Redskins had their day of infamy in 1940

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73-to-Ohhh!

Redskins get more first downs [18-17] than Bears at Griffith Stadium.

-- Description of 1940 NFL championship game in Redskins media guide.

It seemed surreal ... but it was all too real.

The score read like a misprint in newspapers around the nation in that pre-television era. And 64 years later, in a far different world, the ache and astonishment remain for older Redskins fans who were around at the time.

Dec. 8, 1940: Chicago Bears 73, Washington Redskins 0.

Notable routs punctuate the sporting ages. This was the biggest in professional sports history -- and in a championship game no less. If you're looking for a comparative drubbing, how about Richard Nixon's 49-state victory over George McGovern in 1972?

When the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse galloped through biblical history as total terrors, they might have had nothing on the so-called Monsters of the Midway.

Fascinating sidelights marked the NFL's eighth title game. The Redskins had beaten the Bears just three weeks earlier by the score of 7-3; for the rematch, Chicago simply rearranged the digits. And although the Redskins came into the championship with a 9-2 record to the Bears' 8-3 and were playing at home, Chicago was favored by most bookmakers.