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 to last game of the season, the Bears and Chicago Cardinals faced off in the final game of the season, with the Western Division title on the line. Despite it being a home game for the Bears at Wrigley Field the Cardinals came in and would stun the Bears 30–21 en route to the 1947 NFL Championship. In 1948, for the second season in a row, the Bears put together another great regular season but fell short to their inner city rival Cardinals. The Bears posted a 10–2 record, but lost a key game against the Cardinals that gave them