1933 NFL Championship Game
1933 American football championship game
The 1933 NFL Championship Play-off Game was the first scheduled championship game of the National Football League (NFL) since its founding in 1920. It was played on December 17 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, and the attendance was estimated at 25,000.
The game was between the champions of the league's newly created divisions: the Chicago Bears (10–2–1) of the Western Division and the New York Giants (11–3) of the Eastern Division. Chicago gained the home field due to a better winning percentage in the regular season; after this year the home field alternated, with the Eastern Division champion hosting in even-numbered years and the Western in odd.
Chicago scored the winning touchdown with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, capping a 23–21 victory. It was the Bears' second consecutive championship and third under founder and head coach George Halas.
Background
Before the 1933 season, new Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall suggested to the NFL's owners that the league make some rule changes to increase the excitement of the game, including allowing passing from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, and returning the goal posts to the goal line (which was changed after the 1973 season). Marshall then made another proposal a couple of months later: split the ten-team league into two divisions (of five teams each) and have the division winners meet in a championship game.
Although the owners were hesitant at first, and some believed that this brash new owner thought their game needed overhauling, the logic of his arguments won out, and they were implemented.
Before the season, the New York Giants acquired University of Michigan All-American quarterback Harry Newman, and versatile free agent halfback Ken Strong.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “1933 NFL Championship Game” is 1933 American football championship game. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Championship, Game and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1728201. Authority coordinates are 41.948, -87.656. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1933, 1920 and 1973.
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