1935 NFL season

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.

1935 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 13 – December 15, 1935
East ChampionsNew York Giants
West ChampionsDetroit Lions
Championship Game
ChampionsDetroit Lions

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; ties did not count at the time. 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 Cardinals were at 6–3–2. The 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.

Had the current (post-1972) system of counting ties as half a win and half a loss been in place in 1935, Green Bay (8-4-0) would have required a playoff with the Lions for the Western Division, while the Bears would have finished third over the Cardinals after the December 8 win.

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
TeamPWLTPCTPFPA
New York Giants 12930.75018096
Brooklyn Dodgers 12561.45590141
Pittsburgh Pirates 12480.333100209
Boston Redskins 11281.20065123
Philadelphia Eagles 11290.18260179
Western Division
TeamPWLTPCTPFPA
Detroit Lions 12732.700191111
Green Bay Packers 12840.66718196
Chicago Bears 12642.600192106
Chicago Cardinals 12642.6009997

NFL Championship Game
Further information: 1935 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

Coaching changes
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References
  1. "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)
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