Before the season, Elmer Layden was named the first Commissioner of the NFL, while Carl Storck resigned as league president. The league bylaws were changed to provide for playoffs in cases where division races are tied after the regular season, and rules for sudden-death overtimes in case a playoff game was tied after four quarters. In the Eastern Division, the Redskins held a half-game lead after nine weeks of play; at 5–1–0, their only loss had been 17–10 to the 5–2 Giants. Washington lost its next three games, while the Giants won their next two. On November 23, the 5–2 Redskins met 6–2 New York, and the Giants' 20–13 win clinched the division. The Western Division race was one between the Bears and Packers. By November 2, when the teams met at Wrigley Field, the Bears were 5–0 and the Packers 6–1, in part because of the Bears' earlier 25–17 win at Green Bay. Green Bay's 16–14 win put them in the lead, and they finished the regular season at 10–1 on November 30 with a 22–17 comeback win at Washington. On the afternoon of December 7, 1941, on the day Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor, the Bears were losing to the Cardinals, 14–0, and trailed 24–20 in the fourth quarter, before rallying for a 34–24 win. Both teams finished at 10–1 and a playoff was set to determine who would go to the title game. With the United States now embroiled in World War II, the Bears and Packers met at Wrigley Field, with Chicago winning 33–14. The 1941 NFL Championship game was the 9th annual championship game and was held December 21, 1941 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It featured the 10-1 Chicago Bears against the 8-3 New York Giants. The game was played two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attendance was 13,341, the smallest ever to see an NFL title game. Two players who appeared in the game, Young Bussey and Jack Lummus, would be killed in action before World War
II ended. The Giants started poorly by fumbling away the kickoff. Aided by penalties, the Bears would march down the field and eventually score on a 14-yard field goal by Bob Snyder to give the Bears a 3-0 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter. The Giants would answer right back with a drive of their own, capping it off with a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tuffy Leemans to receiver George Franck.  The extra point was blocked and the score remained 6-3.  In the second quarter, the Bears would move down the field with an assortment of passes by quarterback Sid Luckman.  The Giant defense would hold, however, and the Bears would have to settle for another
39-yard field goal by Snyder, tying the score at 6-6.  After a punt by the Giants, the Bears again would move the ball down the field with running plays from George McAfee and Bill Osmanski, but the Giants defense would stiffen once again, and the Bears would have to settle for another Snyder field goal, this time from 37, giving the Bears a 9-6 lead. Beginning the second half, the Giants held the ball for half of the quarter and marched down to Bears 5-yard line, but once again would be stopped by the Bears defense and the Giants would have to settle for a 16-yard field goal to tie the game 9-9.  Then the Bears finally started clicking. They traveled 71 yards in seven plays.  Standlee ran from the 30 to the 40, then gained 3 more. Luckman connected with Plasman on the 34, then to Siegal, who made a diving catch at the 8. Norm charged 4 yards, and Gallarneau gained 1. Finally, Standlee catapulted over from the 3, and Snyder added the extra point, giving the Bears a 16-9 lead. The Giants tried to answer, but Danny Fortmann's INT of a Leeman pass ended the thrust at the Chi 32. This time it took Luckman & Company eight plays to go the distance. McAfee, Standlee, and Ray McLean carried the ball to the 7, from there Standlee ran across. Joe Maniaci converted on the PAT to make it 23-9. LB Bulldog Turner snagged another Giant pass on his own 46, and the Bears would march down the field for another score, with a 3-yard touchdown run by McAfee, making the score 30-9. With less than two minutes left in the game, the Giants would fumble the ball again, and Ken Kavanaugh would pick it up and trot 42 yards for the touchdown, and a 37-9 win, thus crowning the Bears the 1941 NFL Champions for the second consecutive year.