Washington had defeated Chicago 7–3 in a regular season game three weeks earlier in Washington. After the contest, Redskins owner George Preston Marshall told reporters that the Bears were crybabies and quitters when the going got tough. As the Bears prepared for the rematch, Chicago head coachGeorge Halas fired up his team by showing them newspaper articles containing Marshall's comments, then said, "Gentlemen, this is what George Preston Marshall thinks of you. Well, I think you're a GREAT football team! Now, go out there and prove it!" Before the game, Halas's friend Clark Shaughnessy, who was concurrently coaching the undefeated Stanford Indians, helped the Bears' gameplan. Shaughnessy devised several counters for linebacker shifts that he had noted the Redskins using.
Game summary
The Bears controlled the game right from the start, using the T formation as their primary offensive strategy. On their second play from scrimmage, running backBill Osmanski ran 68 yards for a touchdown. Washington then marched to the Chicago 26-yard line on their ensuing drive, but wide receiver Charlie Malone dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone that would have tied the game. The field goal attempt on 4th down was missed as well. Later in the first quarter, Bears quarterbackSid Luckman scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to increase the lead 14–0. On their third drive, Joe Maniaci ran 42 yards for the Bears' third touchdown of the game. The Bears held a 28–0 halftime lead and then continued to crush the Redskins, scoring 45 points during the second half. After Halas took the team's starters out, the backup players continued to pile on the points. The Bears ended up recording 501 total yards on offense, 382 total rushing yards, and 8 interceptions—returning 3 for touchdowns, all in the third quarter. So many footballs were kicked into the stands after touchdowns that officials asked Halas to run or pass for the point after touchdown on the last two touchdowns. This game also marked the last time that an NFL player played without a helmet. Reportedly, after the final gun went off, a sports writer jokingly yelled, "Marshall just shot himself!" Marshall's only statement to the press was, "We needed a 50 man line against their power." Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh was interviewed after the game, and a sportswriter asked him whether the game would have been different had Malone not dropped the tying touchdown pass. Baugh reportedly quipped, "Sure. The final score would have been 73–7."
Legacy
As of 2018, Chicago's 73 points is the most scored by one team in any NFL game, regular season or postseason. The margin of victory is not only the largest-ever in the NFL, but in any major American team sport; the closest anyone has come is the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, who demolished the Miami Heat in 1991 by 68 points. Chicago's seven rushing touchdowns is the second-most touchdowns in league history and the most ever in a postseason game. The First Fifty Years, a 1969 book that chronicles the first half century of the NFL, listed the game as one of "Ten That Mattered" to the growth of pro football in the United States. "On a Sunday in the 1940 December," the book states, "the Chicago Bears played perfect football for a greater percentage of the official hour than any team before or since. In the championship game, as an underdog to the team which had just beaten them, the Bears made an eleven-touchdown pile and used it as a pedestal to raise the NFL to view in all corners of the country.... Pro football, the T-formation and the Chicago Bears were the sudden sports news of the year."
Scoring summary
Sunday, December 8, 1940 Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. EST
First Quarter
*CHI TD – Bill Osmanski 68-yard run, CHI 7–0
*CHI TD – Sid Luckman 1-yard run, CHI 14–0
*CHI TD – Joe Maniaci 42-yard run, CHI 21–0
Second Quarter
*CHI TD – Ken Kavanaugh 30-yard pass from Luckman, CHI 28–0
Third Quarter
*CHI TD – Hampton Pool 15-yard interception return, CHI 35–0
