The 1950

1950 NFL season

The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the All-America Football Conference expanded the league to 13 teams. Meanwhile, television brought a new era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games – both...

 National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 championship game was the 18th NFL title game. The game was played on December 24, 1950 in Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

's Municipal Stadium

Cleveland Stadium

Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football...

.

Background

The 1950 season in the NFL brought some changes to the league. First the NFL had added three teams from the All-America Football Conference

All-America Football Conference

The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...

. The NFL realigined the Eastern and Western Divisions into the American Conference and National Conference. For the first time both division/conference races resulted in ties at the end of the regular season, resulting in two playoff games

NFL playoffs, 1950

-American Conference:-National Conference:...

. In the American Conference, the Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (who had joined the NFL from the AAFC) defeated the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, while in the National Conference the Los Angeles Rams beat the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

.

The Browns had been the AAFC's most dominant team, winning all four of its championships. The Rams, who left Cleveland after the 1945 season for Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, were making their second straight appearance in an NFL title game.

Game summary

• First Quarter
  • LA-Davis 82 yard pass from Waterfield
    Bob Waterfield
    Robert "Bob" Stanton Waterfield was an American football player.Waterfield attended Van Nuys High School, in Van Nuys, California and went on to play college football for UCLA. In 1943 he led the Bruins to the Pacific Coast Conference football championship...
    
     (Waterfield kick) 7-0 LA
  • LA-Hoerner
    Dick Hoerner
    Lester Junior "Dick" Hoerner was an American football player. He played fullback for the University of Iowa in 1942 and 1946 and for the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1951...
    
     3 yard run (Waterfield kick) 14-0 LA
  • Cle-Jones 31 yard pass from Graham
    Otto Graham
    Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
    
     (Groza
    Lou Groza
    Louis Roy Groza was an American football placekicker and offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns....
    
     kick) 14-7 LA
• Second Quarter
  • Cle-Lavelli
    Dante Lavelli
    Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League from 1946 to 1956...
    
     35 yard pass from Graham (conversion pass failed) 14-13 LA
• Third Quarter
  • Cle-Lavelli 39 yard pass from Graham (Groza kick) 20-14 CLE
  • LA-Hoerner 1 yard run (Waterfield kick) 21-20 LA
  • LA-Brink
    Larry Brink
    Lawrence Raymond Brink is a former American football defensive lineman who played seven seasons in the National Football League.-Early life and education:...
    
     6 yard fumble return (Waterfield kick) 28-20 LA
• Fourth Quarter
  • Cle-Bumgardner
    Rex Bumgardner
    Rex Bumgardner is a former running back in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills, and the Cleveland Browns. He was drafted in the 1948 NFL Draft out of West Virginia....
    
    14 yard pass from Graham (Groza kick) 28-27 LA
  • Cle- Groza 16 yard field goal 30-28 CLE

Final statistics

Source:The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football, (1973), p. 109, Macmillan Publishing Co. New York, NY, LCCN 73-3862

Statistical comparison

	Cleveland Browns	Los Angeles Rams
First downs	22	22
First downs rushing	8	9
First downs passing	13	12
First downs penalty	1	1
Total yards	414	418
Passing yards	298	312
Passing – Completions-attempts	22-32	18-32
Passing – Yards per attempt	9.3	9.75
Interceptions-return yards	5-54	1-11
Rushing yards	116	106
Rushing attempts	25	36
Yards per rush	4.6	2.9
Penalties-yards	3-35	4-48
Fumbles-lost	3-3	0-0
Punts-Average	5-38.4	4-50.8