N.F.L. 1943
1943 NFL season
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1943 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration September 19 – December 26, 1943
East Champions Washington Redskins
West Champions Chicago Bears
Championship Game
Champions Chicago Bears
← 1942 NFL seasons 1944 →
The 1943 NFL season was the 24th regular season of the National Football League. As more players left to serve in World
… More War II, three teams were affected by the depleted rosters. The Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for this season. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers merged for this one season. The combined team, known as Phil-Pitt (and called the "Steagles" by fans), played four home games in Philadelphia and two in Pittsburgh.
The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins, 41–21, in the NFL Championship Game played the day after Christmas (the first time in NFL history that a playoff game was played so late in the year). Chicago had finished its regular season on November 28, winning the Western Division with an 8–1–1 record. However, the Bears had to wait for three straight weekends while the Eastern Division teams settled on a champion. Washington and the New York Giants ended the regular season by playing against each other on two consecutive Sundays, December 5 and 12 (the December 12 game being a makeup from the postponed game of October 3), with the Giants winning both games to force a first-place tie at 6–3–1 each. The Redskins, however, won the playoff game to advance to play the Bears.
Despite the war, the league's popularity continued to grow. The league drew a cumulative 1,072,462 fans, which was fewer than 7,000 short of the record set the previous year despite the fact that 15 fewer games were played. The attendance bump was attributed to the increased competitiveness of the weaker squads.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Major rule changes
2 Division races
3 Final standings
4 Playoffs
5 Awards
6 League leaders
7 Draft
8 Video
9 Coaches
9.1 Eastern Division
9.2 Western Division
10 References
Major rule changes[edit]
The free substitution rule is adopted. The rule was enacted in response to the depleted rosters of the World War II period, but it profoundly changed the game. Previously a player could enter the game a single time in each of the first three quarters; in the fourth quarter, two players on each squad could each be substituted twice. Because of these restrictions, players went "both ways", playing both offense and defense. This rule change eventually led to teams having separate offensive and defensive units and various "specialists" (placekickers, punters, returners, etc.). A similar rule had been adopted a few years earlier in college football.[2]
The wearing of helmets becomes mandatory for all players.
Division races[edit]
28–0. Less
