1947 NFL Championship Game
Sneakers on a frozen Comiskey Park field, a 28-21 win over the Eagles, and the Cardinals' last championship.
The 1947 NFL Championship Game, formally the 1947 World Professional Football Championship Game, was the National Football League's 15th end-of-season title game. It was played in icy conditions on December 28, 1947, at Comiskey Park in Chicago before 30,759 spectators, well below the stadium's capacity, and the Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21. It remains the franchise's most recent championship.
Quick Facts
- Visitor
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Home
- Chicago Cardinals
- Visitor coach
- Greasy Neale
- Home coach
- Jimmy Conzelman
- Visitor record
- 8–4
- Home record
- 9–3
- Visitor total
- 21
- Home total
- 28
Facts from the source article.
Background
The Western Division champion Cardinals (9-3), coached by Jimmy Conzelman and led by the 'Million Dollar Backfield' of Elmer Angsman, Charley Trippi, Paul Christman and Pat Harder, met the Eastern Division champion Eagles (8-4), who had beaten Pittsburgh 21-0 in a tiebreaker playoff a week earlier; both clubs were in the title game for the first time. On the frozen field the Cardinals chose to wear sneakers and outgained Philadelphia on the ground 280 yards to 60.
They led 14-0 in the second quarter, the teams then traded touchdowns, and after the Eagles closed to 28-21 with five minutes left the Cardinals held the ball on a long drive to finish the game. It was the only NFL title game ever played at Comiskey Park, and it kept the championship in Chicago a year after the Bears had won it. The win was also the Cardinals' last playoff victory until January 2, 1999, a drought of 51 years and five days, the longest in NFL history.
The players did not receive championship rings until the 50th anniversary of the game in 1997. The Eagles won the 1948 rematch in a Philadelphia snowstorm.
More in Iconic Matches & Games
Elsewhere in Arizona Cardinals
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced