1954 NFL season

Last updated

1954 NFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 26 –
December 26, 1954
East Champions Cleveland Browns
West Champions Detroit Lions
Championship Game
Champions Cleveland Browns
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Green pog.svg
Eagles
Green pog.svg
Browns
Green pog.svg
Giants
Yellow ffff80 -Green dot.png
Bears
Yellow ffff80 -Green dot.png
Cardinals ....
Green pog.svg
Steelers ....
Green pog.svg
.... Redskins
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Packers
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Lions
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
49ers
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Colts
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Rams
NFL teams: Yellow ffff00 pog.svg West, Green pog.svg East

The 1954 NFL season was the 35th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game.

Contents

Draft

The 1954 NFL Draft was held on January 28, 1954 at Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. With the first pick, the Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Bobby Garrett from Stanford University.

Major rule changes

Conference races

In the Western Division, the 49ers pulled ahead in Week Five (October 24) with a 37–31 win over the Lions, but they lost four of their remaining seven games and finished 7–4–1.

The Lions, on the other hand, won six of their last seven, and finished 9–2–1. In the Eastern race, the Eagles got off to a 4–0 start, until dropping games to Pittsburgh (17–7) and Green Bay (37–14) to fall into a three-way tie with the Giants and Steelers. The Browns, who got off to a 1–2 start, went on an 8-game winning streak, gradually catching up with a Halloween win over New York (24–14).

A 6–0 win over Philadelphia on November 21 gave them the conference lead, and a 16–7 rematch win in New York the next week extended the margin.

The Browns' streak was ended on December 19 with a 14–10 loss to the Lions, but when the teams met in Cleveland again the next week for the Championship, the Browns beat the Lions in a 56–10 rout.

WeekWesternEastern
13 teams (Det, LA, SF)1–0–03 teams (NYG, Phi, Pit)1–0–0
23 teams (Det, LA, SF)1–0–1Tie (Phi, Pit)2–0–0
3Tie (Det, SF)2–0–1Philadelphia Eagles3–0–0
4Tie (Det, SF)3–0–1Philadelphia Eagles4–0–0
5San Francisco 49ers4–0–13 teams (NYG, PHI, PIT)4–1–0
6Tie (Det, SF)4–1–13 teams (NYG, PHI, PIT)4–2–0
7Detroit Lions5–1–0Tie (NYG, PHI)5–2–0
8Detroit Lions6–1–0New York Giants6–2–0
9Detroit Lions7–1–0Cleveland Browns6–2–0
10Detroit Lions8–1–0Cleveland Browns7–2–0
11Detroit Lions8–1–1Cleveland Browns8–2–0
12Detroit Lions8–2–1Cleveland Browns9–2–0
13 Detroit Lions 9–2–1 Cleveland Browns 9–3–0

Final standings

NFL Championship Game

Cleveland 56, Detroit 10 at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1954

League leaders

StatisticNameTeamYards
Passing Norm Van Brocklin Los Angeles2637
Rushing Joe Perry San Francisco1049
Receiving Bob Boyd Los Angeles1212

Awards

Coaching changes

Related Research Articles

The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League (NFL). To increase revenue, the league, for the first time since 1966, reinstated bye weeks, so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams by adding another wild card from each conference, thus adding two more contests to the postseason schedule; this format was modified with realignment in 2002 before the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020.

The 1964 NFL season was the 45th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season started, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, who had been suspended for the 1963 season due to gambling.

The 1963 NFL season was the 44th regular season of the National Football League.

The 1961 NFL season was the 42nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The league expanded to 14 teams with the addition of the Minnesota Vikings, after the team's owners declined to be charter members of the new American Football League. The schedule was also expanded from 12 games per team to 14 games per team where it would stay for 16 years. The Vikings were placed in the Western Conference, and the Dallas Cowboys were switched from the Western Conference to the Eastern. The addition of the Vikings returned the NFL to an even number of teams.

The 1960 NFL season was the 41st regular season of the National Football League.

The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) 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 home and away – televised. The Washington Redskins became the second team to put their games on TV. Other teams arranged to have selected games televised.

The 1951 NFL season was the 32nd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Baltimore Colts owner Abraham Watner faced financial difficulties, and thus gave his team and its player contracts back to the league for $50,000. However, many Baltimore fans started to protest the loss of their team. Supporting groups such as its fan club and its marching band remained in operation and worked for the team's revival, which eventually led to a new, more lucrative Baltimore team in 1953 that ultimately carried on the erratic lineage of the last remaining Ohio League member Dayton Triangles.

The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, the legacy of the Dayton Triangles, the final remaining Ohio League member and the franchise then known as the New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL. A few days later, a new team was then awarded to an ownership group in Dallas, Texas, after it purchased the assets of the Yanks.

The 1953 NFL season was the 34th regular season of the National Football League. The names of the American and National conferences were changed to the Eastern and Western conferences.

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.

The 1959 NFL season marked the 40th regular season of the National Football League. It was the first season overseen by youthful commissioner Pete Rozelle, who was named to the position following the sudden death in October of commissioner Bert Bell.

The 1957 NFL season was the 38th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with the Detroit Lions defeating the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship game, 59–14.

The 1958 New York Giants season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League. Jim Lee Howell was in his fifth year as head coach of the Giants. The Giants had two future Hall of Fame head coaches as assistant coaches: offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi and defensive coordinator Tom Landry. Lombardi left after the season to lead the Green Bay Packers, while Landry stayed for the 1959 season, then departed for the expansion Dallas Cowboys.

This is a list of playoff records set by various teams in various categories in the National Football League during the Super Bowl Era.

Selectors of All-Pros for the 1960 National Football League season included the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), New York Daily News (NYDN), Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and The Sporting News (SN).

The Associated Press (AP), Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), New York Daily News (NYDN), The Sporting News (SN), and United Press International (UPI) selected All-Pro teams comprising their selections of the best players at each position in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1958 NFL season.

The Associated Press (AP), Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), New York Daily News (NYDN), The Sporting News (SN), and United Press (UP) were among selectors of All-Pro teams comprising players adjudged to be the best at each position in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1957 NFL season. The AP, NEA, NYDN, and UPI selected a first and second team.

The 1954 All-Pro Team consisted of the best players at each position among players in the National Football League as chosen by various selectors.

The NFL, along with boxing and professional wrestling, was a pioneer of sports broadcasting during a time when baseball and college football were more popular than professional football. Due to the NFL understanding television at an earlier time, they were able to surpass Major League Baseball in the 1960s as the most popular sport in the United States.

References

    Other sources consulted