Week 13 is upon us, and we’ve already seen three games thus far, two of which featured throwbacks (Cowboys, Dolphins), and we’ll get one additional throwback on Sunday, when New England busts out their Pat Patriots for their game against Indy. We’ll also have a couple new uniform combos, with the Bengals breaking out their orange/orange/black/orange combo. We’ll also see never-worn-in-2024 looks from the Jaguars and Ravens, and a pair of BFBS unis as well (Jets, Commanders). But with a pair of nice looking games yesterday, we’ll see some good looks on Sunday, and also tonight.
That’s right, for the second straight year, the NFL is playing on Black Friday, and tonight’s game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs will keep the great matchup mojo going. And it’ll feature a throwback for the Raiders! Who’ll challenge them for the Top 5 and who’ll need to go back to the uni-drawing board? Read on for all the Friday and Sunday matchups.
This post will be updated often, as teams who have not announced full combos do so.
Black Friday Game: Raiders vs. Chiefs
Last Christmas, these two teams met up and da Raidahs broke out their silver numbered alternates, and they’ll give us all an early present tonight when they repeat these outfits. This would be a T-5 contender even if the Raiders wore their regular road unis. The throwbacks make it the icing on the cake! It’s an odd 3:00 pm (ET) start, so if you want to see this beauty of a game, plan accordingly.
Sunday Afternoon: Cardinals vs. Vikings
The Cardinals will wear their standard mono-white road uniform, which the Vikes will wear their primary homes, but will eschew purple socks. It won’t be a terrible looking game by any means, but there’s gonna be a lot of white below the waist in this one.
How many games will Houston play this season where they’re the better attired squad? Probably not that many, but Jacksonville definitely gives them top billing here, as they’re going mono-teal below the neck. I’ve talked about all the different uni combos worn by the Panthers and Bengals, but Jax are another club who mix and match a lot. The black/teal x3 will be their tenth different combo this year. They’ve worn black/white/black/black three times, and ever other single combination just once. I’m not a fan of this combo — they need black socks to balance the helmet. For their part, this will be the first time in the regular season the Texans will go blue/white/blue/white (they had worn that twice in the preseason).
The Patriots will be in their Pat Patriot throwbacks for the second time this season. This should be a really nice-looking matchup for two former AFC East foes, back in the day when all five teams wore wore white helmets and pants. Unfortunately, the Pats have largely eschewed their striped white socks for plain white hosiery. I’m ok if they ditch the striped socks (though I would prefer those), if they would just sport red hosiery, but most players will be in solid white socks/hose. The Colts have also basically stopped wearing blue socks with white jerseys and pants, so they’ll be in their Icy White look. It’ll still be a looker, but it could look even better.
As of Friday morning, the Chargers hadn’t declared their choice of pants or hosiery, while the Falcons will be wearing mono-black. The two teams met most recently in November of 2022, and that game was Spy vs. Spy. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Sunday’s game be another chess match. Even if the Chargers wear gold pants, it’ll still be a game featuring high contrast between the two teams.
UPDATE: The Chargers will be in mono-white with powder blue hosiery.
The Bengals will be debuting a new uniform combo — their ninth this season — when they take on the Steelers on Sunday afternoon. The Bengals have worn this combination only four times previously (never in 2024), two of which have been against the Steelers. Overall, Cincy is 3-1 in the orange/orange/black/orange (my favorite combo), and 1-1 against Pittsburgh. Should easily be a T-5, but there are some strong contenders this week.
While it’s supposed to be at least partly sunny for Sunday’s game, it’ll be brisk (and blustery) and both teams will be dressed pretty drearily — Seattle in blue/white/blue/blue, and the Jets in their BFBS alternates. Last year, the Jets played on Black Friday, and went mono-black against the Dolphins; they didn’t get selected for the Black Friday game this year, but they’ll still be dressing like they were. With the Seabirds in white over blue/blue, this is definitely a strong contender for the “And One.”
Like the Jets, the Commanders must have misread the “Black Friday” memo, as they’ll be breaking out their mono-BFBS uniforms against the Titans of Tennessee. The Titans will yet again be the better-attired team, going with navy helmets, white jerseys, powder blue pants, and white socks. This will give the Seabirds/Jets game a run for the And One.
As of early Friday, the Saints have not declared their uniform for Sunday’s game — which is why the logo is a placeholder. We do know the Rams will be wearing white over sol (yellow) with their royal blue helmets and socks. The teams have met twice since the Rams 2020 redesign, and in both games, the Saints wore throwbacks, so it’s entirely possible they’ll do so again Sunday. The 2022 game was gorgeous. I have a feeling the Saints will go with usual all-black outfits, but I’m also hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, the Saints have already worn their black throwbacks this year, so it’s highly unlikely they’ll do so again. The only time the team wore those throwbacks twice in one season was 2011.
UPDATE: As I suspected, the Saints will go gold/black/black/black.
As of Friday morning, the Panthers still haven’t announced their pants or socks, but they will be in their regular silver helmets and black jerseys. The Bucs will be in their Super Bowl specials, with pewter helmets, white jerseys, pewter pants and black socks. As we’ve discussed, the Panthers may possibly have the most potential uniform combinations, and they don’t decide on pants/hosiery until shortly before the game begins, and sometimes won’t announce the bottom half of their outfits until game day. The teams meet twice yearly during the regular season, and for the most part the Bucs have worn pewter/white/pewter/black on the road, while Carolina has gone with a multitude of different uniforms. Their most recent meeting, in January of 2024 (but 2023 season), had the Panthers in silver over all black.
UPDATE: The Panthers will be in another new combination: silver/black/blue/black.
The Eagles have not declared their pants/sock choice yet, but they’ve actually worn white, green and black pants with the white jerseys this season. The Ravens, meanwhile, will be debuting their black/black/purple/black combo for the first time in 2024. This probably won’t sniff the Top 5 but it’s not going to be the And One either.
UPDATE: The Eagles will wear green pants and white hosiery.
Sunday Night Football: 49ers vs. Bills
We’ll close out Sunday’s games with another fantastic matchup. Hopefully more of the Niners will decide to wear red hosiery, but the majority seem to wear white hose with the white jerseys. The Bills, on the other hand, have outfitted themselves quite nicely the past several weeks, and they’ll be in their Sunday best (white/royal/white/royal) for SNF. While nothing is guaranteed, weather-wise, Buffalo is under a Lake Effect Snow Warning from now through Monday morning, and before the game, multiple feet of total snow accumulation are possible through the weekend in areas with the most persistent bands. The National Weather Service forecast for Orchard Park calls for below-freezing temperatures in the upper 20s and a persistent 43% chance of snow through Sunday evening, so we could have a snowy game to close out the weekend.
And there you have it — a look at all the Sunday uniform matchups for Week 13. Monday Night Football will feature the Browns against the Broncos, with both teams wearing alternates. I’ll have more on that game Monday.
Good morning! The heading for the game says Texans vs Panthers, but it is Texans vs Jaguars. As a Jaguars fan, I understand the desire to ignore them also.
Eye yi yi! Obviously I meant Jacksonville (the splash photo and text is about the Jags, not Panthers), but somehow I typed “Panthers” in the title. Now fixed.
Thanks for catching that!
Here’s my standard complaint that the NFL screwed up by letting both these franchises come into the league at the same time with feline nicknames and similar color schemes. They were destined to be confused with each other from the get-go.
In their first couple seasons, I actually did confuse the two, but this wasn’t confusion — it just totally slipped by me when I proofed it.
I don’t disagree with you either. But it seemed like most 90s teams adopted non-traditional colors (or if they redesigned, sometimes added them). But stuff like teal and whatever color the Panthers were calling Process Blue, and coppers and purples. I didn’t mind so much at the time, but in most instances, those colors haven’t aged especially well. I love the shade of Process Blue the Panthers now use, but the only time I liked “teal” on the Jags was their 1998-08 unis (pretty much what the throwbacks are). Ever since then, the shade has trended much more towards blue and doesn’t look nearly as good. And teal/teal/teal is rough.
The NFL should have approved the St. Louis Stallions instead. If for no other reason than they had the best prototype uniform of all the contenders.
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I dunno, Jim … I’d give up my serving of Turducken to see that Houndogs logo every week!
Looks like a not-so-great uni weekend. Oh well, they can’t all be winners.
The Patriots splash-cartoon caught my eye. I love that sort of thing.
Anytime Washington wears that black uniform they are close to a lock for the “&1” designation. That alternate needs to be retired as quickly as possible.
Normally, I’d agree it’s pretty much of a slam dunk And One, but the Jets/Seabirds might give them a run for that spot. Won’t know until I see the matchups, the lighting, the weather, etc. A dreary overcast Meadowlands with the Jets in all black and the ‘Hawks in navy hats, pants and hose could be worse for sure. Five very dark elements does not a good matchup make. But I gotta see both, and there’s a *outside* chance the Jags could challenge. But since teal is a team color, their transgression isn’t nearly as bad as the two BFBS teams.
As a Commanders fan, I initially didn’t like the black uniforms but now when I see them I think of the Hail Mary against the Bears. Intellectually I know it’s a bad set (and there are better BFBS option if they had to go that route), but emotionally it’s now tied to a wonderful memory so I’m almost okay with them wearing it. Prefer it more than the road whites with the gradient numbers.