The NFL's modern era begins as a number of rule changes begin to make the game take a more familiar form. The forward pass is now legal up to the line of scrimmage, previously a passer needed to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Hash marks are added to the field with all plays starting on a between the hash marks set ten yards from the sidelines. It would also be the year of the first official NFL Championship Game along with divisional play, and the first year official statistics were kept by the league.

The season also saw three new teams enter the league, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds, the NFL's second team in Cincinnati would face the Portsmouth Spartans in their first game, losing 21-0 on September 17th.

Playing their home games at Crosley Field, the team also shared the name of the stadium's baseball landlords. Scoring was hard for the expansion Reds, as they managed just one Field Goal in their first six games, with a lone scoreless tie against the Pirates the only glimpse of light among five losses.

The Reds first win would come on November 12th as they beat the Chicago Cardinals 12-9. Including the win over Cardinals, the Reds would show sign of significant improvement, winning three of their last four games.

The Reds would post a record of 3-6-1 on the season despite scoring just 38 total points on the season as they set records for setting records in futility for fewest yards, passing attempts, pass completions and passing touchdowns in a season.