1949 NFL season

The 1949 NFL season was the 30th regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins asked the league to fold his team due to financial woes, and give him a new one in New York City. This new team would be called the New York Bulldogs.

As the season came to a close in December, a merger agreement between the NFL and the All-America Football Conference was announced. Three AAFC teams – Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts – would join the NFL in 1950.

The season ended when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL Championship Game.

Major rule changes

• The free substitution rule (any or all of the players may be replaced by substitutes after any play) was re-adopted for one year. The rule was previously adopted in 1943 in response to the depleted rosters during World War II, but repealed in 1946.

Division Races

In the Eastern Division, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh both had records of 4–1–0 when they met in Week Six. The Eagles won 38–7, and kept the lead for the remainder of the season. In the Western Division, the Rams got off to a 6–0–0 start while the Bears were 3–3–0 at midseason. Though the Bears won all of their remaining games, they never caught up to the Rams, who finished at 8–2–2.

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

NFL Championship Game

Philadelphia 14, Los Angeles 0 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, December 18, 1949

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1941–1950 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1949 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)