The Bears were in a tight race for the Western Division title with the archrival Packers, who had tied the Bears in one of their two meetings that year. Although the Bears had won the other, a loss in Washington in the next-to-last week made it necessary to win their finale against the crosstown Cardinals. A win there would give the Bears a championship grudge match against the Redskins, who had beaten the Bears for the title the previous year.
The winless Cardinals got out to a stunning 24-14 lead coming into the fourth quarter. The Bears dug deep by putting the game on the shoulders of 34-year-old legend Bronko Nagurski. The "Bronk" had retired in 1937, after sparking the Bears to titles in 1932 and 1933. After his return, he was used as a blocking tackle, but with the season on the line, he took his position as fullback. In his first service as a rusher in 6 years, Nagurski carried the ball 16 times for 84 yards in only one quarter. The team scored three unanswered touchdowns, as the "Bronk" had single-handedly demoralized the Cardinals.
When the Bears met the Redskins in Chicago for their third championship game in 4 years, they had plenty of incentive. Out of their previous 29 regular- and post-season games, over three seasons, their only two losses had been to the Redskins, including an upset loss in the 1942 Championship.
The Redskins fired the opening salvo, on a 60-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters ending with Fullback Andy Farkas' touchdown dive. This was done without the services of Redskin quarterback "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh, who suffered a concussion on the first play of the game and did not return until the second half.
From there, things went mostly the Bears' way. Sid Luckman hit Harry Clark for a 31-yard touchdown strike on the ensuing drive. The Bears stopped the Redskins' next drive, and drove back down the field, taking the lead on a Bronko Nagurski run. This momentum carried into the third quarter, as Sid Luckman connected on two long touchdown passes to Dante Magnani, putting the Bears ahead 27-7.
The Redskins and Baugh fought back as a 17-yard pass to Farkas late in the third kept their hopes alive. Sid Luckman soon put those hopes to rest as two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, one to Jim Benton, and another to Harry Clark, put the game away. A final Baugh touchdown pass made the final score Bears 41, Redskins 21.