In the early days of the NFL, a player needed to be at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage in order to be eligible to pass.  Beginning in 1933, that rule was eliminated, making a pass legal at any point behind the line of scrimmage.  The next year, a slimmer and more aerodynamic football was introduced to make life easier for passers.

In the 1937 NFL championship game, trailing for much of the game, the Redskins and Sammy Baugh set a single-game record with 40 pass attempts against the great Chicago Bears.  Baugh led the team on a great comeback and secured the title for Washington in a 28-21 victory.

But playoff games have a tendency to make teams move outside of their comfort zone; in the regular season no team even hit the 35-pass attempt mark until 1939.  On October 15th of that season, the Chicago Cardinals were obliterated by the Chicago Bears, 44-7. Playing with a terrible game script, the Cardinals finished 10 of 37 for 162 yards with no touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Hardly a blueprint for future offenses,  it was a record-setting game nonetheless.  The next season, the Detroit Lions also threw 37 times in a loss to the Bears in mid-November. The following week, the Philadelphia Eagles, led by Davey O’Brien, faced that same dominant Bears team and threw a (regular season) record 38 times in a losing effort.  In case you haven’t picked up on it, the Bears were very good in the late ’30s.

By 1940, the passing game began to take off, at least compared to the ground-and-pound days of the 1930s.  In the Eagles opener, the team threw 40 times in a loss to the Packers, setting a new record in the regular season. A month later, as the Rams trailed the Packers, the team threw a record 42 times!  This was a real shootout: Green Bay won by throwing 37 passes of their own, with remarkable success.

Two weeks later, O’Brien’s Eagles matched that number in a loss to Brooklyn.  Another two weeks later, Brooklyn faced Baugh’s Redskins and jumped out to an early lead.  Washington responded with — are you sitting down? — 47 passes in a comeback that fell just short.  It was a historic performance: Baugh set a new record with 23 completions on 44 attempts.

As the 1940 season concluded, the Redskins looked like the best team in the NFL.  They were 9-2 entering the final game of the season, and had just defeated the second-best team (the Bears) two weeks earlier.  The worst team in the NFL?  That would be Davey O’Brien’s Philadelphia Eagles, who began the season 0-9, and then eeked by with a 7-3 victory against the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the final game of the season, the Eagles traveled to Washington to face the mighty Redskins.   Earlier in the year, the Eagles lost to the Redskins 34-17 at home; had there been a point spread for this game, Washington might have been a three touchdown favorite.  And as if the favorites needed more help, the Eagles were playing on extremely short rest: that 7-3 victory by Philadelphia over the Steelers came just three days earlier.  That’s because the initially scheduled Sunday game was postponed until Thursday due to rain, leaving the Eagles to play two games in four days. Behind Slingin’ Sammy, Washington of course won the game and would clinch the NFL’s Eastern Division crown in the process.

From the perspective of the Eagles, this was a meaningless game to conclude a miserable season. The team’s head coach was owner, and future NFL commissioner, Bert Bell.   But there was one reason why this game would be meaningful for Eagles fans: it would be the last time they could see O’Brien, who was retiring after the game to become an FBI agent (1940 truly was a different time). O’Brien was a legend after leading TCU to an undefeated national title season in 1938; he also won the Heisman Trophy that year. He was a superstar who was retiring from football to join the FBI! If ever a hero deserved a sendoff, it was O’Brien.

So the Eagles game-plan that day was to let O’Brien pass…. and pass… and then pass some more. That record-setting, 47-pass attempt game from Washington a month earlier would be left in the dust as O’Brien himself recorded a whopping 60 passing attempts. The Eagles finished with just 16 rushing yards against 316 passing yards! Most (all? more than all?) of those rushing yards came from O’Brien as well. There are no individual rushing stats (either attempts or yards) from that game, but reports suggest that O’Brien dropped back to pass on nearly every play.

Here’s what the New York Times wrote the following day:

[T]he magnificent performance of little Davey O’Brien of the Eagles stole the show. As he bowed out of football, O’Brien set a world record of thirty-three completed passes in one game.

Playing 59 minutes and 43 seconds, the former Texas Christian University back threw completed passes with an ease that made the Redskins look ridiculous. The previous mark of twenty-three completed passes was set this season by Sammy Baugh of Washington.

As Davey left the field the crowd of 25,838 rose and filled Griffith Stadium with a deafening roar. The Washington players joined in the ovation…. As O’Brien filled the air with passes his running almost went unnoticed. Time and again when he found his ends and backs covered he charged with the ball. Twisting and turning his 151 pounds between the Redskins forwards, some of whom weigh over 230, Davey gained three first downs rushing.

It was a remarkable game for O’Brien, and also Don Looney, his top target and former teammate at TCU (Horned Frogs fans in attendance got to see not only those stars, but also the man O’Brien replaced at TCU — Sammy Baugh).  Looney shattered the NFL single-game receptions record of 8 by catching 14 of O’Brien’s passes.

Here is how Bob Braunwart and Bob Carroll described O’Brien’s frantic 4th quarter comeback. After a remarkable, 85-yard punt from Baugh, the game looked over. But beginning at his own 2-yard line, O’Brien put together a drive of his own:

O’Brien had nothing to lose. He began passing on every down. His tosses went here, there, everywhere — but most of them found Eagle receivers. The suddenly-befuddled Redskins couldn’t stop them. Philadelphia roared down the field on the strength of Li’l Davey’s arm. When Frank Emmons gathered in a 13-yarder, it climaxed a 98-yard drive for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked but the Eagles still had a chance to tie.

The fans went back to their seats.

With time running out, Philadelphia got the ball again at its own 31. The ‘Skins knew what was coming, and this time they stayed glued to Davey’s receivers. Twice he tucked the ball under his arm and scampered for first downs. Each time his 150- pound figure disappeared beneath a pile of burgandy jerseys, it looked like the end. Each time he got up to throw again.

And what throwing! Redskin fans, used to Baugh’s brilliance, gaped as O’Brien connected again and again. The fairy tale ended on the Washington 22-yard line with only seconds remaining as the Redskins proved themselves champions by batting down Davey’s final toss. As the little passer left the field, 30,838 fans rose and filled Griffith Stadium with a roar. Even the Redskin players applauded.

A quarterback — a 5-foot-7, 151-pound quarterback, no less — throwing 60 times in a game? That was mind-blowing in 1940, and would still be mind-blowing to a handful of current NFL coaches. Of course, O’Brien’s Eagles lost that game, and for all the glitzy passing numbers, Philadelphia finished with just one touchdown. But on December 1st, 1940, fans at Griffith Stadium got to see a glimpse of what the future of the NFL would look like.  When a team with nothing to play for and nothing to lose, decided to drop back and pass on nearly every play.  And in doing so, nearly pulled off a remarkable upset.