Good Monday morning, Uni Watch. I hope everyone had a good weekend, and you’re enjoying that “extra” hour of sleep.
It’s hard to believe, but we’re basically halfway through the 2024 NFL season, and the games in Week Nine, for the most part, were some of the best-looking we’ve seen all season. We started out on Halloween with a blackout vs. icy white game, and closed last night with two teams wearing white pants and hosiery, but in between there were some very solid uni-games, especially yesterday’s early games. The highlight of the weekend was three throwback uniforms (the Eagles, Giants and Packers), and we also had two surprisingly good pants options (Broncos, Saints).
Anytime we get to see these, it’s a good thing.
Like I said, there were a lot of surprisingly good matchups. Let’s take a look!
A Halloweeen tilt at the Meadowlands featured the Jets debuting their BFBS alternates, and up close, it was pretty easy to discern the green stripes on the jerseys and pants. From any distance, it was a bit harder to make out. Contrast between the clubs was no problem, but if we don’t see another blackout vs. icy white game again, it’ll be too soon.
All things considered, yesterday’s Falcons/Cowboys matchup was about as good as can be expected. The Falcons unis, with the giant ATL wordmark and pointy side-panel stripes, and huge square numbers never looked good, but it was a pleasing set of colors in the dingy Atlanta dome. Also, good spot by Gino Commisso, who noticed the “3”s yardage paint in the Dome appeared to be reversed, or flipped.
The best part of this game was the Broncos’ decision to wear orange pants with white hose yesterday. And it was another purple vs. orange pants matchup for the Ravens, who recently played both the Bengals and Browns who are also orange-clad below the waist. This one wasn’t quite as good-looking, with the Ravens very dark in black/purple/black/black.
We had another good looking game in Cleveland, where the Browns did the Kardiac Kids thing again, with a very Autumnal look. And while I prefer the Chargers in gold pants, there’s nothing wrong with their white/white/white/blue kit. The Chargers have mostly avoided wearing white hosiery with white pants, even if a few guys come close. The Browns also wore a helmet decal honoring late broadcaster Jim Donovan. The sticker features Donovan’s initials and a silhouette of a microphone.
Still another nice uni pairing in Cincy, where the Bengals went orange/black/white/orange, which was the exact look the teams wore when the Bengals won their first playoff game in 30+ years (a look they’d wear in the Super Bowl as well). That had to be a conscious choice by the Bengals, who won in a rout yesterday.
My favorite look for the Bills is white/royal/white/royal, and I prefer the Dolphins in white pants, so I liked this matchup. But it was really sunny in Orchard Park yesterday, so the mono-white Dolphins were really bright. I wish they’d wear aqua hose.
The Titans may have the worst uniforms in the game, design-wise, but I don’t mind the navy/navy/powder/navy combo. It actually matched up pretty well against the Patriots. Wish the Pats would wear red or white hosiery with the navy pants, but considering the two teams, a not unenjoyable-looking game between the two.
Obviously, the best sartorial news of this game was the Saints decision to finally wear gold pants during the regular season. As I noted in my Week 9 preview, games between these two foes usually feature the Panthers wearing white jerseys, but this one had an old school feel, with the two teams in uniforms we might have seen in the 2010s. Eagle-eyed reader Emily Schroeder noticed Derek Carr had a backwards Nike logo on his right sleeve. Unfortunately the Saints lost — let’s hope they don’t consider the gold pants unlucky — but it was the best they’ve looked, non-throwback, all season.
As noted above, the Giants were one of three teams to wear throwbacks yesterday. Interestingly, the Giants have worn these 80s/90s throwbacks against the Commanders in each of the past three seasons. They were undefeated in them until yesterday. While these always bring back memories for me of LT, Phil Simms, Carl Banks, etc., I prefer the G-men with the “ny” helmet decal. The team did a great job with making the throwbacks as authentic as possible, including creating a special navy helmet that, like the originals, didn’t color-match their royal blue jerseys.
With a plethora of really nice-looking early games, the later afternoon games weren’t quite as pretty. It seems the Cardinals will never veer from mono-red below the neck at home (unless of course, they’re going BFBS). And it looks like many of da Bears have even quit wearing striped socks, although those who do like to wear the stripes down at the ankles. It’s not the Bears’ fault this game was ugly, but those red yoga pants are just brutal.
The second of three throwback games yesterday featured the Eagles in their glorious kelly greens, the 2024 debut for those throwbacks. I dislike the Jags’ stripeless white pants, but at least they had the good sense to wear contrasting socks. Black/white/white/black is actually not a terrible combo, and it paired well with the kelly/kelly/gray of the Eagles.
The third of yesterday’s throwback games was the Packers in their 1950s retros, which looked awfully drab in the Lambeau rain. Any chance of making this a good-looking game was gone as soon as the Lions announced they’d be mono-white below the neck. Entering the game, the Lions were undefeated in their white tights look. Unfortunately, my least favorite look in football is when a team wears one color helmet, but goes mono below the neck in a different color. We had that with both teams yesterday. The best thing about this matchup was there were no contrast issues. That’s about it.
The Rams have exactly two good combos, and neither of them includes blue pants. White over blue would be good if they’d just wear sol (yellow) or white hosiery. Seattle’s standard home mono-navy has grown on me over the years, and they definitely own that look. If the Rams won’t wear contrasting socks with the blue pants (and apparently their only other color sock is “bone”), then they should wear “sol” (yellow) pants always.
We ended yesterday in Minnesota, where the Vikings and Colts both wore white pants and hosiery, which was a bit disappointing. I like the Colts in white/white/white (like the Dolphins, a good look), but they really need to wear their royal socks. Either that, or the Vikings needed purple socks. Having both teams in white pants and hose was one team too many.
So…who do you think will make the Top 5? And can you guess the worst looking matchup? See below for the Week 9 Five and One!
I mostly agree with your 5 and 1.
Mine:
5 Browns Chargers very good but yellow is better than white pants for Chargers
4 Bills Dolphins. Bills always look good
3 Saints Panthers Gold and Silver britches are both teams best look with yesterday’s jerseys
2 Vikings Colts
1 Bengals Raiders
Falcons and Cowboys would have been 5a! Liked the Broncos orange pants, Would have been #1 if Ravens had worn white pants. Eagles look real good but Jags all white not a good look. Maybe teal socks would have improved look and distracted from their huge numbers. Titans powder blue not a good look with navy as they look highlighter bright. Jets and Texans and Lions Packers left me shaking my head.
GTGFTU: 1979 AFC Wildcard game on December 23. That was the only time the Broncos faced the Oilers during the 1978-79 seasons where the Broncos wore orange pants. The Oilers won 13-7.
The Broncos and Oilers did play during the 1978 preseason but the Broncos didn’t debut the orange pants until the regular season.
GTGFTU: 1979 AFC Wild Card Playoff – Denver Broncos (7) at Houston Oilers (13); Houston Astrodome, December 23, 1979.
Great job pairing the GTGFTU with the Broncs orange pants this week.
1978 Oilers Broncos blows all combos from yesterday away.
If the Titans opt to keep their eyesores around (they need to dump them for something Oiler—inspired), they ought to elevate yesterday’s combo to home primary.
The Browns and now Bengals look really nice in orange pants … the Broncos never did, still don’t!
Another thing that bothers me about the Birds BuddyBall throwbacks is the downsized wings…though the bigger(?) white border does help the silver stand out a little better.
The Eagles really should adjust the coloring on the kelly green helmets. I excused it looking weird against the Bills last year because it rained the whole game, but they really should darken the helmet a shade or two. Just too bright and maybe a little oversaturated compared to the jersey.
It’s a shame because they mostly got everything right about the design of the kg throwbacks, but the color just doesn’t look right to me. It’s in that uncanny valley of being close to the original under the right lighting, but something is off under the stadium lights. I hope we can do what the panthers did with their process blue, and make an official color palette update. I guess that depends on Nike adding more color options though.
I agree with you. When the Kelly green showed up on the TV yesterday, the green just looked dull, not sharp or bright like it did in the late 80s.
The Eagles’ Kelly green rain game last season was against the Dolphins. The Bills game was perfect weather under lights.
I wish the Cardinals had a pair of white pants they could wear with their red jersey, but I think their current white pants with silver stripes wouldn’t work.
It sure as heck would work just fine.
I still remember the wild card game in 1979 when the Oilers beat my beloved Broncos.
It is extremely frustrating from a sartorial standpoint, as a Lions fan, to see what they’re doing. We have the best team we’ve had in decades, we have the best jerseys we’ve had since 2002, and yet the legwear choices have been abysmal.
I commented the other day that the league must have cracked down on all the mis-matched hosiery teams were doing, and I think yesterday was proof. I don’t think a single Cowboy went rogue and wore white socks. Compare that to last season where 2/3 of the team were doing it and it’s a much different landscape this year. Looking around the league at other games and almost every team was uniform with their hosiery.
GTGFTS
Old Timers Day at New Shea Stadium
27 Aug 2022
Mets win 5-0 in front of 42,617.
Best game of the day Raiders vs Bengals. The Denver orange pants look good but need the white striping to go all the way down. The Lions need to stop wearing all white and use the gray pants more. The made changes this year but still manage to look bad some times.
It’d be interesting to tally up which teams make the top 5 the most often at the end of the season. My bet is the raiders or chargers would come out on top.
Chargers without yellow pants aren’t even Top Five worthy… definitely not deserving of the top spot.
The Bengal’s orange/black/white with orange socks is the best looking modern uniform by far.
Those orange/black stripes on the white pants are very attractive.
I wish someone would sneak into the Lions locker room and burn all those plain white pants. Their blue pants (although plain) would have added a little color to that game.
I really like the Broncos orange pants. Just, would like to see them with navy socks.
And the Saints finally looked like the Saints!!!!!!
Totally agree. Unfortunately superstition tells me the Lions think they win with those awful white pants. Broncos got embarrassed wearing the orange pants.
If Washington would ditch the gradient in their numbers and sleeve stripes, that away uni would be decent.
I agree. Just a gimmicky thing that someone thought would be a great idea. Wish they would go back the pant stripes they had back before the “rebranding”. But, I understand why they would probably not want to.
Honestly I feel that blame should go to both teams on your &1. Both teams should only wear 2 uniforms. Lions on the road should be grey/silver white blue. Packers at home should never stra from yellow green yellow. And while these are throwback for them. I’m one who does not like them at all I hat the helmet one color then mono another color jersey and pants
I think it’s time to accept that the Lions are going to look bad most weeks. I said this before, but those white stripeless pants (and to a lesser extent the blue ones) are the poison pill that has kind of ruined what otherwise would have been really nice uniforms.
Really wish I could understand the love fest with yellow pants. Sorry, I just don’t see the appeal, especially with the Chargers, who desperately need to to return to the ’90s, Seau-era look (yeah, I said it). If they must wear yellow pants ever and must wear powder blue and white with it, i guess the yellow pants with powder blue jerseys is at least borderline tolerable. As for the Rams, yellow pants with blue tops is good, but I just don’t care for the combination of yellow and white no matterwho it is. But hey, you all do you.
Giants – This uni with the ny helmet would be a good combo
I wish the Eagles would actually get the throwback helmet right. Not to take away from a great look but, the helmet was actually a deeper shade of green than the jerseys back in the 1980s. And can Nike not do silver or something? This goes for not just the Eagles but Lions too.
The Giants throwbacks are so precisely detailed although I remember that rather bland “GIANTS” font on the helmet being slightly larger. Everything else though is spot on including the NOBs. I am okay with them wearing these a few times a year just wish they’d fix the modern NY throwbacks and bring back the gray pants.
I guess we’ll see the Lions in white pants until they lose on the road, that whole superstition thing. Any color but white would have made for a gorgeous game against the mono-green Packers throwbacks.
Or at least let the Giants to back to wearing gray pants on the road. Uniform is just too bland with the white jersey/pants.
What makes a set “icy” white? I can’t tell what is different about the Texans’ unis from the other top-to-bottom white teams, but they are the only ones that get this moniker.
Nothing is different. I just didn’t want to use “icy whites” on every mono-white-below-the-neck team.
I feel like the term “icy whites” should only apply if the white socks are a part of the combo. Which, seems to be the thing these days.
An Eagles in Giants matchup with Philly in throwback green vs the Giants in their throwback blue would be so gorgeous.
Beg to differ, it was very much the Bears fault that game was ugly.
Kerning issue on Stroud’s jersey. Looks like ST ROUD
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