NFL Championship: Chicago Cardinals travel to face Philadelphia Eagles at Shibe Park for the league title. Winner is the NFL champion for the season. Loser's year ends.
Chicago Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles for the 1948 league title. The NFL Championship is the season's final game in this era, the one that decides which franchise's name goes on the championship ledger. For Philadelphia Eagles, the home field at Shibe Park is asked to be a player; for Chicago Cardinals, the road environment is supposed to be the test that breaks lesser teams. Coaches will lean on what worked all year. Players will lean on what their bodies have left in them.
Chicago Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles have outlasted everyone else in the league this 1948 season. One walks out of Shibe Park with the title; the other walks out with a brutal what-if. Pre-Super Bowl era: the NFL Championship is the title game itself. There is no next round.
Chicago Cardinals versus Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Championship. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Chicago Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00000 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 00077 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Eagles | Steve Van Buren 5 yard rush ( Cliff Patton kick) | 0-7 |
| Cardinals | Eagles | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 6 | 16 |
| Total Yards | 131 | 232 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 3/11 | 2/12 |
| Pass yards | 35 | 7 |
| Pass TD | 0 | 0 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 2 |
| Net pass yards | 35 | 7 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 34 | 57 |
| Rush yards | 96 | 225 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 1 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 3 | 1 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties | 4 | 3 |
| Penalty yards | 33 | 17 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRD | |||||
| Ray Mallouf | 3/7 | 35 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charley Trippi | 0/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pat Harder | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charley Eikenberg | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| PHI | |||||
| Tommy Thompson | 2/12 | 7 | 0 | 2 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRD | ||||
| Elmer Angsman | 10 | 33 | 0 | 18 |
| Pat Harder | 11 | 30 | 0 | 5 |
| Charley Trippi | 9 | 26 | 0 | 6 |
| Ray Mallouf | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Corwin Clatt | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Vic Schwall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PHI | ||||
| Steve Van Buren | 26 | 98 | 1 | 12 |
| Bosh Pritchard | 16 | 67 | 0 | 15 |
| Tommy Thompson | 11 | 50 | 0 | 17 |
| Jack Myers | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| Joe Muha | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRD | ||||
| Billy Dewell | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Mal Kutner | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Babe Dimancheff | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| PHI | ||||
| Pete Pihos | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Philadelphia Eagles defeated Chicago Cardinals 7-0 at Shibe Park in the NFL Championship. The final scoring play was Eagles: Steve Van Buren 5 yard rush ( Cliff Patton kick). Top line of the day: Steve Van Buren: 98 rush yards on 26 carries. Philadelphia Eagles are crowned NFL champions for 1948.
Philadelphia Eagles walked out of Shibe Park as the team that survived an NFL Championship Chicago Cardinals will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 7-0. A one-score game throughout. The decisive points came on the fewest possible margin, which is how these matchups usually resolve. The final scoring play came from Eagles: Steve Van Buren 5 yard rush ( Cliff Patton kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Philadelphia Eagles are league champions.
Philadelphia Eagles 7, Chicago Cardinals 0. Round: NFL Championship. Attendance: 28864. Q4: 1 scoring play. Top performers: - Steve Van Buren: 98 rush yards on 26 carries
NFL Championship, played at Shibe Park. Final: Chicago Cardinals 0, Philadelphia Eagles 7, with Philadelphia Eagles taking the result by 7. **Fourth quarter**
- Eagles: Steve Van Buren 5 yard rush ( Cliff Patton kick)
**Top performers**
- Steve Van Buren: 98 rush yards on 26 carries