1928 NFL season

1928 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration September 23 – December 16, 1928
Champions Providence Steam Roller
National Football League seasons
 < 1927 1929 > 

The 1928 NFL season was the ninth regular season of the National Football League. The league dropped to 10 teams after both the Cleveland Bulldogs and the Duluth Eskimos folded before the season. The Buffalo Bisons also had a year out from the league, and the Rochester Jeffersons, after missing two seasons of play, finally folded. The Detroit Wolverines were an expansion club. Meanwhile, the Providence Steam Roller were named the NFL champions after finishing the season with the best record.

Championship race

After four weeks, the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Wolverines were both unbeaten. On October 21, the Packers beat the Bears, 16–6, leaving Detroit, at 2–0–0, at the top of the standings. On November 3, near Philadelphia, the Frankford Yellow Jackets (4–1–0) hosted Detroit (3–0–0), and beat them 25–7. The next day, Detroit (3–1–0) lost 7–0 at Providence (4–1–0), and the Yellow Jackets and the Steamrollers were tied for the lead at the end of Week Seven.

Frankford played a series against Pottsville in Week Eight, winning 19–0 at home, and 24–0 on the road, for a 7–1–1 record that put it in first place ahead of Providence. In Week Nine, on November 18, the Providence Steam Roller (5–1–1) hosted the Frankford Yellow Jackets (7–1–2) in Rhode Island, in a regular season game that ultimately would determine which team would win the NFL championship. Providence's 6–0 win put the Steam Roller in first place,[1] and it didn't lose any of its last three games, finishing at 8–1–2, while Frankford finished second at 11–3–2. Had the Yellow Jackets beaten the Steamrollers, their records at season's end would have been 12–2–2 and 7–2–2, respectively. Providence was formally awarded the championship at the post-season meeting of the NFL owners.

Standings

NFL standings
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Providence Steam Roller 8 1 2 .889 128 42 T1
Frankford Yellow Jackets 11 3 2 .786 175 84 L1
Detroit Wolverines 7 2 1 .778 189 76 W4
Green Bay Packers 6 4 3 .600 120 92 W1
Chicago Bears 7 5 1 .583 182 85 L2
New York Giants 4 7 2 .364 79 136 L5
New York Yankees 4 8 1 .333 103 179 W1
Pottsville Maroons 2 8 0 .200 74 134 L1
Chicago Cardinals 1 5 0 .167 7 107 L4
Dayton Triangles 0 7 0 .000 9 131 L7

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. ↑ "Providence Takes Lead," Fresno Bee, Nov 19, 1928, p11