League place 1st NFL Start date 1932 | Playoff finish NFL Champions | |
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Record 7–1–6(Home: 6–1–2)(Road: 1–0–4) People also search for 1931 Chicago Bears season | ||
The 1932 Chicago Bears season was their 13th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 7–1–6 record under third year head coach Ralph Jones.
Contents
Season Overview
The season started strangely with three consecutive 0–0 ties. After a 0–2 loss to the Packers, the Bears had scored zero points in four games. After that, the offense got on track and the defense stayed incredibly stingy. The Bears were undefeated in their last nine "regular season" games (there was no established playoff system), with six wins, four by shutout, and three ties.
The team that gave the Bears the most trouble were the Portsmouth Spartans. The club tied with the Spartans with identical 6–1 records (ties did not count then and were omitted), so a playoff game was set up to determine a winner. The Bears defeated the Spartans, 9–0 in the first ever NFL postseason game, which oddly enough was played indoors at Chicago Stadium because it was expected to be cold at Wrigley Field and organizers wanted to maximize the attendance and gate revenue.
For the year, the powerful tandem of Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski again paced the Bears as Grange scored 7 touchdowns and Nagurski ran for 4 and also passed for 3 more. Keith Molesworth also contributed with 3 touchdowns on his own while passing for 3 more. Luke Johnsos had probably his finest season, catching two touchdown passes and scoring twice on defense as well. Coach Ralph Jones also found a reliable kicker in Paul "Tiny" Engebretson.
Future Hall of Fame Players
Other Leading Players
Dermot Rice, Running Back
Players Departed from 1931
Schedule
The December 18 game was added to break the tie and is known as the 1932 NFL Playoff Game
Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
1 The Bears and Spartans records include the result of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game. Thus, the Spartans are ranked third with a lower winning percentage than the Packers.