By Merrell W. Whittlesey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, Dec. 27, 1943; Page 18

Chicago, Dec. 26 — The Merchant Marine gets Sid Luckman after today, and as far as the Redskins are concerned the seamen can have him.

The Chicago Bears' quarterback celebrated what was unquestionably his greatest day in football with one of the truly great individual performances of all time as the Bears won the National Football League championship by routing the Redskins, 41 to 21, in the ideal setting of Wrigley Field.

The Bears brought out one of their typical powerhouse performances and after spotting the Redskins an early second period score, went on to run up six touchdowns to the delight of a crowd of 34,320, which contributed a record play-off gate of $120,500. The triumph netted each member of the Bears $1135 to $754 for each of the beaten Redskins.

Luckman Master of Day
Luckman was the complete master of the day as Sammy Baugh, his long-time rival and 90 per cent of the Redskins offense, was lost to his team for the first 35 minutes of play, except for one damaging play in the first period. Baugh subbed for George Cafego, got off a 44-yard punt and as he fell while chasing Luckman on the punt return he was kicked in the head. The Texan suffered a slight concussion but after a rest and treatment he returned in the second half to throw two touchdown passes in the Redskins' losing cause.

Luckman, cuffed about by the Redskins in last year's play-off, embarrassed by his futile attempts in a league game in Washington last month, more than avenged his failures by throwing five touchdown passes, two of them spectacular heaves thrown while off balance and rushed, two of them perfectly executed screen pass plays, and another a floating scoring serial. He also set up the touchdown scored by Bronko Nagurski.

Luckman was not only a threat through the air, however. On quarterback sneaks he spilled Redskin linemen and he ran off two sizable gains when his receivers were covered as he personally rolled up 64 yards on the ground. His passes accounted for 276 yards, 14 completions in 24 attempts. On defense the "brains" of the Bears was a terror. He set up two touchdowns by intercepting passes and returning each 20 yards. He maneuvered the Bears' running attack for 168 yards, handling the ball on the "T" formation. To put it mildly, he was terrific.

Nagurski at Fullback
The Bears were not kidding about Bronko Nagurski's comeback at fullback. With bull-like drives through the center of the Redskin line, reminiscent of his greatest days, he powered for 37 yards on the ground more than any Redskin gained, once carrying four Redskins with him for 5 yards. He scored a touchdown from 3 yards out, and to the complete amazement of the humbled losers, turned pass catcher for a first down again.

Bitter rivals for an eight-game series over the past 7 years, both clubs played rough, tough football. Players were laid out on the field on at least a dozen occasions. Baugh returned to the game when his understudy, George Cafego, simply couldn't take another pounding. Squareoffs were numerous but due to quick work by the officials punches were few.

Even without Baugh, the Redskins played good football for the first period, and on the first play of the second quarter Andy Farkas went over from inches out for a touchdown. Wilbur Moore, with two almost unbelievable catches of Cafego passes and a 21-yard penalty for pass interference by Dante Magnani on Joe Aguirre to the 2-yard line, placed the ball in position.

Bears Tie Score
Less than 3 minutes later the Bears tied the score and added another before the half was over to take a 14-7 lead into the intermission. They made it 21, and then 27 in the third period before Baugh connected on a 17-yard pass to Farkas to bring the score to a more respectable figure.

The Bears made a joke of the final quarter as they held the ball for the first 11 minutes and 50 seconds. They managed that by scoring on a sustained march, retaining the ball on an onside kick, and scoring again. When the 'Skins finally laid hands on the ball Baugh faked the Bears out of positio and floated a 25 yard pass to Joe Aguirre to end the scoring.

Luckman was great but for each touchdown pass there must be a receiver, and Magnani, Harry Clark and Jim Benton knew what to do with the ball after plucking it out of the air.

The Bears' pet play, and the Redskins' nemesis, the screen pass, and produced the tying touchdown. From his own 44-yard line Luckman swiftly back-pedaled as Redskins linemen poured through and shot a pass to Clark on the right flank. Bear blockers formed a protective screen for Clark as he cut neatly and raced 31 yards for a touchdown, Ray Hare finally catching up and going over the goal line with him.

Luckman twice flipped past the center of the Redskin line on quarterback sneaks, the second time for 15 yards to the 3-yard line, to set up the second score. Luckman called on Nagurski from the 3 and the Bronk proved to be right man as he made the 3 yards with ease for the score.

Snyder Adds 5 Points
Roy Snyder, the Bears' record-breaker on point-after-touchdown placements, added the extra point on five scores, missing one. Bob Masterson made two and Aguirre one for the 'Skins.

Magnani, on loan to the Bears from the Cleveland Rams, a hat-picked selectoin when the Rams folded for the year, was Luckman's favorite in the third period. Magnani pulled the run of the day less than three minutes after the start of the second half. He took a flat pass from Luckman 36 yards from scoring territory and with beautiful cutting and weaving gave first Lou Rymkus, then Calego and finally Frank Seno the slip as he ran for a touchdown in the manner of an ice skater in a fancy dash down the ice.

A few minutes later Magnani and Luckman pulled the screen pass to perfection as the Redskins were completely baffled by the simple play. The Bear line let the Redskins through, Luckman got the ball away and Magnani pulled away from his blockers and raced 65 yards with Bob Seymour in futile pursuit all the way, Magnani leaving Seymour for good at the 15.

The Redskin backfield was made up of the "rinkeydinks" when Luckman completed the first of two touchdown passes in the final period. From the Redskin 29 the fleet-footed Jim Benton, another Cleveland product, got behind Leo Stasica and gracefully pulled the ball down in the end zone without a Redskin within speaking distance.

Beckons for Clark
Luckman saved his piece de resistance, from a passing standpoint, for dessert. From the Redskin 16, Luckman faded back to pass and was forced to run to his right by the charging Redskin defense. Holding the ball in his right hand, the big fellow ran as he beckoned frantically to Clark to run into the end zone. With Clark in position Luckman, off balance, leaped and whipped a beautiful pass to the pit of Clark's stomach for the score. Sid tumbled head over heels but he knew the pass was good from the roar of the crowd.

The Redskins protested a touchdown called back in the first period. Cafego picked up a low pass from center at midfield and threw a pass in Moore's direction, and anything in Moore's direction is in his hands. Moore gathered the ball after a 15-yard flight and was downed momentarily on the Bear 24 by Magnani and Ray McLean. Wilbur rolled from their grasp, however, got up and raced the remaining 26 yards for an apparent score but Referee Ronald Gibbs ruled Moore was down on the 24. The 'Skins' squawk was in vain and the drive was ended after Cafego was charged with a 15-yard loss for grounding a pass on the next play and then McLean intercepted George's next pass.

The Bears almost connected on a trick play in the same period. With fourth down on the Redskin 37, placekicking expert Bob Snyder rushed in for an apparent field goal try and drew a 5-yard penalty for delaying the game. With Luckman kneeling to hold the ball in position, he took a pass from center and tossed the ball to Snyder instead, and Snyder passed downfield for Benton on the 5-yard line, but Moore and Cafego leaped and batted the ball as one, just a split second ahead of Benton's grab — and a sure touchdown if he caught it.

'Skin Line Outplayed
The Bear line outplayed the battered 'Skins as Bulldog Turner and Danny Fortmann, particularly the former, held the patched-up wall together and Hunk Anderson took full advantage of the unlimited substitutions to shuttle his best available men in and out, keeping them fresh, at least.

Willie Wilkin played less than 5 minutes, Lou Rymkus less than a period for the Redskins, due to injury.

Cafego deserves an E for effort in playing acceptable ball while subbing for Baugh, but the man the Redskins needed today was temporarily out of his mind for the greater part of the first half as he sat on the bench, hudled in blankets, and rambled on about the Redskins' play to the listeners among his sympathetic teammates.