1935 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 13 – December 15, 1935 |
| East Champions | New York Giants |
| West Champions | Detroit Lions |
| Championship Game | |
| Champions | Detroit Lions |
The 1935 NFL season was the 16th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Detroit Lions defeated the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.
Were it not for a cancellation due to heavy snow, this would have been the first season where all NFL teams played the same number of games. This standardization was formalized the following year and has continued ever since, with the number of games being slowly increased to sixteen by 1978.
Major rule changes
- The inbounds lines or hashmarks, introduced two years earlier in 1933, were moved closer to the center of the field, from 10 yards to 15 yards from the sidelines, or 70 feet apart.
This width lasted for ten seasons, through 1944. The hashmarks were moved to 20 yards from the sidelines (40 feet apart) in 1945, which lasted for 27 seasons. They were moved in to the width of the goalposts (18½ feet) in 1972.[1]
Division races
In the Eastern Division, the key game took place on Thanksgiving Day at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, as the 5–4 Dodgers hosted the 6–3 Giants. A Brooklyn win would have tied the teams at 6–4, but New York won, 21–0, eventually finishing at 9–3. The same Thanksgiving Day saw the Lions and the Cardinals both win, giving them records of 6–3–2 and 6–3–1 respectively, and ties didn't count. Three days later on December 1, the Lions beat Brooklyn 28–0; the Cardinals were losing to the Bears before tying them 7–7, but Detroit finished its season at 7–3–2 while the Cards were at 6–3–2. The Chicago Cardinals needed a win in order to have a chance for a playoff, and faced the Bears again on December 8. This time, the Bears won 13–0, and the Lions were the division champs.
Final standings
P= Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
Note 1: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972
Note 2: The November 17 Boston at Philadelphia game was canceled due to rain and snow.
| Eastern Division | |||||||
| Team | P | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 180 | 96 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 90 | 141 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 100 | 209 |
| Boston Redskins | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | .200 | 65 | 123 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 60 | 179 |
| Western Division | |||||||
| Team | P | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | .700 | 191 | 111 |
| Green Bay Packers | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 181 | 96 |
| Chicago Bears | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | .600 | 192 | 106 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | .600 | 99 | 97 |
NFL Championship Game
Detroit 26, N.Y. Giants 7, at University of Detroit Stadium, in Detroit, Michigan, on December 15.
League leaders
| Statistic | Name | Team | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Ed Danowski | New York | 794 |
| Rushing | Doug Russell | Chicago Cardinals | 499 |
| Receiving | Charley Malone | Boston | 433 |
References
- ↑ "Owners give offense big seven-yard boost". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. March 24, 1972. p. 6A.
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1931–1940 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)