New Uniforms for 2023: An Impartial Ranking

 As we approach kickoff for the 2023 Hall of Fame Game in Canton and the official start to the 2023 Preseason, let us take a few moments to review the new uniforms and helmets that we will be seeing throughout the season.

I have ranked the 13 new uniform additions by team, whether it be a single new helmet or a completely new uniform. Additions that were used last year like the Pat Patriot throwback helmet/uniform in New England or the return of the red helmet in Atlanta are not included.

Here we go.

#13 - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Nothing about what the Colts did makes sense. They have a regular blue jersey. They have a blue throwback jersey. Why do they need a third blue jersey? From a distance, the pattern in the new blue jerseys will likely be hard to detect. The black outlines around the white numbers will be hard to notice due to being against the aforementioned blue. And this doesn't even take into account how ridiculous these jerseys will look if the Colts also add 'Captain' patches onto the other side opposite the alternate logo placed on the left collarbone.

As for the black helmet, we likely should have seen this coming as a few years ago the Colts changed the color of the Nike swooshes on their white jerseys from blue to 'anvil black.' So does that mean anvil black is now a Colts color?

The Fix: The Colts should have just kept it simple and only added a dark-royal-bordering-on-navy helmet to pair with the blue throwbacks. When you overthink, this is what happens.

Grade: F

#11 (tie) - DENVER BRONCOS

There's a tie for the  #11/#12 spots. Denver comes first alphabetically so I'll explain them first.

A white helmet. That's it. To be paired with Color Rush / Throwback-styled orange jersey and orange pants. 

Why? What does Denver gain from this? They aren't going to have lucrative merchandising increase for a new helmet. The Color Rush costume hasn't changed (the helmet logo has minutely) since it came to be in 2016.

What's worse? In the reveal video, one Bronco is wearing the all-orange costume with orange socks, too. A second Bronco is wearing white socks paired with the all-orange. It doesn't seem like the team even knows what it's going to do with them.

The Fix: Denver has had the same Color Rush uniform since 2016. Alter it by replacing the navy blue with light royal blue trim. Add a light royal blue helmet in the same style. Add appropriate stripes to the socks. Boom.

Grade: D+

#11 (tie) - DETROIT LIONS

A new blue helmet is added for the sole purpose of pairing it with the awful all-grey Color Rush uniform.

I'll ask again...Why? The short answer is that the all-grey uniform didn't match with the normal Detroit silver helmet. I can understand that. But then you create a blue helmet to rectify that one problem and you don't even bother to correctly match the blues of the helmet and jersey? At least it matches the blue of the anniversary patch the Lions will be wearing this year.

The Fix: Detroit's heart was in the right place and their intentions were good. Fix the helmet's shade of blue to match. This oversight reminds me of when the Vikings brought out their current look and their helmets bore a shade of purple that looked like the paint guy at Home Depot put in a little too much red and way too much white when trying to match colors resulting in a lighter, redder shade of purple. It's an easy fix. Admit it. Fix it. Boom.

Grade: D+ (can go to a C if they fix the blue)

#10 - HOUSTON TEXANS

This change may well have slipped under the radar. Select teams are not only adopting Nike's new FUSE template for their jerseys this season, but a small percentage are also using a modified version of the FUSE that has a straight seam across the upper chest rather than the more visible V-shaped seam. Houston is one of those teams. Incorporating that modified FUSE has enabled Houston to 'flip their horns.' Since their inception, the Texans' shoulder stripes (horns) have narrowed to a point directed away from the body. These new horns curl ever so slightly towards the center of the torso instead.

Was this change needed? No. Will it change how we view the Texans' uniforms in a bubble? No.

The Fix: This was a change that wasn't needed. For good or for bad, there's nothing to really fix. It's just...different.

Garde: C-

#9 - CAROLINA PANTHERS

The Panthers' changes were two-fold. 

They altered the hoop-stripes. The only problem is that there are still going to be variations of how those stripes look due to the tailoring of jerseys for players of different positions. This is the same problem Carolina has had for a while.

The second change was in tweaking the shade of blue. Honestly, if no announcement had been made, you'd have been hard pressed to find someone in Bank of America Stadium that said "Gee. Their blue sure looks different this year."

So they altered the hoop-stripes but still have wide variations in how they will look. They changed the shade of blue and almost no one will notice.

The Fix: Find a way to tailor these stripes so that they appear the same on all player positions. Worse comes to worse, change them to look the same as the Colts' hoop stripes. Vary the width of the stripes rather than having all three the same as the Colts do.

Grade: C

#8 - ARIZONA CARDINALS

The uniforms that the Cardinals have worn for the past 18 seasons were dated and bad. Not a good combination. This is a change that needed to happen sooner rather than later and that's why I have them rated one notch above Carolina.

Is there something that will make your eyes pop out of your head and go WOW!?! No.

An overdone uniform was replaced by a minimalist uniform. It's addition by subtraction. They're not great by any stretch, but they're an improvement. I think we all can agree on that.

The Fix: Remove the obnoxiously large wordmark on the chest of the red jersey or simply replace it with 'CARDINALS' in smaller type similar to what is on the sleeves of the other two jerseys. 

I still maintain that Arizona missed the boat by using silver instead of copper. Arizona is the Copper State and a dark copper would have made for a much better trim color. The silver that is used will be hard to see against the white next to it. 

The other fix will be to mix-and-match within reason. The reveal only included mono-everything: white, red, and black. Hopefully, like Washington who did the same thing at their reveal a year ago, they won't be afraid to mix things up.

Grade: C (C+ if they mix-and-match)

#7 - CLEVELAND BROWNS

Two years ago, the Browns celebrated their 75th Anniversary by introducing an all-white throwback to their very first season - 1946. However, due to the One-Helmet Rule, the Browns had to use their regular orange helmets with modified features to pair with them. Now, with the OHR discontinued, Cleveland introduces a white helmet to pair with the throwbacks.

While the 1946 leather helmet was plain white, the Browns have added stripes and a browns facemask. Despite the stripes, the white helmet is a wonderful nod to the team's history despite technically not being totally accurate.

The Fix: Honestly the stripes shouldn't be there if the Browns were attempting to construct honest throwbacks to 1946. But someone probably had to be THAT GUY in the room that said "I know its supposed to be plain white but it's just TOO plain. Add some stripes." These are the Browns. The 'No-Logo-On-The-Helmet' Browns. Plain is in their DNA and they love it. Lose the stripes.

Grade: B

#6 - NEW YORK JETS

The Jets surprised the football world by unveiling throwback uniforms from the 1980s. The correct helmet logo is placed on the current metallic green helmet. No biggie. The uniform is a great representation of the look the throwback is mimicking. Jets fans will like it. 

The Fix: The only question I have is why is this franchise all of a sudden so averse to wearing green jerseys or pants? After the 2022 Preseason last year, the Jets wore green jerseys and pants together once and green pants below white jerseys once. That's it. Two games. Every other game was a combination of white or black pants and jerseys. I get that in the first half of the 1980s, the Jets wore white at home most of that time. However, with an infusion of green desperately needed, why not use the green throwback jersey instead?

Grade: B

#5 - SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

These throwbacks look phenomenal. The blue pops. The green is bright. The silver helmets sparkle. So why are the Seahawks only #5 for me?

It really isn't their fault. Due to modern jersey tailoring, sleeves nowadays probably only have about 40% of the area to work with compared to the jerseys they are trying to duplicate. For me, part of the appeal for the Seahawks' jerseys were how the stripes exiting behind the bird-head logo, continued all the way around the sleeve, and back around to the beak again. It was a brilliant effect, but, due to the minimal amount of space to work with, the current design can't offer that. 

The same can be said with the helmet logo. Due to modern helmets and their design, the facemask and chinstrap snaps force many helmet logos onto the back half of the helmet for several teams. This is one of those cases. One Twitter follower said he thought he was looking at a 1970s football card of DK Metcalf because he was positioned facing the camera (below) and the logo could not be seen. He honestly thought they had forgotten to add the logo to DK's helmet or that, as in cards from the 1970s, it had been airbrushed off. The result is that the amount of helmet logo that can be applied to this throwback's helmet is greatly reduced.

The Fix: Unfortunately, there isn't one. We are limited by the times. That incudes Nike's inability to reproduce the shiny silver pants that we should be getting with these uniforms. The Seahawks did well with what they had. They did a great job replicating a classic look that fans all over will love. No one will say "That's a terrible looking uniform."

Grade: B+

#4 - PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Finally, kelly green has come back to Philadelphia. The thing I like the most about these uniforms is how the Eagles didn't have to use some sort of gimmick to get the correct logo to fit onto the sleeves. No abbreviated stripes. No reduced size. Just right.

The pants have the correct striping and are pretty close to the shade of grey/silver. The only regret here is that Nike could not replicate the sheen of those original pants (See "Big Jerome" below). It also seems like the helmet is lighter green than the jersey instead of being darker than the jersey. The helmet is significantly lighter overall compared to its predecessor. The sock stripes also appear to have thinned somewhat.

The Fix: The only thing I'd tamper with here is to darken the green of the helmets. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that Nike is capable of fixing the pants otherwise they'd have already done it for the reveal. Oh, and where the heck are the black shoes? Black shoes are a must for these.

Grade: A-

#3 - MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Let me start by saying that I'm not a Vikings fan. Their new throwback uniform goes back to their original look from 1961 and the first half of that decade, which is new ground for a Vikings throwback. Truthfully, everything about this uniform is 'spot-on.' Except for one detail. The helmet.

Why, if you are putting so much effort to get the look just right, do you make perfect versions of the jersey & the pants, but then drop the ball on the helmet? And here's the kicker...the Vikings are actually using a second helmet shell of a different color than their regular shade of purple. They had a chance to use the era-accurate glossy dark purple helmet shell. Instead, they opted for a lighter, matte purple than what was called for.

The Fix: If these throwbacks stick around, which I would guess they would, next year's throwback helmet will likely get fixed. I feel safe in that assumption. Why? Because the Vikings have done this before. 

As I stated in discussing Detroit's new helmet, when the Vikings debuted their current uniform set in 2014, the helmet didn't match. It was much too light. And it was highly noticeable on TV, to boot. Unfortunately, it took until 2019 for the Vikes to fix their purple helmets. But the point is, they did. This fix won't take as long. And like Philadelphia, these uniforms absolutely require black shoes, as well.

Grade: A-

#2 - TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Bucco Bruce and the creamsicle orange jerseys have returned. Nike went the extra mile and made these versions a more vibrant shade of orange than their 2012 efforts which were much paler by comparison. Even the red trim really jumps out at you. These were extremely well done and historically accurate.

The Fix: Nothing. But there is one thing to look for as far as being historically accurate. On the back of the helmets where the striping ends, the Bucs have always cut off the bottom corner of the red stripes' outer edges. It's a quirky little detail that I will be looking for. For some reason, the Bucs' reveal didn't include photos of the backs of the helmets.

GRADE: A

#1 - TENNESSEE TITANS

Sorry to disappoint, Bucs fans, but these are just a little bit better. And it's funny but no one will look at these uniforms and call them Titans' throwbacks. These are OILERS uniforms.

Why are they better? Accuracy and attention to detail. The number fonts are a perfect match. The bold red outline goes BANG when you see them. But the best part of all is how they purposely mismatched the blues. Normally, this would be a problem but not here. Historically, these Oilers' blue jersey uniforms were done using two similar, but separate, shades of blue. 

The jersey's blue needs to match the blue pants stripe. It does. The blue of the socks is slightly darker and matches the blue in the helmet logo and stripe. They do. You had to be aware of this ahead of time to plan the outcome the way it needed to be. They did. And it's magnificent.

The Fix: Are you kidding??? One thing, Titans. PLEASE do not have players disrespect one of the greatest uniforms ever by wearing plain white socks instead of, or overtop of, the actual uniform's socks. PLEASE!

Grade: A+

That wraps it up, folks. One thing is certain, in a League dominated by darker colored jerseys, the majority of these throwbacks bring us back to a day when vibrant, colorful uniforms adorned our TVs every Fall weekend. That is a very good thing.

Bill Schaefer

A Head-to-Head History: The New York Jets and The Miami Dolphins

The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins renew one of the most spirited division rivalries that has produced some of the most memorable moments in the post-merger NFL history.

Miami entered the AFL as an expansion franchise in 1966 just as New York was ascending on the arm of quarterback Joe Namath. The Dolphins appropriately displayed colors of their surroundings and new to professional sports - aqua and orange. The Jets, who were a charter member of the league in 1960 as the Titans, wore kelly green and white. As expected, the established Jets dominated the early series between the teams, winning the first either meetings. The 1967 meeting in New York indicated a sign of things to come as Namath struck through the air with 415 passing yards and three touchdowns. Receivers George Sauer and Don Maynard both had 100-yard receiving efforts.

The AFL-NFL merger in 1970 saw a new era begin for the Dolphins. New coach Don Shula, who had lost Super Bowl III to the Jets as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts, immediately established a winning tradition with a 10-win season and playoff berth, sweeping New York in the process. After splitting the season series in 1971, the Dolphins won 11 of the next 12 games from their AFC East rivals. Included was the worst game of Namath's career, an eight for 24, 96-yard, six interception nightmare as the Jets lost at home 43-0.

Fortunes reversed in 1978 when the Jets revamped their uniforms. The white helmets and green football logo were replaced with green helmets and "JETS" spelled out. New York's new aerial connection was Richard Todd, throwing three touchdown passes, and Wesley Walker catching two of the scores and totaling over 1oo yards receiving in the opening day victory at Shae Stadium, the Jets first victory over Miami in New York since 1969. As the players who lead the Dolphins to three consecutive Super Bowl earlier int eh decade retired the balance of power swung, and the Jets swept the season series through 1980. Entering the new decade, the Jets - Dolphins games became a premier event.

The October 1981 game in Miami saw a back-and-forth offensive circus in which the teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards. Todd threw four touchdown passes, and again Walker was his primary target with another 2 touchdown, 100 yard game. Don Strock took most of the snaps under center for Miami, sharing time with David Woodley (Miami fans referred to this combination as Woodstrock). Nat Moore had a career day with 210 yards and two touchdowns on just seven catches. Neither team scored in overtime and the game ended in a 28-28 tie. The rematch in New York in November was a more defensive controlled game as the Jets came from behind on a late touchdown pass from Todd to Jerome Barkum for a thrilling 16-15 victory that saw fans storm the Shea Stadium field. Miami won the AFC East whit an 11-4-1 record and New York finished second at 10-5-1.

Miami won the first game in New York big, then had a dramatic come-from-behind victory of their own in December in the Orange Bowl. Strock relieved Woodley in the second half and led the Dolphins to a deciding field goal by Uwe von Schamman at the gun for a 20-19 win after Jet kicker Pat Leahy missed afield goal of his won (he also missed an extra point in the first quarter.) The teams met for a third time in the AFC Championship Game on a rain soaked quagmire in the Orange Bowl. Jets head coach Walt Michaels complained the Shula had left the field uncovered to slow down New York's high powered offense. Aside from their dangerous passing game, halfback Freeman McNeil lead the NFL in rushing in 1982. Both offenses struggled and combined for nine turnovers. Miami made the most of the Jets mistakes however, as linebacker AJ Duhe intercepted Todd three times and ran one back for a touchdown in the dolphins 14-0 win. Michaels was controversially relieved of his duties on the flight back to New York, and Miami lost to Washington in Super Bowl XVII.

New faces at quarterback for both teams in 1986 began a new era of offensive fireworks. Week 3 in the Jets new home Giants Stadium (where they now wore their white jerseys under head coach Joe Walton.) Ken O'Brien and Dan Marino put on a remarkable display of passing, combining for a record 884 yards. Walker caught touchdown passes of 65 and 50 yards in the second quarter to give the Jets a 31-21 halftime lead. Marino brought Miami back with a 17-point third quarter for a 38-31 lead. The teams traded touchdowns before O'Brien brought New York down-field and connected with Walker again on a 21-yard scoring pass with no time left on the clock to force overtime. Walker caught his fourth touchdown pass in the extra period to give the Jets a 51-45 win, propelling them to a franchise record nine-game win streak. The 10-1 Jets met the 5-6 Dolphins for a Monday Night Football rematch in November, and the result was shocking, dramatic and reverberating, but also incredibly one sided. Marino was sharp again for the Dolphins, with 288 yards and four touchdowns. Lorenzo Hampton added 148 yards on the ground and two more scores, and the Miami defense forced four takeaways. The end result was a 45-3 loss for New York and the start of a five game losing streak to close the regular season. The Jets did qualify for a Wild Card playoff berth, where they defeated Kansas City before dropping a double-overtime contest to Cleveland in the Divisional Round.

Offensive fireworks were on display again in 1988 when Marino became just the fifth person to pass for 500 yards in a game. The 521 yards were the second most at the time, but unfortunately Marino also threw five interceptions one of which was returned my Erik McMillan for a touchdown, and Miami lost 44-30. Marino and O'Brien again tried to out-duel one another in September 1989 at Dolphins Stadium. O'Brien threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns in the winning effort. Marino was again valiant in defeat, out-compiling his counterpart with 427 yards and three touchdowns, but New York scored the last 14 points of the game in the 40-33 win.

In November 1994 the teams met with first place of the AFC on the line. The 6-5 Jets led the 7-4 Dolphins 24-6 late in the third quarter. Marino again had a prolific effort against New York, totaling 359 yards and four touchdowns (all scores to Mark Ingram.) Back-to-back scoring drives cut the led to 24-21. One last drive by Marino had the Dolphins on the Jets five-yard line with 30 seconds left and the clock running...Marino motioned at the line as if her were going to spike the ball to stop the clock, but instead lofted a pass over cornerback Aaron Glenn to Ingram for the winning score. The Jets then fell into a tailspin, dropping the rest of their games to finish 6-10.

In December 1998 the teams met again with first place on the line. The 9-4 Jets visited 8-5 Miami. New York's defense was up to the challenge this time, as they sacked nemesis Marino five times, intercepting him once and returning a fumble for a touchdown in the 21-16 prime time win. The Jets went on to win their first ever AFC East title with a 12-4 record, while the 10-6 Dolphins qualified for the post season as a Wild Card.

Another prime time match-up occurred on a Monday Night in October 2000 between the two 5-1 teams in Giants Stadium. This game would go down as one of the biggest comebacks in NFL and would come to be known as the Monday Night Miracle.  Miami led 23-7 at the half, with the Jets offense totaling a measly two first downs, and 30-7 after the quarters. Seventeen unanswered points cut the deficit to 30-23. Following a three-and-out by Miami, Vinny Testeverde hit Wayne Chrebet for a touchdown to tie the game 30-30, fans who had been walking down the rotundas out to the parking lots rushed back in to their seats. Jay Fiedler responded with a one play drive - a 46-yard touchdown pass to Brock Marion to regain the lead 31-30. Testeverde responded with a 70-yard drive, capped off with a juggling catch by tackle-eligible Jumbo Elliot to send the game to overtime. Miami received the overtime kickoff and drove in New York territory, but a Fiedler was intercepted and John Hall won the game for the Jets with a 40-yard field goal.

Eight years later the teams met again in Giants Stadium with first place on the line, this time in a Week 17 winner-take-all showdown. Adding a little extra drama to the mix was the Dolphins being quarterbacked by long time Jet stater Chad Pennington, who had been released after the Jets traded for Brett Favre prior to the start of training camp. On opening day in Miami, Pennington had nearly lead the Dolphins to a come-from-behind win against his former team, but a pass into the end zone with three seconds remaining was intercepted, giving New York a 20-14 win.  Neither quarterback compiled impressive statistics, but Pennington played a turnover free game, compared to Favre, who had three passes intercepted. Pennington lead the Dolphins from behind with 10 unanswered points spanning the third and fourth quarters for a 24-17 win and division crown.

Ronnie Brown and the Dolphins wore orange (see picture at the top) in a Week 5 primetime home game against the Jets (a 31-27 Miami win) in 2009.  They met again three weeks later in the Dolphins final visit to Giants Stadium and Tedd Ginn Jr. had a remarkable game. The Jets, who went white-at-home in the navy blue and gold Titans of New York throwback uniforms, broke a 3-3 third quarter tie with a 55-yard Jey Feeley field goal. Ginn subsequently returned the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Jason Taylor returned a fumble for a touchdown before Mark Sanchez scored a one yard touchdown, cutting Miami's lead lead to 17-13. Ginn struck again, returning the kickoff 101 yards, and became the first player to return two kickoffs for scores in a single quarter of play, and the Dolphins held on for a 30-25 win.

Big plays and big performances highlight the Jets-Dolphins rivalry, and there are certain to be more to come.  Look for the officials to use pink penalty flags in Sunday's game as Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a head.

Record Setting Night

Record Setting Night
by Rob Holecko

Last night, Saints QB Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's 1984 single-season passing mark of 5,084 yards on his final throw of the night, a touchdown that gave him 5,087 yards for the season, with one more game still to play.  The Saints beat the Falcons and clinched the NFC South title.

Throughout the night, during the telecast they referred to the record, giving a countdown of how many yards Brees needed.  They flashed back to 1984 and the Monday Night game at the end of the year against the Cowboys when Marino set the record.  They talked about the evolution of the record, from Sammy Baugh and John Unitas, and then in 1967, in the AFL, Joe Namath became the first to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.  Dan Fouts broke that record three consecutive years, in 1979, 1980 and 1981, and then Marino in 1984 passed for 5,084, a record that has stood since then.

In 2008, Brees got close to breaking the record a first time, throwing an incomplete pass on the final play of the season against the Carolina Panthers and winding up at 5,069 yards.

But this time he closed the deal, and he'll get to add to it next week, possibly they won't rest their starters in the season finale as the Saints still have a chance at a first-round bye, if they can win although they'll need the 49ers to lose to the Rams, possibly a tall order.

It was an exciting night in the Louisiana Superdome Allstate Car Carriers Big Old Round Building Mercedes Benz Superdome, possibly the biggest since the 2009 Super Bowl run, a with it being a Monday Night against the Falcons, it was reminiscent of the 2006 Week 3 game against the MNF Falcons when the Saints re-opened the dome after losing the 2005 season to Hurricane Katrina.

The Saints that year, after a dismal 2005 season went all the way to the NFC Championship game where they lost to the Bears, and three years later won Super Bowl XLIV.

Tom Brady has 4,897 yards going into his finale against Buffalo, so he also has an outside chance of passing 5,000 yards and Marino's mark.

Next week Brees also has a chance of passing Peyton Manning's record of 450 completions in a season, he finished last night with 440.

~ ~ ~

"On This Day..."

Last week all the talk (in and around New York anyway) was the Giants-Jets game, but today we will look back to another day where the focus of the NFL was all on the New York teams.  On December 27, 1981, the two NFL Wild Card games were played as the Bills and the Jets faced off at Shea stadium in the early AFC game, and the Giants and Eagles faced off in the NFC game in Philadelphia.

Here's a quick summary of this game from Wikipedia:

Bills defensive back Bill Simpson's interception at the Buffalo 1-yard line with 2 seconds left in the game preserved a 31-27 victory and gave Buffalo their first playoff win since 1965.

The Bills jumped to a 24-0 lead by the second quarter. First New York's Bruce Harper fumbled the opening kickoff while being tackled by Ervin Parker, and Charles Romes returned the ball 26-yards to the end zone. Then after a punt, quarterback Joe Ferguson completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank Lewis, while interceptions by Simpson and linebacker Phil Villapiano led to a 29-yard field goal by Nick Mike-Mayer and a 26-yard scoring reception by Lewis. However, Jets quarterback Richard Todd threw a 30-yard touchdown to tight end Mickey Shuler, and kicker Pat Leahy added two field goals to cut Buffalo's lead, 24-13.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, running back Joe Cribbs ran for a 45-yard touchdown, increasing the Bills lead to 31-13. But Todd then led the Jets 80 yards in 8 plays and completed a 30-yard touchdown to Bobby Jones. Then after forcing a punt, New York drove for another score, aided by a pass interference call against Bills defensive back Mario Clark that nullified an interception. Kevin Long finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 31-27. The Jets got the ball back with 2:36 remaining and then drove 69 yards to the Buffalo 11-yard line, aided by a holding penalty that wiped out an interception by defensive back Steve Freeman. However, Simpson's interception at the 1-yard line halted New York's comeback with 2 seconds left.

Simpson recorded 2 interceptions, while Lewis caught 7 passes for a franchise postseason record 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Shuler caught 6 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Todd threw for 377 yards, while Ferguson threw for 268. Both quarterbacks threw 2 touchdowns and were intercepted four times.

Larry Schmit reports to us in the forum that in this game the Bills' Joe Cribbs wore a gray facemask, while the other Bills wore the correct white facemasks. (see pictures)  Thanks, Larry.

In the other game, the Giants and Eagles faced off.  Here's the Wikipedia run down of that game:

The Giants jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, but had to withstand an Eagles comeback at the end to hold on to a 27-21 win. In the first quarter, Eagles kick/punt returner Wally Henry fumbled a punt and Beasley Reece recovered the ball at the Philadelphia 26-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Scott Brunner then threw a 9-yard touchdown to running back Leon Bright (the extra point attempt failed). Later in the first period, Brunner threw a 10-yard touchdown to wide receiver John Mistler, Henry then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Mark Haynes recovered the ball in the end zone to give New York a 20-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Harold Carmichael, but it was countered by Brunner's 22-yard touchdown to wide receiver Tom Mullady to give the Giants a 27-7 halftime lead. However, New York was shut out in the second half, while the Eagles opened the third period by marching 82 yards to score on running back Wilbert Montgomery's 6-yard rushing touchdown. Montgomery added another touchdown with 2:51 left in the game, but the Giants were able to run out the rest of the clock to preserve the victory. It marked the Giants first post season victory since 1956.

The Bills and the Giants both scored their first post-season victories in decades that day, and while they would both go on to lose to the eventual Super Bowl participants, the 49ers and the Bengals, the following week, for one day the New York teams were the center of the football world.