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,
History of the Chicago Bears first place in the league. The teams played an "unofficial" championship playoff game, held on December 18 at Chicago Stadium. The Bears won the game 9–0 and captured the NFL Championship before 11,198 fans. The popularity of the game prompted the NFL to institute various rule changes for the 1933 season, including the splitting of the league into two geographical divisions and the establishment of an officially scheduled championship game to determine the NFL champion. In 1933, George Halas made his return to coaching the Bears. Halas led the Bears to win the first ever Western Division title and the