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1955 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration September 24 - December 11, 1955
East Champions Cleveland Browns
West Champions Los Angeles Rams
Championship Game
Champions Cleveland Browns
National Football League seasons
 < 1954 1956 > 

The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams 38–14 in the title game.

Major rule changes[]

  • The ball is dead immediately when the ball carrier touches the ground with any part of his body except his hands or feet while in the grasp of an opponent.
  • A new exception is made in regard to scoring a safety: When a defender intercepts a pass, his intercepting momentum carries him into his own end zone, and he is stopped before returning the ball back into the field of play, then the ball will be next put in play at the spot of the interception.

Conference races[]

The defending champion Browns dropped their opener, at home, to the Redskins 27–17, but a six game win streak put them back in front to win the Eastern race. The Western race was crowded a few times, as the Rams had to share the lead. In Week Eight, the Bears beat Los Angeles 24–3, to give both teams 5–3 records, The next week (November 20), the Bears took the lead with a 24–14 at Detroit while the Rams got a 17–17 tie at Baltimore. As had happened many times before in the annual battle of Chicago, the Bears were upset by the Cardinals in Week Ten (November 27), 53-14; the Rams eked out a 23-21 in Philadelphia on Pat Richter's field goal with 0:07 left in the game [1]. In Week Eleven (December 4), the Rams won 20–14 over Baltimore, and the Bears kept their hopes alive with a difficult 21–20 win over Detroit. In the latter game, the Lions' Doak Walker missed an extra point, lost a fumble late in the game on the Detroit 28, and was wide on a 35 yard field goal attempt in the final seconds. The Bears won their last game (December 11), 17-10 over Philadelphia, to finish 8–4, and hoped for the 7–3–1 Rams would lose their game in Los Angeles against Green Bay. The Rams didn't lose, clinching a spot in the title game, with a 31-17 win.

Week WESTERN EASTERN
1 3 teams: (Bal, GB, LA) 1-0-0 3 teams: (Phi, Pit, Was) 1-0-0
2 3 teams: (Bal, GB, LA) 2-0-0 Washington Redskins 2-0-0
3 Tie: (Bal, LA) 3-0-0 4 teams: (Cards, Cle, Pit, Was) 2-1-0
4 3 teams: (Bal, GB, LA) 3-1-0 Tie: (Cle, Pit) 3-1-0
5 Los Angeles Rams 4-1-0 Tie: (Cle, Pit) 4-1-0
6 Tie: (Bal, LA) 4-2-0 Cleveland Browns 5-1-0
7 Los Angeles Rams 5-2-0 Cleveland Browns 6-1-0
8 Tie: (Bears, LA) 5-3-0 Cleveland Browns 6-2-0
9 Chicago Bears 6-3-0 Cleveland Browns 7-2-0
10 Los Angeles Rams 6-3-1 Cleveland Browns 7-2-1
11 Los Angeles Rams 7-3-1 Cleveland Browns 8-2-1
12 Los Angeles Rams 8-3-1 Cleveland Browns 9-2-1

Final standings[]

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

Eastern Conference
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Cleveland 9 2 1 .818 349 218
Washington 8 4 0 .667 246 222
New York 6 5 1 .545 267 223
Chicago Cardinals 4 7 1 .364 224 252
Philadelphia 4 7 1 .364 248 231
Pittsburgh 4 8 0 .333 195 285
Western Conference
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Los Angeles 8 3 1 .727 260 231
Chicago Bears 8 4 0 .667 294 251
Green Bay 6 6 0 .500 258 276
Baltimore 5 6 1 .455 214 239
San Francisco 4 8 0 .333 216 298
Detroit 3 9 0 .250 230 275


NFL Championship Game[]

Cleveland 38, Los Angeles 14 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, December 26, 1955

References[]

  1. "Rams Recapture NFL Lead on Richter's Clutch Field Goal," Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), Nov. 28, 1955, pA-12

Template:1955 NFL season by team

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