With two games remaining in the regular season, three NFL teams are switching quarterbacks.
The Buffalo Bills were forced to turn to Frank Reich when starter Jim Kelly was ruled out for the remainder of the season - even the playoffs.At Philadelphia, Bubby Brister takes over for Randall Cunningham in a bid to halt the Eagles' five-game losing streak.
And the Indianapolis Colts have decided to drop Don Majkowski from starter to third string, and instead go with Jim Harbaugh.
All three of the new starting quarterbacks will be at home Sunday when New England is at Buffalo, the New York Giants travel to Philadelphia and Miami is at Indianapolis.
The next-to-last regular-season weekend begins Saturday with Minnesota at Detroit and Denver at San Francisco. Other Sunday games will have Atlanta vs. Green Bay at Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Rams at Chicago, San Diego at the New York Jets, Tampa Bay at Washington, Cincinnati at Arizona, Houston at Kansas City, Cleveland at Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Raiders at Seattle.
On Monday night, Dallas travels to New Orleans.
Reich is considered one of the league's best backup quarterbacks. His 6-2 record is blemished only by meaningless end-of-season losses.
But there are no meaningless end-of-season games left on the Buffalo schedule this year. The four-time AFC champions need to win their last two games to make the playoffs.
Kelly, 34, sprained his left knee in Sunday's 21-17 loss to Minnesota. After a lengthy examination Thursday, team doctor Richard Weiss gave Kelly the go-ahead to begin rehabilitation in six to eight weeks.
"So, essentially, he will miss the remainder of the 1994 season," Buffalo coach Marv Levy said.
The 32-point comeback Reich engineered in the 1992 playoffs against Houston - the biggest comeback in NFL history - has given him an aura of invincibility. And while discounting any talk of a "Reich Mystique," his teammates profess complete confidence in his ability.
"I don't believe in all that destiny stuff. But I believe in Frank," special teams ace Steve Tasker said. "You always like to go with your frontline guy, which is Jim. But Frank's going to play well. And we're going to play well for him."
The Eagles have lost their last five games and need victories in their final two games to gain a playoff berth. And Cunningham has failed to ignite any spark. So, coach Rich Kotite has turned to Brister, hoping the move will help snap the Eagles to life.
"I think this is the time," Kotite said. "All I'm trying to do is get someone in there that's going to jump-start this thing and find a way to win."
Brister's task is made more difficult by the other lineup changes Kotite made this week. Veteran offensive linemen Antone Davis and Broderick Thompson were benched, giving the line two new starters.
"Putting in a new quarterback could affect continuity also, but something needs to be done," Kotite said. "We've lost five in a row and we're not playing very well. So changes need to be made."
Harbaugh started the Colts' first eight games, going 3-5 before being benched. He also started the four exhibition games the Colts won.
But the Colts are averaging a league-worst 156 yards passing, and in his last three starts, Majkowski completed just 50 percent of his passes for 457 yards and two touchdowns. In Sunday's loss, Majkowski completed only 12 of 31 passes for 166 yards with two interceptions and one lost fumble.
"As with the first change, it was a change that was necessary," Colts coach Ted Marchibroda said.