The 1942 NFL season was the 23rd regular season

Regular season (NFL)

The National Football League regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, the majority of each week's games are played on Sunday afternoon, with weekly games on Sunday night and Monday night, and occasional games on Thursday...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. Before the season, many players left for service in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, thus depleting the rosters of all the teams.

The Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 finished the regular season at 11–0, and faced the 10–1 Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

 in the championship game. Washington, which had been beaten 73–0 in the 1940 title game, got a measure of revenge in spoiling the Bears' hope for a perfect season

Perfect Season

A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...

, winning 14–6.

Major rule changes

• The use of flags on flexible shafts to mark the intersections of goal lines and side lines becomes mandatory.
• A clarification to the offsides rule is added: The center or snapper is not offsides unless a portion of his body is ahead of the defensive team's line.
• A half cannot end on a double foul. Instead, the period will be extended by one untimed down.
• Detachable kicking toes are prohibited.
• When an encroachment or false start causes the other team to be offsides, only the initial foul is penalized.
• A forward pass that first touches an ineligible receiver may be intercepted.
• If the offensive team commits pass interference in their opponent's end zone, it is an automatic touchback.

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

NFL Championship Game

Washington 14, Chi. Bears 6, at Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...

, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, December 13, 1942

Awards

Joe F. Carr Trophy (Most Valuable Player) NFL Most Valuable Player Award The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award is given by various entities, most notably the Associated Press , to the player who is considered most valuable in the league. When the award is referred to without mentioning the organization, it generally means the AP award. The AP NFL MVP...

Don Hutson Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson was the first star wide receiver in National Football League history. He is considered by many to have been the first modern receiver.... , Wide receiver Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible... , Green Bay