The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season

Regular season (NFL)

The National Football League regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, the majority of each week's games are played on Sunday afternoon, with weekly games on Sunday night and Monday night, and occasional games on Thursday...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 paid $100,000 to replace DuMont

DuMont Television Network

The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...

 as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 defeated the Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

 38–14 in the title game.

Major rule changes

• The ball is dead immediately when the ball carrier touches the ground with any part of his body except his hands or feet while in the grasp of an opponent.
• A new exception is made in regard to scoring a safety: When a defender intercepts a pass, his intercepting momentum carries him into his own end zone, and he is stopped before returning the ball back into the field of play, then the ball will be next put in play at the spot of the interception.

Conference races

The defending champion Browns dropped their opener, at home, to the Redskins 27–17, but a six game win streak put them back in front to win the Eastern race. The Western race was crowded a few times, as the Rams had to share the lead. In Week Eight, the Bears beat Los Angeles 24–3, to give both teams 5–3 records, The next week (November 20), the Bears took the lead with a 24–14 at Detroit while the Rams got a 17–17 tie at Baltimore. As had happened many times before in the annual battle of Chicago, the Bears were upset by the Cardinals in Week Ten (November 27), 53-14; the Rams eked out a 23-21 in Philadelphia on Pat Richter

Pat Richter

Hugh Vernon Richter is the former University of Wisconsin–Madison athletic director and American football player. He was responsible for hiring Barry Alvarez from Notre Dame in 1990 as head football coach, restoring the Badgers football program to national prominence.-Playing career:Richter was...

's field goal with 0:07 left in the game . In Week Eleven (December 4), the Rams won 20–14 over Baltimore, and the Bears kept their hopes alive with a difficult 21–20 win over Detroit. In the latter game, the Lions' Doak Walker

Doak Walker

Ewell Doak Walker, Jr. was an American football player who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a teammate of Bobby Layne in high school and the NFL.-Early life:...

 missed an extra point, lost a fumble late in the game on the Detroit 28, and was wide on a 35 yard field goal attempt in the final seconds. The Bears won their last game (December 11), 17-10 over Philadelphia, to finish 8–4, and hoped for the 7–3–1 Rams would lose their game in Los Angeles against Green Bay. The Rams didn't lose, clinching a spot in the title game, with a 31-17 win.

Week	WESTERN		EASTERN
1	3 teams (Bal, GB, LA)	1-0-0	3 teams (Phi, Pit, Was)	1-0-0
2	3 teams (Bal, GB, LA)	2-0-0	WASHINGTON REDSKINS	2-0-0
3	Tie (Bal, LA)	3-0-0	4 teams (Cards, Cle, Pit, Was)	2-1-0
4	3 teams (Bal, GB, LA)	3-1-0	Tie (Cle, Pit)	3-1-0
5	LOS ANGELES RAMS	4-1-0	Tie (Cle, Pit)	4-1-0
6	Tie (Bal, LA)	4-2-0	CLEVELAND BROWNS	5-1-0
7	LOS ANGELES RAMS	5-2-0	CLEVELAND BROWNS	6-1-0
8	Tie (Bears, LA)	5-3-0	CLEVELAND BROWNS	6-2-0
9	CHICAGO BEARS	6-3-0	CLEVELAND BROWNS	7-2-0
10	LOS ANGELES RAMS	6-3-1	CLEVELAND BROWNS	7-2-1
11	LOS ANGELES RAMS	7-3-1	CLEVELAND BROWNS	8-2-1
12	LOS ANGELES RAMS	8-3-1	CLEVELAND BROWNS	9-2-1

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: The NFL did not officially count tie games in the standings until 1972

NFL Championship Game

Cleveland 38, Los Angeles 14 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...

, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, December 26, 1955