List of NFL champions (1920–1969)
The National Football League champions, prior to the merger between the National Football League and American Football League in 1970, were determined by two different systems. The National Football League was established on September 17, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association. The APFA changed its name in 1922 to the National Football League, which it has retained ever since. From 1921 to 1931, the APFA/NFL determined its champion by overall win–loss record, with no playoff games; ties were not counted in the winning percentage total. The APFA did not keep records of the 1920 season; they declared the Akron Pros, who finished the season with an 8–0–3 record, as the league's first champions by a vote of the owners. The Canton Bulldogs won two straight championships from 1922 to 1923, and the Green Bay Packers won three in a row from 1929 to 1931.
The 1932 NFL season resulted in a tie for first place between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans, and could not be resolved by the typical win–loss system. To settle the tie, a playoff game was played; Chicago won the game and the championship. The following year, the NFL split into two divisions, and the winner of each division would play in the NFL Championship Game. In 1967, the NFL and the rival AFL agreed to merge, effective following the 1969 season; as part of this deal, the NFL champion from 1966 to 1969 would play the AFL champion in an AFL–NFL World Championship Game in each of the four seasons before the completed merger. The NFL Championship Game was ended after the 1969 season, succeeded by the NFC Championship Game. The champions of that game play the champions of the AFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl to determine the NFL champion.
From 1934 to 1967, teams were regularly awarded the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy for winning the championship, with the team keeping the trophy for a year; the 1960, 1968, and 1969 champions were not engraved onto the trophy for inconclusive reasons. The Green Bay Packers won the most NFL championships before the merger, winning eleven of the fifty championships. The Packers were also the only team to win three straight championships, an achievement they accomplished twice: from 1929 to 1931 and from 1965 to 1967, the latter stretch being the first since the NFL went to a divisional system in 1933. The Chicago Bears won a total of eight titles, and the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and New York Giants each won four. The Bears recorded the largest victory in a championship game, defeating the Washington Redskins 73–0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game; six other title games ended in a shutout as well. The Philadelphia Eagles recorded two consecutive shutouts in 1948 and 1949. New York City hosted the most championship games, while the highest-attended title game was the 1955 NFL Championship Game, where 85,693 fans showed up in Los Angeles to watch the Browns beat the Rams 38–14.
APFA/NFL champions (1920–1932)
Champion determined by win–loss percentage, with ties excluded. The number in parentheses indicates the number of championships the franchise had won to that point.| Season | Champion | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Runner-up | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Ref. |
| 1920 | Akron Pros | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1.000 | Decatur Staleys | 10 | 1 | 2 | .909 | |
| 1921 | Chicago Staleys | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 | Buffalo All-Americans | 9 | 1 | 2 | .900 | |
| 1922 | Canton Bulldogs | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | Chicago Bears | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | |
| 1923 | Canton Bulldogs | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | Chicago Bears | 9 | 2 | 1 | .818 | |
| 1924 | Cleveland Bulldogs | 7 | 1 | 1 | .875 | Chicago Bears | 6 | 1 | 4 | .857 | |
| 1925 | Chicago Cardinals | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 | Pottsville Maroons | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | |
| 1926 | Frankford Yellow Jackets | 14 | 1 | 2 | .933 | Chicago Bears | 12 | 1 | 3 | .923 | |
| 1927 | New York Giants | 11 | 1 | 1 | .917 | Green Bay Packers | 7 | 2 | 1 | .778 | |
| 1928 | Providence Steam Roller | 8 | 1 | 2 | .889 | Frankford Yellow Jackets | 11 | 3 | 2 | .786 | |
| 1929 | Green Bay Packers | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | New York Giants | 13 | 1 | 1 | .929 | |
| 1930 | Green Bay Packers | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | New York Giants | 13 | 4 | 0 | .765 | |
| 1931 | Green Bay Packers | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | Portsmouth Spartans | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | |
| 1932 | Chicago Bears | 7 | 1 | 6 | .875 | Green Bay Packers | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 |
NFL champions (1933–1969)
Numbers in parentheses in the table indicate the number of times that team won the NFL championship as of the championship game.| Season | Date | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Venue | City | Attendance | Ref |
| 1933 | 17 December 1933 | Chicago Bears ^ | New York Giants‡ | 26,000 | ||||
| 1934 | 9 December 1934 | New York Giants ‡ | Chicago Bears^ | 35,059 | ||||
| 1935 | 15 December 1935 | Detroit Lions | New York Giants‡ | 15,000 | ||||
| 1936 | 13 December 1936 | Green Bay Packers ^ | Boston Redskins‡ | 29,545 | ||||
| 1937 | 12 December 1937 | Washington Redskins‡ | Chicago Bears^ | 15,870 | ||||
| 1938 | 11 December 1938 | New York Giants ‡ | Green Bay Packers^ | 48,120 | ||||
| 1939 | 10 December 1939 | Green Bay Packers ^ | New York Giants‡ | 32,279 | ||||
| 1940 | 8 December 1940 | Chicago Bears ^ | Washington Redskins‡ | 36,034 | ||||
| 1941 | 21 December 1941 | Chicago Bears ^ | New York Giants‡ | 13,341 | ||||
| 1942 | 13 December 1942 | Washington Redskins ‡ | Chicago Bears^ | 36,006 | ||||
| 1943 | 26 December 1943 | Chicago Bears ^ | Washington Redskins‡ | 34,320 | ||||
| 1944 | 17 December 1944 | Green Bay Packers ^ | New York Giants‡ | 46,016 | ||||
| 1945 | 16 December 1945 | Cleveland Rams^ | Washington Redskins‡ | 32,178 | ||||
| 1946 | 15 December 1946 | Chicago Bears ^ | New York Giants‡ | 58,346 | ||||
| 1947 | 28 December 1947 | Chicago Cardinals ^ | Philadelphia Eagles‡ | 30,759 | ||||
| 1948 | 19 December 1948 | Philadelphia Eagles‡ | Chicago Cardinals^ | 36,309 | ||||
| 1949 | 18 December 1949 | Philadelphia Eagles ‡ | Los Angeles Rams^ | 27,980 | ||||
| 1950 | 24 December 1950 | Cleveland Browns‡ | Los Angeles Rams^ | 29,751 | ||||
| 1951 | 23 December 1951 | Los Angeles Rams ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 57,522 | ||||
| 1952 | 28 December 1952 | Detroit Lions ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 50,934 | ||||
| 1953 | 27 December 1953 | Detroit Lions ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 54,577 | ||||
| 1954 | 26 December 1954 | Cleveland Browns ‡ | Detroit Lions^ | 43,827 | ||||
| 1955 | 26 December 1955 | Cleveland Browns ‡ | Los Angeles Rams^ | 85,693 | ||||
| 1956 | 30 December 1956 | New York Giants ‡ | Chicago Bears^ | 56,836 | ||||
| 1957 | 29 December 1957 | Detroit Lions ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 55,263 | ||||
| 1958 | 28 December 1958 | Baltimore Colts^ | New York Giants‡ | 64,185 | ||||
| 1959 | 27 December 1959 | Baltimore Colts ^ | New York Giants‡ | 57,545 | ||||
| 1960 | 26 December 1960 | Philadelphia Eagles ‡ | Green Bay Packers^ | 67,325 | ||||
| 1961 | 31 December 1961 | Green Bay Packers ^ | New York Giants‡ | 39,029 | ||||
| 1962 | 30 December 1962 | Green Bay Packers ^ | New York Giants‡ | 64,892 | ||||
| 1963 | 29 December 1963 | Chicago Bears ^ | New York Giants‡ | 45,801 | ||||
| 1964 | 27 December 1964 | Cleveland Browns ‡ | Baltimore Colts^ | 79,544 | ||||
| 1965 | 2 January 1966 | Green Bay Packers ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 50,777 | ||||
| 1966 | 1 January 1967 | Green Bay Packers ^ | Dallas Cowboys‡ | 74,152 | ||||
| 1967 | 31 December 1967 | Green Bay Packers ^ | Dallas Cowboys‡ | 50,861 | ||||
| 1968 | 29 December 1968 | Baltimore Colts ^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 78,410 | ||||
| 1969 | 4 January 1970 | Minnesota Vikings^ | Cleveland Browns‡ | 46,503 |