The game took place in icy conditions on December 28 at Comiskey Park in Chicago before an audience of 30,759 — well below stadium capacity.

A week earlier, the Eagles defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 21–0 in a tiebreaker playoff to determine the Eastern winner.

The Eagles closed the gap to 28–21 with five minutes to go, but the Cardinals controlled the ball the rest of the game on an extended drive to win the title.

The Cardinals' win kept the NFL title within the city of Chicago; the North Side's Bears had won the previous season.

Despite the fact that free substitution was part of the NFL in 1947,[10] in keeping with the single-platoon tradition only eleven starters for each team were named.

[11] The NFL added a fifth official, the back judge, for the first time during the 1947 season[13] The player compensation pool was set at 70% of net revenue — that is, total gross receipts, including paid gate and radio and motion picture rights, less costs for stadium rental and taxes.