Good Monday morning, Uni Watchers! I hope everyone had a restful and pleasant weekend.
Week 12’s uniforms just might have been the best overall for the entire season, as you’ll soon see. There really weren’t any truly bad looking games, and several were gems. While not everyone wore their “Sunday best,” it was pretty close, and the matchups proved this out.
About the only look we hadn’t seen this season was the Panthers in mono-black, but they wore that the past two seasons.
Besides that, our only two “alternate” games featured the Colts in their “Indiana Nights” uniforms and the Bears in their 1936 throwbacks.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Indiana Nights uniform, but the black helmet makes no sense. It’s also very difficult to make out the stripe and horseshoe logo at any distance. The whole thing would be improved immensely by making one of two tweaks. Either wear black socks (to balance out the helmet), or simply make the helmet blue with a white horseshoe. But the black helmet, with almost no black elsewhere, looks out of place.
The Bears, on the other hand, looked absolutely fantastic in their 1936 throwbacks.
It also answers the question, “Can there be too many stripes on a uniform?” in the negative. No, there cannot.
It’s not a uniform I want to see every week, but once or twice a season is a nice treat. How’d all the games look? Here we go…
The year’s first “snow” game was, fortunately, a very colorful affair, even before the first flakes flew, with the Brownies doing their best Kardiac Kids impression. Once the white stuff started falling, it looked like an old school game, and was already a big Top 5 favorite. The snow only made it better.
The good-looking games continued apace on Sunday, thanks to the Commanders going with gold pants. That burgundy over gold is such a great combo, and matched up superbly against the ‘Pokes classic silver/white/silver-blue uniforms.
We discussed the Colts “Indiana Nights” alts above, but how did those uniforms look against the Lions? Well, at least there were no contrast issues. But with the Lions entering the game undefeated in their all-white scuba suits, the pairing was predictably monochromatic. In general, one doesn’t root for a team to lose because of a specific uniform, but we knew the Lions would keep going mono-white on the road until someone slapped an “L” on them. We’ll keep waiting.
For the third time this season, the Panthers wore their black alternate helmets, but this was the first time they paired those with their all-black Color Rush uniforms. The other two times, they paired their black helmets with their alternate Process Blue jerseys. How can they wear alternate helmets with their primary black jerseys, you may ask? Since the Panthers have declared their all-black kits as their “Color Rush” uniforms, under current NFL rules, they are eligible to pair their alternate helmets with their CR unis.
I had this game penciled in for a Top 5 lock…until the Vikings came out in white hose. Ugh. Especially with the Bears in their stripe-eriffic 1936 throwbacks, but their glorious hosiery may still be enough for a T-5. It was a good looking game, to be sure, but it could have been even better had the Vikes worn purple socks.
I feel a bit bad for the Patriots. Every time they decide to break out their blue jerseys over silver-gray pants, they face an opponent in a less-than-stellar combo. Don’t get me wrong: the Dolphins in icy whites isn’t their worst look. But aqua socks/hose would have been better. In a week with a lot of T-5 contenders, will this make the good side of the list?
The fine-looking matchups continued with the Bucs and G-men both wearing their Sunday best. I still wish the Buccaneers could lighten up their pewter pants, which can almost appear black, but it’s still a unique look in the NFL.
How often do the Titans compete for a T-5? How about the Texans? Almost never. And how often do both teams wear outfits worthy? Almost never. But yesterday’s matchup was absolutely the best these two teams could ever combine for. With so many good-looking games this weekend, picking the five best will be tough. The Titans/Texans made it even tougher.
Oh, what might have been. The Broncos/Raiders tilt would have had a hard time making the Top Five with Denver’s choice of dark navy pants against silver/black, but pairing those blue pants with navy socks sealed their fate. In other weeks, this might sneak in, but not this week.
Like the Titans/Texans this week, how often would a Cardinals/Seahawks tilt even sniff a Top Five? Not very often, that’s for sure. But with the Seahawks wearing their best combo and the Cardinals doing the same, we had a really good-looking game in Seattle yesterday.
The uni goodness continued with another stellar pairing, this time an all-time classic between the 49ers and Packers. The 49ers had, of late, been wearing white hose with their white road jerseys, but yesterday they sported red socks, making for a glorious matchup in Green Bay. Just so, so good!
Even the Sunday Night game was pretty good-looking! The Rams royal and sol really pop nicely under the lights, even if their gradient numbers leave something to be desired. Unfortunately, Philly never wear their black socks with their white pants anymore, so we got a good, but not great matchup. Still good, just not great.
So who do you think made the Top 5? This may be been the best overall good-looking week this season. Picking a Top 5 won’t be easy, but which matchup do you think was the worst, snagging the dreaded “And One”? Read on for the Five and One…
Five and One
5 Buccaneers/Giants NYG needs gray pants
4 Raiders/Broncos
3 Cowboys/Commandeers
2 Steelers/Browns very nice
1 Packers/49ers beautiful
Almost made 5th Seahawks/Cardinals and Titans/Texans
And one
Lions and Colts Brutal
Titans have awful uniforms and an owner whose family NFL ownership has a history of pettiness. So no surprise they wore light blue pants in Houston.
Sure, Tennessee has pretty bad standard wear, but yesterday’s combo wasn’t bad and they’ve worn ‘Titan’ blue britches in ‘H-Town’ many matchups over 2 decades.
The Texans covet the Oilers look, and failed woefully with trying to add it to their uniforms (and with the re-design generally).
Why don’t the lions just wear a white lid and be done with it? Then they truly could be “icy” white.
Wish the Dolphins would switch to aqua facemasks. Since they have toned down the striping, they need more contract on the helmet.
Really love the new Titans home jerseys the more I see them. Think getting rid of the wide red collar in favor of ones with some stripes was a plus. I also like the “H-town” jerseys as well. Think they would look pretty good with their white pants.
Just wear the early 1980s uniforms and be done with it Dolphins
Sorry, “Titans” was supposed to be “Texans”………
GTGFTS – April 2, 2016 Final Columbus Blue Jackets 5 @Carolina Hurricanes 1. Had to let people know about the 5K run on September 18 early I guess because the ‘Canes didn’t make the playoffs that year…
Flip 1 & 2 for me.
GTGFTS
2 April 2016
Hurricanes scoreboard throwing interstate shade.
Jackets get the last laugh with Brandon Saad finishing the natural hat trick in the provided picture and a 5-1 romp in front of 11,542.
No doubt this was a great looking week…but the Battle of the Birds deserved a top 5 nod. If only the ‘Hawks would add a hint of ‘action’ green to those pants – they’d be perfect!
I’m in the minority here in that I think the Cardinals monowhite is the best of their 3 options, but that’s setting a really low bar. If they mixed and matched their white jersey/red pants or red jersey/white pants, they’d look good. But I don’t understand their dedication to mono unis. And I really really hate their BFBS.
“I’m in the minority here in that I think the Cardinals monowhite is the best of their 3 options”
I don’t think you’re in the minority at all. The all-white is their best option, and it’s not even close. And all they really need to “fix” it — ok, they need several things to fix it — but the ONE thing that would jump that uni into Top 10 is so simple: Just. Wear. Red. Socks.
Likewise, an easy fix (though far from all that’s needed) is to wear white socks with the mono-red.
Kyler has done these on occasion and the resulting “new” look is miles better.
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I *swear* I saw him in red hosiery with white pants during a game this year, but I’m unable to find any supporting photographs. But he’s definitely worn white socks with the mono-red, which improves that look immensely. It’s still brutal, but much less so.
AZ’s road look is by far their best…and one of the best looks in the league (YMMV) – so good compared to the other sets in their locker room that it should be worn for both home and away games.
There’s a couple of teams that currently wear red pants in the NFL – and the one that wore them yesterday should have been the & 1 selection.
Everybody thinks similarly.
Considering the Cardinals wore solid white for many, many years, they are one of the teams I don’t get upset about when they wear solid white. I actually kind of like it. Yes, it would be better with red socks.
I have to disagree with the statement in the write-up that this was the Seahawks’ best combo. That has to be the throwbacks. If they had worn those for this game (not sure if they’re allowed to at this point) then this would have been #1 in my book.
Obviously their best uniform is the throwbacks. I was speaking strictly of their primary home and road uniforms (and you can throw in the neon CR uniform as well).
Orange socks would have made those broncos unis gorgeous
GTGFTU: November 25, 2018, Arizona Cardinals (10) @ Los Angeles Chargers (45), StubHub Center, Carson California
I recognized the Chargers set as their color rush alternate they had from 2016-2019. You can see Cardinals helmets peeking out from the bottom and side, and they only played the cardinals once while wearing this uniform
Sucks how many Bears players opted to push their socks all the way down – They looked great fully up. Will never understand the weird tastes some players have. Reminds me of how multiple nebraska players, with the full choice of whether to wear socks and what color to wear, choose to wear hose that matches their pants instead of contrasting or no socks. Speaking of Nebraska socks – I wonder why no teams wear two color socks anymore, like this picture from the 60s – looks great. link
Heh. Those aren’t “two color” socks. Those are mostly likely stirrups (the red high portion) covered by low whites. Most NCAA teams back then went barelegged (or just wore low whites) but a few schools wore the stirrup/sock combo.
We’re used to seeing stirrups with the loops exposed, like in baseball. But football AND basketball players (to a certain extent) wore stirrups under white socks for a long time.
You can see the stirrup sock under the low whites pretty well in this pic of Bart Starr. (link)
GTGFTU: Chargers 45, Cardinals 10 in 2018. I remember this game fondly because the Josh Rosen Cardinals jumped out to a 10-0 lead against a very good Chargers team and, for a brief moment, we all believed.
I think we’re beyond reporting each and every player who wears a Guardian cap, but I finally saw one in person yesterday at the Giants-Bucs game. Bucs OL Luke Goedeke was wearing one. It was suuuuuuuuuper obvious from my seat in the upper deck. The Bucs helmets are shiny so the matte fabric surface stuck out like a sore thumb. I thought it looked terrible, but I also think if it protects a player (or even if that player believes it protects them) then it is 100% worth the bad aesthetics.
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I pretty much agree with your 5 + 1. I was thinking the Bucs/Giants might edge the Titans/Texans out and the truth is the Giants’ blue/blue/white/blue is one of my favorite combos. But the Titans and Texans are normally on the +1 side of the equation, so I want to acknowledge that both teams looked as good as their current uni sets allow. If the Bucs only had more contrast between their socks and pants, they would’ve been # 5, because even the Titans and Texans best options aren’t that great.
The Browns/Steelers game was about as good as it gets. The teams looked great, the Browns had a couple helmet anomalies (Winston’s comms battery coming out of his , Myles Garrett losing a big chunk of paint off his), and the snow made it kind of the perfect AFC North battle. And on top of the aesthetics, it was an exciting game.
The Colts need to lose that whole Indiana Nights costume, especially the AHFAHS black helmet. Please never wear that again.
I actually love that Colts jersey. I wouldn’t even mind if they made that the primary. It would have to be worn with their typical white helmet and pants though, the black/blue is brutal and ruins the entire look.
I think their regular blue jersey is great, and when they pair it with the white helmet, white pants, and white socks it’s one of the league’s best looks. I don’t see the need for the second blue jersey.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Indiana Nights uniform”
There is plenty inherently wrong with the Indiana Nights uniform. It’s one of the worst looks in the league. There’s nothing about it that says “Colts,” nothing that says “Indiana” (though maybe that’s a blessing), and it looks like a generic college uniform worn by a Div 2 team. Central Mountain State or something. It sucks.
Fair point, but I wasn’t arguing it looks good as a Colts uniform. I mean simply as a football uniform. I agree it doesn’t look like a Colts uniform, but I disagree with you that it looks like a generic college Div 2 uni. The jersey/pants are solid, and would work well as a design for many teams. Stripes on the shoulders are unique, and pants stripes are decent. But the black helmet is not good, and the all-blue below the waist is too much blue.
If a team wants to wear matching color jersey/pants/socks, then the helmets need to match too. Otherwise, get those guys black hosiery to tie in to the black helmet and it looks fine. Not great, but fine.
The jersey is okay, although they already have a blue jersey that’s pretty much perfect. The pants, in and of themselves, are fine and at least buck the current trend of being stripe-less. But putting those two elements together looks amateur-ish, especially with blue socks. And that helmet is terrible and completely pointless.
You say it has nothing to do with the colts! I’m guessing besides the large horse show on the helmet and the state of IN on the chest! Those certainly have nothing to do with the colts.
Carolina Panthers used their old logo at midfield and old wordmark for end zones for a throwback stadium look, but didn’t have some kind of throwback uniforms? at least use the old logo on the black helmet at minimum.
Again agreeing with the 5 and 1 picks, especially the snow game at number 1
One of these days someone will acknowledge my comment, lol. I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned that it seems that the league must have cracked down on all the mis-matched hosiery. While there are a few outliers, it seems like all of the teams are wearing the same color socks, at least alot more than last year. As a Cowboys fan I noticed half the team would be wearing white socks and the other half blue all last season. Same with many other teams in terms of the hosiery inconsistency. That said, it seemed like in week 2 or 3 of this season the league cracked down on it because my Cowboys and multiple other teams pulled a 180 and all started being more uniform with their socks.
There are still far too many inconsistencies in lower leg stylings, but yes, it does seem that more players are sticking to the prescribed sock protocol and not going rogue. But until players are either prohibited from taking the field if their full uniform doesn’t match their teammates, or penalties are assessed, it’s doubtful much will change. Fines are a mere pittance for the privilege of having a “signature” look that is different from the full team.
5: “Yeah. I went there.” Cracked me up.
How about a fix for those “Indiana Nights” unis? Ditch the black helmet and go to white with a blue facemask. Instead of the horseshoe use the state logo C in blue. I was wondering how that would look yesterday while watching the game. I kind of like the heathered blue uniform, especially the striping. Oh and maybe put matching stripes on the helmet of course.
I say you definitely nailed the number one game this past weekend. Heck, that could be the best looking game we see all season!