1928 NFL season

The 1928 NFL season was the 9th 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. 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 Steamroller 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 Rollers in first place [ "Providence Takes Lead," "Fresno Bee", Nov. 19, 1928, p11 ] , 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 Steamroller, their records at season's end would have been 12-2-2 and 8-2-2, respectively. Providence was formally awarded the championship at the post-season meeting of the NFL owners.

Final standings

"W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage"

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

References

* "NFL Record and Fact Book" (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
* [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1921-1930 NFL History 1921-1930] (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
* [http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1928.pdf 1928 season in details]
* "Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)