1932 Chicago Bears season

The 1932 season was the Chicago Bears' 13th in the National Football League. The team was able to improve on their 9–4–1 record from 1931 and finished with a 7–1–6 record under third-year head coach Ralph Jones.[2]

1932 Chicago Bears season
Head coachRalph Jones
Home fieldWrigley Field[1]
Results
Record7–1–6
(Home: 6–1–2)
(Road: 1–0–4)
League place1st NFL
Playoff finishNFL Champions
Team photo

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 was 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

Players departed from 1931
  • Link Lyman, tackle (did not play for unknown reasons)

Schedule
DateOpponentLocationResultScoreRecord
Sep 25at Green Bay PackersCity StadiumTie0–00–0–1
Oct. 2at Staten Island StapletonsThompson StadiumTie0–00–0–2
Oct. 9at Chicago CardinalsWrigley FieldTie0–00–0–3
Oct 16Green Bay PackersWrigley FieldLoss2–00–1–3
Oct 23Staten Island StapletonsWrigley FieldWin27–71–1–3
Oct 30at Boston BravesBraves FieldTie7–71–1–4
Nov 6at New York GiantsPolo GroundsWin28–82–1–4
Nov 13Portsmouth SpartansWrigley FieldTie13–132–1–5
Nov 20Brooklyn DodgersWrigley FieldWin20–03–1–5
Nov 24Chicago CardinalsWrigley FieldWin34–04–1–5
Nov. 27at Portsmouth SpartansUniversal StadiumTie7–74–1–6
Dec. 4New York GiantsWrigley FieldWin6–05–1–6
Dec. 11Green Bay PackersWrigley FieldWin9–06–1–6
Dec. 18Portsmouth SpartansChicago StadiumWin9–07–1–6

The December 18 game was added to break the tie and is known as the 1932 NFL Playoff Game

Standings
NFL standings
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Chicago Bears 1 7 1 6 .875 160 44 W3
Green Bay Packers 10 3 1 .769 152 63 L2
Portsmouth Spartans 1 6 2 4 .750 116 71 L1
Boston Braves 4 4 2 .500 55 79 W2
New York Giants 4 6 2 .400 93 113 L1
Brooklyn Dodgers 3 9 0 .250 63 131 L4
Chicago Cardinals 2 6 2 .250 72 114 L5
Staten Island Stapletons 2 7 3 .222 77 173 L1

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 behind the Packers.

NFL Playoff Game: Chicago Bears 9, Portsmouth Spartans 0
Further information: NFL Playoff Game, 1932

Awards
  • NFL Championship (2)

References
  1. Castle, George (2010). Chicago Bears. ABDO. p. 42. ISBN 9781617140068.
  2. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1932_roster.htm
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