Story byDemocrat and ChronicleSal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and ChronicleFri, December 26, 2025 at 8:01 AM UTC·12 min readORCHARD PARK - Sunday afternoon, the penultimate regular-season game in the 53-year history of Highmark Stadium will commence at 4:25 when the Buffalo Bills play host to the Philadelphia Eagles. It is quite a full-circle bookend matchup because the Eagles were Buffalo’s opponent for the second regular-season game ever played at what was then 80,000-seat Rich Stadium in 1973. And then next week, wrapping it all up perfectly, the Bills will turn out the lights at Highmark against the New York Jets who happened to be the opponent for the very first regular-season game in 1973. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd when you look at the Buffalo and Philadelphia offenses in the year 2025, we might actually see a game that plays out similarly to that one 53 seasons ago, a time when running backs - not quarterbacks or wide receivers - were the biggest offensive stars in the NFL. The Bills won that game 27-26 on Oct. 7, 1973 when Philadelphia kicker Tom Dempsey - who would later play for the Bills - shanked a last-second chip-shot field goal to gift-wrap the victory for Buffalo. That day, the Eagles rushed for 275 yards as both Tom Sullivan (155) and Norm Bulaich (104) surpassed the century mark.
