Years, the following Bears missed the entire 1942 season because of military service: Al Baisi, Young Bussey, Chet Cheaney, John Fedorovich, Bill Hughes, Ken Kananaugh, Hal Lehar, Joe Maniaci, Phil Martinovich, George McAfee, Joe Mihal, Dick Plasman, Norm Standlee, and Bob Swisher.

Stydahar is listed as missing the 1943 and 1944 seasons.

[TanksAndSpartans]

@rhickok1109, if you still have the book handy.... Do we know who Washington was missing?

Interesting Standlee played for the Bears in '41 - he was a 49er/AAFC in my head, but in actuality looks like he missed several seasons due to military service - didn't play again until '46.

[Bob Gill]

According to Neft and Cohen's Pro Football: The Early Years, the following Bears missed the entire 1942 season because of military service: Al Baisi, Young Bussey, Chet Cheaney, John Fedorovich, Bill Hughes, Ken Kananaugh, Hal Lehar, Joe Maniaci, Phil Martinovich, George McAfee, Joe Mihal, Dick Plasman, Norm Standlee, and Bob Swisher.

It seems to me that Kavanaugh, McAfee and Standlee are the only ones they would have missed.