2011 Divisional Playoff Rankings & 2011 Conference Championship Rankings

2011 Divisional Playoff Rankings & 2011 Conference Championship Rankings
by Tim Brulia

So, here we go to finish off the rankings and reviews of the 2011 season.

~ ~ ~

The Divisional Playoffs:


Saints-49ers: The Saints go conservative with white/gold and the Niners in the only combo they could wear, red/gold. It's a gold rush for all with this matchup. Gold helmets, gold pants. The difference comes in the jerseys and socks. Saints with black socks and the 49ers in red socks. I would have liked the Saints to have gone with the black pants, but I can live with the gold pants. This game seemed to make the red jerseys seem a little brighter.

Broncos-Patriots: Another common knowledge uni matchup; Broncos in all white and the Patriots in the navy/silver look. A little too much navy for my blood. While it would have looked goofy, it would have turned heads if the Broncos would have worn the white pants with the orange side stripe. Would not have helped them in the game, but it might have caused a bit of buzz. The unis looked nice, but not enough to cause a pitter-patter in my uni heart.

Texans-Ravens: Tex in the white/navy and lo and behold, the Ravens rockin' the purple/black. As you, this Steelers backer cannot ever bring himself to cheer on the Ravens, but I know a good look when I see's it, no matter how I feel about the team. The Ravens in purple/black is as good a combo as there is in the NFL. Only qualm I have with it is maybe they should go with white striped socks when wearing these colors. The Texans, as I said before, have a very nice uniform, tailored for today's game. They just need to start wearing the red socks with this combo. That would have made this game perfect. As such, it was still quite nice.

Giants-Packers: Giants in the white/gray, Packers in the famous green/yellow. Traditional looks from classic franchises. And it's a marvel. Bright blue lids against sparkling yellow helmets. White jerseys with red trim versus gleaming green jerseys with white and yellow trim. Gray pants with thin red and blue stripes against bright yellow pants with green and white stripes. Red socks and green socks. A color feast, this was. And I will go for seconds.

Rankings:
1) Giants-Packers
2) Texans-Ravens
3) Saints-49ers
4) Broncos-Patriots

~ ~ ~

The Conference Championships:

Ravens-Patriots: Ravens in white/black and the Super Bowl bound Patriots in navy/silver. You might be surprised at what I'm going to say, but this matchup would have been better if the Ravens would have gone all white. They would have stood out more and it would have offset the Pats look a bit better than the white/black combo. Pats in such familiar playoff garb, that I guess we take it for granted.

Giants-49ers: G-men in white/gray and the Niners in red/gold. No flash here, but a lot of red. Giants red played very well off the Packers green and yellow from the week before. Here, it just comes up short. Don't get me wrong, I do like the Niners unis. I love how bright the red comes across since the return to the classic look. But it's just a lot of scarlet in this matchup. But somehow, all the red makes the blue helmets look rather dandy. As well as the gold helmets.


I give the nod - by a nod - to the NFC title game over the AFC title game.  Now here's Rob with a look back at a couple more Super Bowls played on this day.

~ ~ ~

"On This Day..."
by Rob Holecko

As a Buccaneer fan, I am sometimes guilty of perhaps mentioning them a little bit more often than the other teams.  Well, today is a day you cannot fault me for that, as it is the anniversary of the Bucs' Super Bowl win.  Nine years ago today the Bucs defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, and we are happy to add it to our database of head-to-head matchups.

There's another Super Bowl anniversary today, twenty-six years ago, the Chicago Bears completed their 18-1 season with a 46-10 win in Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots.  They were one of the best single season teams in NFL History.  They went 15-1, their only loss being a Monday Night showdown in December on the road against the Miami Dolphins, a team playing to protect their franchise's legacy of having the only undefeated season thirteen years earlier.

The Bears had two shutouts in the playoffs, defeating the Giants 21-0, and the Rams 24-0 in the NFC Championship. During the season, the Bears were so confident they put out a video called the "Super Bowl Shuffle." Here is the complete video of the song. I didn't remember that there were so many verses to it.

~ ~ ~

Thanks, Rob. Stay with us at the Gridiron Uniform Database. Tomorrow our Giants expert, guest blogger Larry Schmitt, will look back at Super Bowl XXV, and beginning Saturday, we'll start Super Bowl week with some interesting Super Bowl uniform trivia that we think you'll like!