Dan Fortmann team captain, he led the Bears to back-to-back NFL championships in 1940 and 1941 with records of 8–3 and 10–1. After the 1940 season, Fortmann was rated as the best lineman in the NFL. The United Press called him "the heart and soul" of the Bears' ground attack that "rolled up a vast amount of yardage overland." In the 1940 NFL Championship Game, the Bears defeated the Washington Redskins by a 73-0 score. Fortman later cited the 1940 championship game as proof of Halas' skill as a "master of psychology." The Bears had lost to the Redskins three weeks earlier,
1946 NFL Championship Game 1946 NFL Championship Game The 1946 National Football League Championship Game was the 14th annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), played December 15 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with a record-breaking attendance of The game matched the New York Giants (7–3–1), champions of the Eastern Division, against the Western Division champion Chicago Bears (8–2–1). The Giants had won the regular season game at the Polo Grounds seven weeks earlier on October 27, but the Bears were seven to ten point This was the fifth and final NFL Championship game played at the Polo Grounds