The Bucs announced on Wednesday that they’ll be wearing their mono-pewter alternates for this Sunday’s game against the Colts. The interesting thing about that is that the game is in Indianapolis, where the Colts will be wearing their standard blue-over-white home combo, which means this game will be color vs. color.
This will be the league’s second color/color game in the space of a month. The last one was on Oct. 29, when the Titans-as-Oilers wore blue while hosting the black-clad Falcons:
Let me dust off this quote from Jonathan Wright, the NFL’s Senior Director for Uniforms and On-Field Products, who recently explained how this type of game can come about:
“Color on color games are now allowable. This started in 2015 [the year Color Rush started — PL], but they’re rarely requested/used. There have been a few instances over the past few years. … If the visiting team requests to wear team color for a specific game (assuming the home team has chosen a color jersey), there is an approval process that takes place in order to make sure there is enough contrast for fans and broadcast partners, and that there are no issues for our fans who may have a color-deficiency concern.”
As an aside, I was surprised to see the Bucs wearing their pewter alternates on the road, since teams usually like to showcase their alts for the home fans. So I looked up this uniform’s history on the Gridiron Uniform Database. Turns out it’s been worn five times since being introduced in 2020:
- 2020: On the road against the Broncos (which was another color/color game).
- 2020: At home against the Rams.
- 2020: At home against the Falcons.
- 2021: On the road against the Rams.
- 2022: At home against the Bengals.
As you can see, two of those five mono-pewter games were on the road, so wearing them on the road this Sunday in Indy isn’t as unusual as I would have guessed.
Of course, the ideal place for the pewter uniform is on the scrapheap, but that’s another argument for another day.
(My thanks to Austin Ledley for bringing this matchup to my attention.)
I know you can tell in the picture but surprised you didn’t mention the broncos game was also CvC
Good point. Now added.
Generally, the NFL could use more of these color/color combos…not always but more often.
Specifically, Tampa Bay should wear less of this particular color/color combo…like not ever.
I remember thinking the Bucs mono-pewter look was bad in that color v color matchup at Denver, but then they wore them against the Rams in mono-dishwater… TWICE
I love the bucs mono pewter look. And yes I’m only saying that to be contrarian, but it’s also true. I love it.
Somewhere, THE Jeff is happy.
I hope.
Save them for the playoffs!
Aren’t the Rams’ “bone” colored uniforms technically white?
No. The Dishwater is separate from the white jerseys (which the team added one year after the introduction of the dishwater). So it “technically” counts as a light, but not white, jersey — so technically any game where the dishwater jerseys are worn is considered (by most) to be color-vs-color.
FWIW, I do not count dishwater vs color as color/color. I count it was color vs. “white” (not technically, but basically).
I don’t either — but the GUD does (just as they count the Seahawks link and Lions link — or at least they did originally).
I definitely consider the gray/dishwater jersey to be light (meaning it can be worn against color — and always SHOULD be worn against color), but I don’t consider those games to be color vs. color games.
Interestingly, I did a “Some Thoughts About Color vs. Color” post last year, and included both the Seahawks and Lions wearing gray jerseys as Color vs. Color (but I *didn’t* count the Rams’ dishwater in that category). link
I guess I need to rethink that, but I included those two teams because the GUD did.
Sorry, I thought those pictures at the end were about color vs. color but it was about the Bucs wearing mono-pewter on the road. But it’s still interesting to know if the Rams’ bone unis are considered colored or white.
Neither Paul nor I consider the dishwater jersey to be “color” — although the GUD does have several Rams games in which that jersey is worn in their “Color vs Color” section.
Yes, I noticed that too. I guess it’s considered both color and white now since they now have an actual white jersey.
I’m just shaking my head at what “could have been” a great color vs color match-up to do vs. the mono crap. The red jerseys against those blue jerseys would have looked so much better. I still don’t understand why so many teams keep doing the mono uni-sets? Is it the ownership (I seriously doubt it), is it marketing (more than likely and they feed ownership the crazy Nike Kool-Aid) or is it chosen by the players?
If the Eagles’ players chose the uniform, they’d wear mono-black all the time. They’re on record with that. Thank goodness the players don’t choose there.
To each his own, but I’m not a fan of color vs color games.
When the Buccaneers decided to erase the previous set that I hated and returned to the prior version, I wonder which bonehead said, “Hmm. I think I can still come up with some idiotic option for them to wear… All pewter!” Ugh.
If you like Christmasy-looking games then tonight’s Oregon-Oregon State matchup is a dream come true…
Only thing missing is the snow…
Do mono-color orange uniforms count as “Christmasy”?
The scrap heap is too good for those mono pewter unis. I’m okay with color vs color as long as there’s respectable contrast. I truly don’t understand how the teams don’t somewhat look at what would look good when they have a number of uniform choices.
I only like color vs color when the colors are vibrant and have enough contrast. This is neither.
I wish they’d wear the pewter jerseys with white pants
i like the all pewter. just needs red socks definitely, and a red helmet possibly