Wait, What... Don't Tell Me! I Messed Up Again!

Somehow a week ago on January 15, I messed up, by writing about Super Bowl XIII as being played on January 15, when even in the graphic I had the correct date of January 21, 1979.  The list I was looking at had the calendar year, not the season, so when I saw '1978' I should have realized it was the '1977' season's Super Bowl that was played on that day.

So, nonetheless, since the On This Day... for January 21st Super Bowl has already been added to the database, we shall today cover the Super Bowl from the day that we missed, Super Bowl XII.

Super Bowl XII
by Rob Holecko

America's Team the Dallas Cowboys captured their second Vince Lombardi trophy on January 15, 1978 when they defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII 27 to 10.  The summary from Wikipedia:

Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion following the 1977 regular season. It was the first Super Bowl played inside a domed stadium.

The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys (15-2) defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (14-3), 27–10. The Cowboys defensive team dominated most of the game, forcing 8 turnovers and allowing only 8 pass completions by the Broncos for just 61 yards.

For the first and only time, two players won Super Bowl MVP honors: defensive tackle Randy White and defensive end Harvey Martin. For White, the honor was won on his 25th birthday. This was also the first time that a defensive lineman was named as the Super Bowl MVP.

We are proud to add this game to our database, and you can see it along with other Super Bowls that have been added on our new Super Bowl page.

Visit us tomorrow here at the Gridiron Uniform Database Blog where we'll preview the AFC and NFC Championships and also take a look back at a couple great Super Bowls from the 1980s played on January 22.

Super Bowl XIX

 

Super Bowl XIX

by Rob Holecko

Twenty-seven years ago today, on January 20, 1985, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38 to 16.  It was Joe Montana and the 49ers' second Super Bowl in four years, and it was a very memorable game.  It was played in Stanford, California, the closest a team has ever come to playing a Super Bowl in it's home stadium.  It was the first Super Bowl televised by ABC.  President Ronald Reagan, on the day of the inauguration of his second term in office, conducted the coin flip from the Oval Office.

As for the game itself, from Wikipedia:

Instead of the predicted shootout between Dan Marino and Joe Montana, the game was mostly one-sided. The 49ers defense only allowed 25 rushing yards and 16 Dolphins points. San Francisco also intercepted Marino 2 times and sacked him 4 times. The Dolphins set a Super Bowl record for least rush attempts in a game (9).

But in the opening minutes of the game, it seemed that the game would live up to the hype. On the opening kickoff, 49ers rookie kick returner Derrick Harmon caught the ball too close to the sidelines and stepped out of bounds at the San Francisco 6-yard line. The 49ers managed to advance to the 41-yard line but were forced to punt, and Dolphins defensive back Fulton Walker returned the punt 9 yards to the Miami 36-yard line. Then on their first play of the drive, Marino completed a 25-yard pass to Tony Nathan. Five plays later, Miami reached the San Francisco 23-yard line. But on third down, 49ers cornerback Eric Wright tackled wide receiver Mark Clayton 2 yards shy of the first down. Miami had to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Uwe von Schamann.

The Dolphins' 3-0 lead did not last long, as the 49ers stormed down the field on their next possession. San Francisco drove 78 yards in 8 plays, culminating in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Montana to reserve running back Carl Monroe to give them a 7-3 lead. But Miami retook the lead on their ensuing drive. After a 5-yard rush by Nathan, the Dolphins went into a no-huddle offense, preventing the 49ers from making substitutions and keeping their run defense on the field. Marino completed five consecutive passes, hitting Clayton for 18 yards, Mark Duper for 11, Clayton again for 13, and tight end Dan Johnson for 21. On the next play, Marino finished the drive by hitting Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass, giving the Dolphins a 10-7 lead with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the 49ers began to take control of the game. Bill Walsh switched to a 4-1-6 (or dime defense) to slow down Miami's passing attack, with Keena Turner as the sole linebacker. Miami tried to run against the 4-1-6 alignment, to no avail. Safety Dwight Hicks broke up two consecutive Marino passes, and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their own 10-yard line. Then after taking the ball at the Miami 47-yard line, Montana scrambled for a 19-yard run, and then completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Dwight Clark to reach the 12-yard line. From there, Wendell Tyler rushed for 4 yards, and then Montana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Roger Craig, giving the 49ers a 14-10 lead.

Miami then had to punt again on their ensuing possession, and San Francisco defensive back Dana McLemore returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers' 45-yard line. After advancing 15 yards with 2 running plays, Montana completed a pair of passes to tight end Russ Francis to move the ball 29 yards to the Miami 11-yard line. Craig ran for 5 yards on the next play, and then Montana ran the final 6 yards to the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 21-10. After the ensuing kickoff, Miami again was forced to punt after 3 plays, and McLemore returned Reggie Roby's 39-yard punt 10 yards to the 49ers' 48-yard line. Montana was sacked for a 5-yard loss by Doug Betters on the first play of the ensuing drive, but he struck back with a 20-yard completion to Craig and a 7-yard run over the next two plays. On the next play, wide receiver Freddie Solomon caught a pass from Montana, took one step, and then lost the ball due to a hit from safety Lyle Blackwood. Blackwood quickly recovered the ball and took off for the 49ers end zone, but field judge Bob Lewis blew the play dead, ruling that Solomon's fumble was an incomplete pass. Bill Quinby, the side judge, who was nearest to the play, did not make any call. Five plays later, Craig finished the nine play, 52-yard drive with his second touchdown on a 2-yard run, increasing the 49ers lead to 28-10.

With about two minutes left in the half, the Dolphins finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession. Marino completed 7 out of 9 passes, the last one being a 30-yard pass to tight end Joe Rose, to reach the 49ers 12-yard line. But San Francisco's defense tightened up on the next 3 plays, forcing 2 incompletions and a completed pass for no gain, and Miami was forced to settle for Von Schamann's second field goal of the game to cut their deficit to 28-13 with 12 seconds left in the half. Then Miami caught a break as the 49ers botched the ensuing kickoff. San Francisco lineman Guy McIntyre received Van Schamann's short kick and was about to down the ball, but then changed his mind at the last second and decided to return it. This turned out to be a big mistake. McIntyre lost a fumble while being leveled by rookie Joe Carter, and Jim Jensen recovered the ball for Miami at the 49ers 12-yard line. After that, Von Schamann kicked his third field goal on the last play of the half, cutting the score to 28-16. "I can laugh about the play now, but it wasn't funny at the time," McIntyre said after the game. "My first instinct when I got the ball was to fall down. Then I heard everyone yelling, 'Get up! Get up!' So I got up, and here comes someone sneaking underneath me, and he hit the ball."

But any thoughts of a Miami comeback ended early in the third quarter. On the first play second half, 49ers defensive end Dwaine Board tackled Nathan for a 1-yard loss. Then after Marino threw an incompletion, Board sacked him for a 9-yard loss on third down. For the fourth time in the game, Roby had to punt, and again McLemore gave the 49ers good field position with an 8-yard return to San Francisco's 47-yard line. The 49ers then drove 43 yards and scored on kicker Ray Wersching's 27 yard field goal. On the Dolphins' ensuing drive, they were forced to punt again after Marino was sacked twice (once by defensive lineman Manu Tuiasosopo and once by Board). Starting their own 30-yard line after a 5-yard return by McLemore, Montana completed a 40-yard pass to Tyler, followed up with a 14-yard completion to Francis. Three plays later, Craig scored his third touchdown on a 16-yard reception to make the score 38-16. The score proved to be the last one from either team, as the defenses of both teams took over for the rest of the game - especially the 49ers' defense, who intercepted Marino twice.

Overall, San Francisco gained a Super Bowl record 537 yards, breaking the Oakland Raiders record of 429 yards in Super Bowl XI, while limiting Miami to 314, with just 25 rushing yards. San Francisco's 38 points also tied a Super Bowl record set by the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.

The 49ers' 288 offensive yards in the first half also tied the Raiders in Super Bowl XI for the most offensive yards in a half during a Super Bowl.

Marino finished the game with 29 out of 50 pass completions for 318 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Clayton was the top receiver of the game, with 6 receptions for 92 yards. Walker returned 4 kickoffs for 93 yards and gained 15 yards on 2 punt returns. Nathan was the Dolphins leading rusher with 18 yards, while also catching 10 passes for 83 yards.  Craig had 58 rushing yards, 77 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. He was the first player ever to score 3 touchdowns in a Super Bowl, and his 2 touchdown catches also tied a Super Bowl record. Tyler led San Francisco in rushing with 65 yards, and also caught 4 passes for 70 yards. Clark caught 6 passes for 77 yards. Board recorded 2 sacks. McLemore recorded 51 punt return yards, the second most in Super Bowl history.

We are proud to add this game to the Gridiron Uniform Database.  Also today we are launching a new page today, the index of Super Bowl Matchup graphics.  As we add Super Bowl matchups to the website today, you'll find all of them here, you'll see a new link on the front page.  We'd like to thank Mark Young, who a few months ago designed our new banner graphics, for putting together the roman numeral graphics on this page.

Also on this day, five years previous to Super Bowl XIX, the Rams and the Cowboys met in Super Bowl XIV.  This was the game that saw the Steelers put the cherry on the top of their 1970s dynasty, winning their fourth Super Bowl in six years.

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Another On This Day... that we'd like to mention.  Yesterday was January 19, and while there has never been a Super Bowl on January 19, we would like to recognize a particularly memorable game from nine years ago.  As a Buccaneer fan, while I realize that the Super Bowl victory over the Raiders is definitely the crowning achievement of our franchise, it was Ronde Barber's interception return of a Donovan McNabb pass for a touchdown that clinched the NFC Championship against the Eagles, that was the moment from that season that was most memorable.  After having lost at Philadelphia in the playoffs the past two seasons, after having never won a game below forty degrees, to go into Philadelphia and win that game to go to the Super Bowl, was really the best moment ever for the Bucs in their 35 years of existence.

 

The Stupor Bowl

The Stupor Bowl
by Rob Holecko

Yesterday we told you about America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, and how their dynasty began with a Super Bowl VI win over the Dolphins.  Well, they made it to the Super Bowl the year before that as well, losing to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V, forty-one years ago today.

Super Bowl V was the first Super Bowl played after the completion of the AFL-NFL Merger. As per the merger agreement, all 26 AFL and NFL teams were divided into 2 conferences with 13 teams in each of them. The NFL's Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to join the 10 AFL teams to form the AFC. The remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC. This explains why the Colts represented the NFL in Super Bowl III, but not the NFC for Super Bowl V.

Super Bowl V was a sloppy, poorly executed display of football.   The game is sometimes called the "Blunder Bowl" or the "Stupor Bowl" because it was filled with poor play, penalties, turnovers, and officiating miscues. The two teams committed a Super Bowl record 11 combined turnovers in the game, and the Colts' 7 turnovers are currently the most ever committed by a winning team in a Super Bowl. Dallas also set a Super Bowl record with 10 penalties, costing them 133 yards. Bubba Smith refused to wear his Super Bowl V ring because of the "sloppy" play.

It was finally settled with five seconds left when Colts rookie kicker Jim O'Brien kicked a 32-yard field goal. In order to win the game, Baltimore had to overcome a 13–6 deficit at the half, losing their starting quarterback in the second quarter.

It is also the only Super Bowl in which the Most Valuable Player Award was given to a member of the losing team: Cowboys Linebacker Chuck Howley, who intercepted two passes. Sacks and tackles were not yet recorded. It was the first time a QB didn't win the award. Howley refused to accept the award because it was meaningless to him after his team lost.

Even though it is one of the least memorable Super Bowls, in fact it is possibly the Millard Fillmore of Super Bowls, we are still proud to add it to our database of matchups.

America's Team

America's Team
by Rob Holecko

 Forty years ago today, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI at Tulane Stadium in  New Orleans.  After coming up short in NFL Championships to the Green Bay Packers and losing a sloppy Super Bowl V to the Colts the year before, the Cowboys finally got a championship for the man in the fedora, Tom Landry.  They would add another six years later against the Broncos, and while they would possibly be remembered as the foil of the team of the 70s, the Steelers, losing twice to them in Super Bowls, the 70s Cowboys, America's Team could make an argument for being the team of that decade as well.  They appeared in one more Super Bowl than Pittsburgh, and while (2-3) is worse than (4-0), their period of excellence lasted from 1966 through 1981, much longer than the Steelers.  The 1981 NFC Championship was that team's swan song, as they would fall into mediocrity in the mid-1980s, before Jerry Jones would buy the team, hire Jimmy Johnson and build a new, 1990s dynasty.

Super Bowl VI would be the last game the Dolphins would lose before going undefeated the following year and winning the next two Super Bowls.

We are proud to add Super Bowl VI to our database of game matchups included here at the Gridiron Uniform Database.

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The last time the Ravens won a home
playoff game, a 2000 Wild Card
game against the Broncos, they
went on to win Super Bowl XXXV.

Yesterday, the New York Giants went into Lambeau Field and defeated the #1 seed 15-1 Green Bay Packers, setting up a 1990 NFC Championship Game rematch, one previewed by bigbluelarry a few days ago.  The Giants outplayed the Packers in every phase of the game, and even overcame a few bad calls that went in the Packers favor.  They are hot right now, similar to 2007, when they upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.  But they will face a strong 49er team that also played a great game Saturday beating the Saints.  It should be a great game Sunday.

In the AFC, the Ravens won their first home playoff game in eleven years, defeating the Texans and will face the Patriots next Sunday in the AFC Championship.  The Ravens will face a tough task against a Patriots team that, despite a below-league-average-defense, appears to be hitting on all cylinders.

Will Super Bowl XLVI be a Super Bowl XLII rematch?  Or how about "The Harbaugh Bowl"?  Or maybe a Super Bowl XXXV rematch between the Ravens and Giants.  Or how about Tom Brady going for his fourth Super Bowl to tie Bradshaw and Montana against Montana's team, the 49ers.

Any of the four combinations that could reach the Super Bowl look to be an exciting matchup, by after watching that game yesterday, I'd have to say the Giants are the hottest team right now, and as of now, I pick it's going to be the Giants over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.  Later this week Bill and Tim will be bringing you their picks as well.

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Speaking of past great NFC Championships, yesterday was the 17th anniversary of the 1994 NFC Championship.  This was the third straight NFC Title game featuring these two teams.  It was also the first NFC Championship on FOX.

1994 was the NFL's 75th anniversary season, and many teams wore throwback uniforms during the year, the 49ers and Cowboys in this game included.  The Cowboys were two-time defending Super Bowl champions, but this time the 49ers got the best of them and defeated Dallas 38-28, and went on to the Super Bowl and defeated the Chargers, and Steve Young finally got the monkey of the back.
 

This game was requested by Villaroman Santos, and we are proud to add it to our database as well.  If you would like to request any game to be added, be feel free to email us.

The First World Championship Game: AFL vs NFL

The First World Championship Game
by Rob Holecko

When the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers and the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs met 45 years ago today in the first game that would grow to be annual spectacle that we now know of as the Super Bowl, it was little more than an afterthought.  The Packers had just wrapped up their 10th NFL Championship against the Dallas Cowboys and were heavily favored to beat the underdog Chiefs.  The AFL Champion Chiefs were hoping to show that an AFL team deserved to be on the same field as the NFL Champion.

The Packers dominated the Chiefs and won 35 to 10.  They would win the following Super Bowl as well, but the AFL's Jets and these very Chiefs would Super Bowls III and IV, and the merger became complete with the former AFL teams gaining full acceptance as equal and full competition for their more established NFL counterparts.

For more in-depth information on this game, you can read the Wikipedia entry on it here.

Also January 15 is the anniversary of one of the best Super Bowls ever played, the 1978 season's Super Bowl XIII.  The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys met for the second time in four Super Bowls, and both teams were in their third Super Bowl in the past five years.  The game went back and forth, a key drop by Cowboys TE Jackie Smith in the end zone was the difference in a 35-31 Steeler victory.

We are proud to add these two games, the first ever "Super Bowl" and one of the most exciting Super Bowls, to our collection of matchups in the Gridiron Uniform Database.  We plan on rolling out a new feature in the coming days showcasing all of the Super Bowl matchups, so stay tuned for that.

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Also, we are closing in on 100,000 visitors (not unique visitors -- I know it's many of the same visitors who keep coming back, but still) -- thank you for the continued interest in our site.  Speaking of which, we wouldn't have been able to do this without Uni Watch, and this morning I clicked my shortcut to uni-watch.com, and this came up:

I don't know if I'm just navigating wrong or something happened to their site.  I hope they didn't get hacked or anything.  Maybe some right-wing nut job just is having some fun, who knows?  Anyway, if anyone knows anything, or they get it fixed, let us know in the comments.  (This just in, Uni Watch's front page is back up.)

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Steve Young threw six touchdowns
in Super Bowl XXIX, a mark that
Tom Brady tied yesterday

Of the two games yesterday, the only real question was would the Saints come out in white-over-black or white-over-gold.  Tim Brulia & I guessed the white-gold, while Bill Schaefer went with white-black.  They did go with white-gold, but it wasn't enough to defeat the 49ers, who prevailed on a play eerily similar to "The Catch II", the 1998 playoff game against the Packers which featured Terrell Owens catching a touchdown down the middle of the field between defenders and coming off the field in tears, hugging coach Steve Mariucci.  Yesterday Vernon Davis caught a touchdown down the middle of the field between defenders and came off the field in tears, hugging coach Jim Harbaugh.

In the other came, Tebow-mania finally came to an end as the Patriots routed the Broncos.  Tom Brady tied Steve Young and Daryl Lamonica's postseason record of six touchdown passes in a game.

Enjoy the Texans-Ravens and Giants-Packers games today! These both should be pretty predictable matchups, the Texans always go white-over-navy wearing white on the road, and the Ravens, considering it's a day game, we expect will be in purple-over-white, as Tim said, "BAL likely in Purple/white, but I'd be thrilled if 'the team I love to hate' went purple/black."  (Added: This just in, Ravens are in purple/black -- see picture to the right -- so I guess we can color Tim thrilled!)
  
The Giants and Packers should, of course, have no uniform surprises, either, as they re-stage the 2007 NFC Championship Game today. Unfortunately for the Giants, they won't be able to count on Brett Favre throwing a critical late-game interception this time.  If the Giants should pull off the upset, we'll be looking at re-match of the 1990 Giants-Niners NFC Championship that bigbluelarry told us about earlier in the week.  Otherwise we'll see another classic Niners-Packers playoff game.

Uniform Rankings - Wild Card Weekend Edition

Uniform Rankings - Wild Card Weekend Edition
by Tim Brulia

From 16 games to review down to four.

Here's the Wild Card Weekend review.

Bengals-Texans: Bengals go white/white and the Texans go navy/white. Teams tend to go conservative in the playoffs, uni-wise. Perhaps knowing that all games from hereon in go out to 100% of the nation. And maybe the reason we see the Bengals take the all white approach. This is a good color contrast, but I think it would have been nice if the Bengals rocked the black pants, but this was a nice one.

Lions-Saints: Lions in the only choice they could make, white/silver. The Saints could have taken the safe approach with black/gold, but they chose to be daring and chose the black/black fashion statement. And that gets a big thumbs up. Still a lot of metal (Lions silver and Saints gold), but not as conspicuous. I just found this matchup to be a winner.

Falcons-Giants: Nothing notable here, but while predictable and tame, the Falcons white/white and Giants blue/gray was sharp. Falcons with black and red trim and the G-men with the familiar red accessories to the blue and gray, give a pleasant color look.

Steelers-Broncos: Best for last, both in terms of exciting play and exciting uni colors. Steelers go with the normal road togs, white/yellow and the Broncos, who had gone all navy for four straight home games, went to the "safe" combo for the playoffs, navy/white, and it was the right choice. It brightened up the Bronco look and actually complimented the Steeler colors. Well played, team of Tebow.

So, the quartet rankings:

1) Steelers-Broncos
2) Lions-Saints
3) Bengals-Texans
4) Falcons-Giants

As for the Divisional Round?

I think the teams will stay on the low-key side. We'll find out this weekend and let you know what we think. Check in with you then!

A Giant Victory

 

A couple days ago at the Gridiron Uniform Database, I mentioned an "easter egg" of sorts that I had left on the site as sort of a challenge for you to find.  No one found it the first day, but yesterday BigBlueLarry, aka Larry Schmitt, found the error.  I had typed 'Houston Oilers' instead of 'Houston Texans' on the Week 4 matchup page when I made it back in early October, and left it to see if anyone would notice.  No one ever did, so I decided to make a 'contest' of sorts the other day, and Larry is the winner.

I offered him the opportunity to feature a game of his choosing to be added to the database.  As a big Giants, I had a feeling he would choose a game featuring them.  I didn't let him pick any of the Super Bowls (XXI, XXV, XLII) as we will be covering all of the Super Bowls in coming days.  Larry picked wisely and selected the 1990 NFC Championship game, a great defensive struggle.  Here's Larry with his thoughts on this game:

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A Giant Victory
by Larry Schmitt

This is truly the crown jewel of all the football games I've ever watched in my lifetime. I think it was the most tense, hard-hitting, dramatic, riveting game that I have ever seen the Giants play.  Sixty minutes of no quarter asked - none given. The 49ers' of that era have always been lauded for their prolific offense, but their defense was just as good. Micheal Carter anchored their DL at the nose position and gave Giants All-Pro Center Bart Oates all he could handle. The hits that Ronnie Lott dished out in his final game as a 49er were devastating. San Francisco and New York had a unique rivalry - it was as intense as any Giants-Redskins or 49ers-Rams game from that era.
 


This was their fifth post season meeting over the previous nine seasons, and their dislike for one another was only exceeded by their mutual respect. 2012 Pro Football HOF finalist Bill Parcells (who was at his gambling best with a fake punt call to Gary Reasons in the 4th quarter) has stated many times that this is the favorite game from his coaching career, and Jerry Markbreit stated it was the best game he ever officiated. NFL Films rated Leonard Marshall's 4th quarter sack of Joe Montana as the #2 tackle of all-time. Bill Belichick revealed himself as a defensive genius with his game-planning throughout the 1990 postseason. The Giants ended San Francisco's attempt for an unprecedented Super Bowl "Threepeat" without even scoring a touchdown! Remarkable! Other brilliant coaches on that Giants staff included Tom Coughlin, Romeo Crennel, Al Groh and Charlie Weis. San Francisco boasted the talents of Mike Holmgren, Jon Gruden and Ray Rhodes. 

Jeff Hostetler made clutch throws to Mark Bavaro, Mark Ingram and Stephen Baker to drive the Giants to hard fought field goals on late possessions.  An Erik Howard forced-fumble on Roger Craig (also playing his final game in San Francisco) that was recovered by Lawrence Taylor, set up a 42-yard Matt Bahr game winning field goal, and a thrilling 15 to 13 upset win. 

The Giants would go on to win Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills a week later.
 

NFL Films would be wise to include this contest in their "Best Ever" series.

Uniform wise, the game was standard for the time. The Giants wore their road white with blue numbers that had been standard issue since 1980 and wouldn't change through 1999. San Francisco wore their home red and gold uniforms that featured virtually the same look since 1964 and that they would keep through 1995, save for the removal of the stripes from the socks in 1991.

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Thanks, Larry.  Great job, and a great game to add to our database.   With both the Giants and 49ers still in the playoffs, it's not an impossibility that would could be seeing a rematch of this game in this year's NFC Championship, however, the Packers and the Saints may have something to say about that.

We look forward to future opportunities to feature guest writers here at the Gridiron Uniform Database blog, so if you have any ideas for a game you'd like to see featured here, let us know.

  

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After featuring Super Bowl XI yesterday, the earliest Super Bowl ever played on January 9, today there is no Super Bowl to feature for "On This Day...", as there never was a Super Bowl played on January 10.  There has, however, been two memorable playoff games through the years played on January 10, and we are featuring them today:

The game known simply as "The Catch" was thirty years ago today.  Dwight Clark hauled in Joe Montana's final minute pass for a touchdown in the NFC Championship and the 49ers defeated the Cowboys and went on to Detroit to beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI and begin their 1980's dynasty.

Twenty-two years later, a playoff game went into a second overtime for only the third time ever.  On the first play of the second overtime period, Steve Smith caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Jake Delhomme, and the Panthers were headed to the NFC Championship game on their way to Super Bowl XXXVIII.  That pass was the longest overtime postseason play from scrimmage in NFL History, a record which stood until Sunday, when Tim Tebow's 80 yard pass to Demaryius Thomas broke the record.  The 2003 Panthers and the 2011 Broncos, of course, were both coached by John Fox.

The Start of The Super Season

The Start of the Super Season
by Rob Holecko

Way back in the old days, football always ended in December.  The famous 1940 Championship game, the 73-0 rout of the Washington Redskins by the Chicago Bears, was played on December 8.   As the league schedule expanded to 12 and then 14 games the NFL season moved later and closer to January.  The 'Greatest Game Ever Played', the 1958 Championship was on December 29, and by the time the Packers won Super Bowl I in January 1967, it was on the fifteenth.  When the league schedule expanded to 16 games in 1978, and then added bye weeks in the 1990, the Super Bowl was played later and later.  When the 9/11 cancellations in 2001 moved everything back a week, Super Bowl XXXVI became the first to be played in February.

Before the 1978 expansion to 16 weeks, however, the earliest Super Bowl ever in the calendar year was played on January 9, 1977, as the Oakland Raiders, coached by John Madden and with Ken Stabler at quarterback, defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.   The Vikings were appearing in their fourth (and to this date, last) Super Bowl, and they lost every one of them.

We are happy to add Super Bowl XI to our database, and tomorrow we will debuting a new feature on the website which over the next month will see us add all of the Super Bowls to the Gridiron Uniform Database.

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A new feature already on the website, you will see you can now click on '2011' and see the team pages for the teams that have already completed their 2011 season.  As the remaining teams in the playoffs lose, we will be added them to this page.  Also coming soon, we will be adding the '2011' graphics to the individual team's year pages linked to the right.
 

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Yesterday, we mentioned an "Easter Egg" of sorts here in the Gridiron Uniform Database, an intentional error that I left on the site to see if anyone would notice it.  It isn't anything that will lead to a compromise of the accuracy of our data.  It is more accurately described as not really a "typo", but a "mis-type".  We mentioned we will continue to give hints until someone finds it, and today's hint is:

Have a good Monday and enjoy the BCS Championship Game tonight.

Wild Card Sunday

Wild Card Sunday
by Rob Holecko

Well today is Wild Card Sunday, a couple good games on tap today -- the Falcons take on the Giants in Game 1 and the Steelers take on the Broncos in the last game of the weekend.  It's been a good weekend for all three Gulf coast teams.  The Texans and the Saints stamped their ticket into the next round, and for the first time in ten weeks, the Bucs won't have a loss this weekend.

We now take you back to our "On This Day..." segment.  Twelve years ago, on January 8, 2000, the Titans pulled off the Music City Miracle, as Frank Wycheck threw across the field to Kevin Dyson on a kickoff return, who took it down the sideline and to the end zone for the winning score.  The Titans went on to defeat the Colts and the Jaguars before coming up a yard short in Super Bowl XXXIV to the Rams.

We are proud to add this game to our collection of past games in our database.

 Things have picked up over the last week, so we haven't been bringing you a "On This Day..." religiously everyday, however, there was another one from a couple days ago we'd like to mention anyhow.  Friday was the anniversary of the January 6, 1980 playing of the 1979 NFC Championship.  The fourth-year expansion Bucs were the story of the NFL in 1979, making it all the way to nine points away from the Super Bowl.

Also regarding a recent "On This Day.." I corrected a typo regarding the January 5 On This Day, I erroneously said that the Giants had come back from a huge deficit in their 2002 Wild Card win against the 49ers. It was actually the 49ers that came back from trailing in that game, and I was corrected by our own Bill Schaefer.  I don't know which was worse, that I again displayed such a blatant disregard for fact-checking, or that of our 98,000+ visitors, none of them noticed the error.  Which reminds me, there is a hidden "Easter Egg" of sorts on our site, an intentional error that I left on the site in early October, to see if anyone noticed.  I'm not going to give any more hints, but it involved a team that won a game yesterday.  First one to notice and reply in the comments will receive recognition in tomorrow's blog and will be allowed to select a favorite game of theirs from any game in NFL History for us to add to our database.  (Tim & Bill not eligible, this time.)

Another thing we'd like to mention is we will soon be rolling out the 2011 team pages for all of the teams that missed the playoffs, as well as further teams as they are eliminated, will be added soon.  These pages will be added to the links in the left and right columns on the main page.  Look for these soon.

Tomorrow is my birthday, but more importantly it is also the earliest date that a Super Bowl was ever played, so our "On This Day..." segment will be kicked up a notch to "Super" status beginning tomorrow.  All Super Bowls will be added to the site in the next month, as they will be featured in upcoming "On This Day..." segments.

Have a good, enjoy the football.

Week 17 Uniform Rankings

Week 17 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brulia

As my mom would always say, "Better Late Than Never." So with that, here's the final regular season installment of the Weekly Uniform Rankings. All games are intra-divisional.

One note of interest: Lately we have observed almost total anarchy with certain players and how they wear their socks. We even saw some teams wearing Christmas red and green last week. The Gridiron Uniform Database will ignore these "personal statements" on the wearing of non-team colors, including the October pink invasion of recent vintage. We will go and show what the team issue colors for socks are.

Panthers-Saints: Panthers in normal all white, with the Saints going black/gold. After having gone the previous 3 home games in all black, the Saints revert to the gold pants. And it does add some color to the proceedings. Not a bad matchup.

Bills-Patriots: Bills all white and the Patriots in navy/silver. So the rumored Bills blue pants never made it on the filed in 2011, preseason or regular. Perhaps they don't exist. It would be nice of they did, because that would added a little spark of color here. Still, these Bills unis were a full cut above what they had worn for the previous 9 seasons.

Bears-Vikings: Bears in the white/navy and the Vikings in the purple/white. Both teams stayed with the basics in this one. Bears not going all white, Vikes not straying into all grape. And it looks so natural.

Jets-Dolphins: Jets also staying more to the traditional in green/white while the Dolphins stayed with all white at home. Not that visually appealing, with loads of white, but in warm, sunny Miami, it is the thing to do.

49ers-Rams: Niners in normal white/gold and the Rams in blue/gold. A lot of gold. I like me some gold, in my pocket, not on my pants. Well, what I mean to say is this game had a lot of gold. I think the Rams should have rocked some blue pants here. I think of their choice of the three pants they could have gone with (the throwback yellows are off-limits), the blues would have worked best.

Lions-Packers: Very traditional look from both teams. Lions in white/silver and the Pack in green/yellow. Nice and easy.

Titans-Texans: Titans in white/columbia blue, Texans in navy/white. Again both teams could have opened it up here with their choice of multiple pants colors, but both went conservative. I just once would like to see the Texans break out even only the red socks. That would make everything else pop.

Redskins-Eagles: Skins in white/burgundy and the Birds in green/white. Not real compelling, but a decent amount of color. Burgundy, yellow, green, black and - of course - white. Old school teams in sorta old school colors. Still works after all these years.

Colts-Jaguars: Colts in all white and the Jags in teal/white. The Jags colors bounce nicely off the Colts vanilla look.

Dave Krieg was a QB
on the 1998 Oilers,
the last team to wear
white all year long...

Ravens-Bengals: Balto in white black and Cincy in all black. Hmph. Both teams trot out the black pants. I guess I'd rather this than both in white pants. The best matchup would have had one (either one) team in the black trousers and the other in white britches. That would have been the best bet here.

Chiefs-Broncos: Chiefs in all white and the Broncs, for the fourth home game in a row, wear all blue. Amazingly, the Broncs only wore blue/white at home twice in 2011. Chiefs need to wear black cleats with the white/white/white, if just to break up the sheer whiteness of this look. The red pants would have added the pizzaz.

Steelers-Browns: History here, folks. Steelers in black/yellow and the Browns for the 16th and final time, go all white. The Browns become the first team in 13 years (1998 Tennessee Oilers) to wear white for a full regular season. And, in this case, not the best move. The brown jerseys would have added a nice color for this game. But, its always good when the Steelers can rock the black/yellows, so it's not so bad after all.

...while Steve Spurrier and the 1976
Buccaneers were another team to
grab that honor

Chargers-Raiders: Chargers in white/navy and the Raiders in black/silver. Not so bad, really. Nice blend of (dullish) colors. You have navy, yellow, a pinch of powder blue, black and silver. White as well, but just on one team. So AFL'ish!

Seahawks-Cardinals: Seahawks in all white and Big Red in...big red. Must be something in the Mountain Time Zone air. Like their time zone brethren in Denver, the Cardinals bust out monochrome for the fourth time in 2011. And again, Seattle refuses to budge from either all white or all seahawk blue. I do like.

Remember the days when only
the Cardinals' coaches
dressed like blood clots?

Buccaneers-Falcons: Bucs in white/pewter and Falcons in red/white. Good move by the Bucs to go metallic and not go all white. Would have been too much red and white. So, the pewter pants does add style points for good spicing of colors.

Cowboys-Giants: Cowboys in white/green-blue-silver and the G-men in blue/home gray. If you know about their earlier match-up, you know about the unique blue/road gray Giants combo. And you are a devoted student of the Gridiron Uniform Database. This was more normal and not so bad.


Sooo then, ranking on the final week of the 2011 season:

16) Jets-Dolphins
15) Ravens-Bengals
14) 49ers-Rams
13) Chiefs-Broncos
12) Bills-Patriots
11) Colts-Jaguars
10) Panthers-Saints
9) Cowboys-Giants
8) Redskins-Eagles
7) Steelers-Browns
6) Titans-Texans
5) Lions-Packers
4) Bears-Vikings
3) Seahawks-Cardinals
2) Buccaneers-Falcons
1) Chargers-Raiders

Stay tuned to the Gridiron Uniform Database as we continue to monitor the uni season right thru the post season!!

An Exciting Ending

Well, school has started back up so I missed a day or two of our "On This Day..." but we are back today with an exciting playoff game from nine years ago.  The 49ers came back from a 24-point deficit and took a 39-38 lead, but the Giants had a last second field goal attempt to win the game.  Watch the end of the video to see how it turned out.  It was a bad call by a referee (who happened to be wearing glasses, by the way) that prevented the Giants from getting another shot -- the pass interference call should have stood, the ineligible man downfield shouldn't have ended the game, because the lineman who was interfered with was eligible, and the pass interference call on him should have been offsetting penalties, and the down should have been replayed.  The NFL later admitted the call was wrong.

Read a further write-up about the game here.

Tony Dorsett Ninety-Nine Yard Touchdown

Tony Dorsett Ninety-Nine Yard Touchdown
by Rob Holecko

On This Day... twenty-nine years ago Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys ran the length of the field for a 99 yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings on the season finale of Monday Night Football.  Because of the strike-shortened season, the regular season went into January for the first time...

More to come on this exciting game later today as we add this game to our database of past NFL matchups.

Doug Flutie's Drop Kick

Doug Flutie's Drop Kick
by Rob Holecko

from Celebrate Boston:

On January 1, 2006, the New England Patriots were facing the Miami Dolphins. Doug Flutie was in at quarterback while starter Tom Brady was being rested for the playoffs. With 6:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, what looked like a 2-point conversion attempt turned out to be history in the making. As Flutie gathered the snap, he bounced the ball at about the ten yard line, then booted it between the uprights for the extra point. It was the first successfully executed drop kick play in an NFL game since 1941. The January 2, 2006, Boston Globe describes this historic event:

"[It turned] out the Patriots had been practicing it in recent weeks, a result of a conversation among ESPN's Chris Berman, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and Flutie. Berman remembered seeing Flutie execute a drop kick while playing in the Canadian Football League.

'We had a couple tryouts out there and Doug shanked a couple, but he hit a couple good ones, so I thought if we had an opportunity to do it in one of these last couple of games, we'd give him a shot,' said Belichick, who smiled as Flutie hugged him after the kick. 'I think Doug deserves it. He is a guy that adds a lot to this game of football running, passing, and now kicking. I'm happy for him.'"

Tom Brady, now a legend himself, said about the play, "Doug was so nervous for three weeks because that's been in the plan. I think he was probably more worried about drop kicking than he was about quarterbacking. He was so excited when it went in. I think everyone was. He just adds to his legend."

Although Flutie did not discuss whether 2005 would be his final season, Pats' coach Bill Belichick commented about the drop kick, suggesting that the play was a retirement present of sorts for his veteran quarterback. On May 15, 2006, Doug Flutie announced his retirement from the game at age 43.

Also, "On This Day..", fifty years ago today the AFL played it's first ever Championship as the Los Angeles Chargers played the Houston Oilers.  You can read about this game here in the Pelican Park Eagle blog.

We are proud to add these game to our matchup database, and Happy New Year from the Gridiron Uniform Database.

The Ice Bowl

The Ice Bowl
by Rob Holecko

On This Day... 44 years ago, December 31, 1967, what some would say the greatest game ever (1958 Colts-Giants NFL Championship not withstanding) was played in cold frigid conditions.  The Cowboys and Packers met for the NFL title for the second year in a row, and the second time in the calendar year.  On January 1, they met for the 1966 title at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and now on the last day of the year they again met for the 1967 title.  This would be the Packers defining moment of their 1960s dynasty.  It would be their fifth NFL title in seven years, and their eleventh overall, having previously won six titles in an earlier era, from 1929 through 1944.

From the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website, here is the write-up of the game:

Pro football fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin have always been recognized as a loyal and hearty bunch. But one wouldn’t have faulted even the most loyal "Packer Backer" if he’d decided not to attend the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Played at Lambeau Field on December 31, the temperature at game time registered a frigid 13 degrees below zero. Nonetheless, more than 50,000 parka-clad fans braved the elements that New Year’s Eve and watched in awe as the Packers claimed their third consecutive NFL title, with a 21-17 victory.

From the start, Green Bay fans felt their team had a distinct advantage over the warm-weather Cowboys, After all, the Packers lived and practiced in the cold Wisconsin climate. Green Bay’s early 14-0 lead probably convinced fans that they were right. However, the severe weather affected the Packers too. Dallas scored a touchdown and a field goal after two Packer fumbles and added a second touchdown in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, with 4:50 left in the game the Packers were behind, 17-14.

The Packers literally and figuratively "kept their cool." Behind the leadership of future Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, they marched down field. With sixteen seconds remaining and the temperature down to eighteen below zero, the Packers found themselves about two feet away from victory. Starr called time out. The field was like a sheet of ice. The two previous running plays had gone nowhere. With no time outs left, a running play seemed totally out of the question. A completed pass surely would win it. Even an incomplete pass would at least stop the clock so the Packers could set up a field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. After consulting with Packers coach Vince Lombardi, Starr returned to the huddle.

Starr took the snap from center Ken Bowman. Bowman and guard Jerry Kramer combined to take out Dallas tackle Jethro Pugh. With Pugh out of the way, Starr surprised everyone and dove over for the score. "We had run out of ideas," Starr said of the play. However, Lombardi put it another way, "We gambled and we won."

We are proud to add this remarkable game to our database of head-to-head matchups in the Gridiron Uniform Database.  So for the final time in 2011, we at the Gridiron Uniform Database will bid you adieu and look forward to seeing you next year, with more head-to-head matchups, more weekly uniform rankings, more On This Day... and much, much more to be added to the database in 2012.

1962 NFL Championship

The 1962 NFL Championship Game
by Rob Holecko

While many people of course consider the 1967 NFL Championship between the Cowboys and Packers at Lambeau Field the true Ice Bowl, five years earlier another NFL Title game was also played in frigid conditions, this one at Yankee Stadium in New York.  "On This Day..." today brings you from 49 years ago today, the 1962 NFL Championship.

The Giants and Packers met for the second time in a row in the title game, the Packers had won the 1961 Championship 37-0 in Green Bay.  This time the teams met in New York, and the Packers knew how important the game was to head coach Vince Lombardi, who had used to be a Giants' assistant coach.  "It was the coach's backyard and his first time back in the big city in a playoff game. We knew how much it meant to him. There was considerable pressure and we understood it was going to be a substantial battle," said Packer Jerry Kramer.

From Wikipedia:

 The 1962 game was a rematch of the 1961 championship game, won by Green Bay 37–0. The Eastern Conference champions New York Giants (12-2) faced the Western Conference titlist Green Bay Packers (13-1). Green Bay began the season 10–0 including a 49–0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, where they gained 628 yards to Philadelphia's 54. Before the game, 10,000 fans at a New York Knicks game spontaneously began chanting "Beat Green Bay! Beat Green Bay!", and when the 18,000 tickets available to non season ticket holders went on sale for the game, they sold within three hours. Due to the NFL's blackout policy which aimed to protect gate receipts, until 1973, fans in a team's home market could not watch their team's regular season and playoff games on television, even if they were title games. New York fans made reservations for motels in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut so they could watch the game out of the 75 mile blackout zone, and even though the game was played in single digit weather with 35–40 mph winds, only 299 of the 65,000+ Giant fans who bought tickets to the sold out game stayed home. Although the weather was temperate the previous day, during the contest it became so cold that a cameraman filming the game suffered frostbite, and television crews used dugout bonfires to thaw out their cameras. Broadcaster Art Rust, Jr. later described the weather as "barbaric". The cold conditions favored the Packers who used a run-oriented offense led by Taylor, while the Giants featured a more pass heavy offense led by quarterback YA Tittle who, coming into the game, had passed for 3,224 yards and 33 touchdowns on the season.

The wind caused the ball to be blown off the tee three times during the opening kickoff, and a Green Bay player had to hold the ball onto the tee so Willie Wood could kick it off.  After a Jerry Kramer field goal made the score 3–0 in favor of Green Bay in the first quarter, the Giants drove to the Green Bay 15 yard line behind short passes from Tittle. Tittle's play action pass to wide open tight end Joe Walton near the goal line was tipped by Nitschke and intercepted by fellow linebacker Dan Currie. During most of the first and second quarter, the teams ran the ball for short gains. The Giants repeatedly hit Taylor hard, and he suffered cuts to his arm and tongue. Near halftime, the Giants Phil King fumbled on their own 28, and Nitchke recovered. Behind a halfback pass from Paul Hornung to flanker Boyd Dowler, the Packers drove to the Giants seven yard line. On the following play Taylor used an outside fake before going back inside to run untouched into the end zone.

The weather worsened by halftime and the wind swirled dust around the stadium, tearing apart the ballpark's United States flag, and knocking over a television camera.  Passing became even more difficult; the longest pass of the day was a 25 yard one from Tittle to Walton. After blocking a Green Bay punt in the end zone and recovering it for a touchdown to pull the game to 10–7 in the third quarter, the Giants defense forced the Packers into a three and out on their next possession. Sam Horner fumbled on a punt return at the Giants 42 yard line however, and Nitschke recovered. Five plays later Kramer kicked a field goal to make the score 13–7. Tittle, with the aid of two Packers penalties, then drove the Giants from their own 20 to the Green Bay 18 on the ensuing drive. New York then incurred two holding penalties, pushing them back to the Packers 40 yard line and ending their drive. Led by Taylor who repeatedly ran for key first downs, the Packers advanced the ball down to the New York end of the field, where they kicked a field goal to make the score 16–7 with 1:50 to play. Green Bay recovered all five of their fumbles during the game, while the Giants lost both of theirs.

 Tomorrow we will look back at the original December 31, 1967 Ice Bowl between the Cowboys and Packers.

Week 16 Uniform Rankings

Week 16 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brulia

Reviewing Week 16 as the 2011 regular season is rapidly drawing to a close...

Texans-Colts: Texans in white/navy and the Colts in blue/white. Nothing special here. A blue-light special with a hint of red mixed in.

Raiders-Chiefs: A look that stands the test of time. Practically the same in 2011 as it was in 1971, 40 years ago. Raiders in white/silver and the Chiefs rock red/white. Nice colors, as you'd expect.

Jaguars-Titans: Jags go white/black and the Titans go columbia blue/navy blue. Titans apparently finding their formula after an era of mix and match. Thinking the Jags in all white might have brightened things up, but we haven't seen that combo since early in the season when they were in their white at home phase. Not a bad matchup.

Dolphins-Patriots: Dolphins work the white/aqua combo and the Patriots go with standard navy/silver. Decent colors at play here, aqua, navy, silver, white with touches of red and orange. A good matchup.

Cardinals-Bengals: Big Red in white/white and the B's in orange/white. After three straight home games in which the Cardinals went red/red, the Arizona lads go back to an all white look, while the Bengals take the field in alternate orange. A little bit of a twist, but I'm not feeling too fuzzy on this matchup.

Broncos-Bills: Broncs in all white and the Bills in blue/white. A bit more Bronco orange would have been nice, but that couldn't be done here. Still feeling the Bills 2011 blues in a good way, though.

Rams-Steelers: Rams in white/navy and the Steelers in black/yellow. Rams wore the best of the three pairs of pants in their closet (yellow throwbacks are not an option) against the Standard Steeler fare. Actually one of the better uni matchups.

Giants-Jets: Crosstown rivals in standard get ups; NYG in white/gray and NYJ in green/white. Very colorful matchup, believe it or not! Sparkling!

Vikings-Redskins: Vikes in all white and the Skins in burgundy/yellow. Leave it to the Redskins to make me look like a fool when I said last week in this space that the Skins tucked away their yellow trousers for the season! They brought 'em back for this week and they feed very nicely off the Vikes whites.

Buccaneers-Panthers: Bucs go with the white/pewter look with the Panthers in the black/silver. If the Cats could had gone with the carolina blue here, this would have been an ace matchup. It's still nice, but that would have set me off, positively speaking.

Browns-Ravens: Browns going for the full white for the 15th game in a row and the Ravens trot out the magnificent purple/black combo. As a Steeler fan, I'm not supposed to say anything good about either of these teams. But I cannot deny the uni goodness from this encounter, especially the dark birds' combo.

Chargers-Lions: Bolts in white/navy and the Lions in honolulu blue/silver. Hmph, this is really a nice matchup. I just like how this one is pulled off, and I really can't explain why!

Eagles-Cowboys: Birds in green/white and the Cowboys in standard white/silver-green-blue. Have seen this one many a time before and it always plays out well. Top 10 material as always.

49ers-Seahawks: SF in white/gold and Sea in all seahawk blue. The Seahawk blue look, always unique is starting to dull my senses a little. A spark of white pants might have changed my mind, but then again would that be too much white with the Niners white shirts?

Bears-Packers: Bears in white/navy and the Pack in green/yellow. Now you know this show of colors from the traditional rivals is always a peach to this reporter. These teams have great color schemes and they know how to use them. Well done!

Falcons-Saints: Falcs in all white and Saints in all black. I am a rare case, but the all-blacks of the Saints just works for me. I could stand to see just a tad more red on the Falcons, but this is good enough.


So they rank as follows (bottom to the top this week):

16) Jaguars-Titans
15) Texans-Colts
14) 49ers-Seahawks
13) Raiders-Chiefs
12) Broncos-Bills
11) Cardinals-Bengals
10) Buccaneers-Panthers
9) Rams-Steelers
8) Dolphins-Patriots
7) Falcons-Saints
6) Eagles-Cowboys
5) Vikings-Redskins
4) Chargers-Lions
3) Giants-Jets
2) Bears-Packers
1) Browns-Ravens

Catch ya next week with the final regular season installment!

~ ~ ~

"On This Day..."
by Rob Holecko

Four years ago today, the New England Patriots were 15-0 heading into their regular season finale against the New York Giants.  The game was a Saturday Night NFL Network telecast, but with the game being of such significance, the league decided to simulcast it on CBS and NBC as well.  As the Wikipedia article describes it:

The NFL Network had exclusive rights to broadcast the Patriots-Giants game, and in the weeks before the game, the network increasingly promoted the game via television commercials on other stations. It was clear the game was one of the most anticipated of the season, and could therefore serve as an important promotion for the NFL Network, which had tried unsuccessfully over the previous year to expand its viewership by becoming included as an "extended basic service" on the major American cable TV providers such as Comcast and Time Warner.


Political pressure from the Northeast to make the game more widely viewable preceded the decision to simulcast the game on CBS and NBC. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania senator who was the Republican ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Committee's head, wrote the league a letter threatening to reconsider the antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by the NFL under United States law. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had pressured the league and cable companies to settle their dispute so "no die-hard Pats fans will be shut out from watching their team take aim at football history."

In the end, 15.7 million viewers watched the game on CBS, 13.2 million on NBC, 4.5 million on the NFL Network, and 1.2 million on New York, Boston and Manchester, New Hampshire television stations.  The game was the most watched program on television since the 2007 Academy Awards and the most watched regular season NFL game in more than 12 years.

The Patriots won the thrilling game 38-35, and Tom Brady and Randy Moss set records for most touchdowns in a season (passing, Brady, 50 & receiving, Moss, 23) to cap off the first 16-0 undefeated season.  Although the Giants would win the game that really mattered, the rematch in Super Bowl XLII a few weeks later, the Patriots capped off the most successful regular season in league history in this game.

We are proud to add this game to our database.