After a Thanksgiving week featuring a bunch of throwbacks and special combinations, this week will be a return to normalcy.
In fact, not a single team will be wearing a throwback uniform, and only two teams will be wearing an alternate (Titans will wear their alternate jersey, and Cardinals their BFBS alternate). That doesn’t necessarily mean each team will be wearing its “Sunday Best,” but there will definitely be several very good looking games on the schedule, and of course there will be some stinkers too.
Who’ll challenge them for the Top 5 and who’ll need to go back to the uni-drawing board? Let’s look at the contenders below.
This post will be updated as teams who have not announced full combos do so.
Sunday Afternoon: Falcons vs. Vikings
It’s going to be an ugg-lee game in Minnesota on Sunday, with the Purple People Eaters decking themselves out in head-to-toe purple, while the visiting Falcons are going black/white/black/black (a combo they haven’t yet worn this season). Both of these squads have worn some decent uni combos this season, but the outfits this Sunday may be their worst looks.
As of this writing, neither team have announced their pants/socks, but based on how Philadelphia has outfitted itself this season, I’m confident they’ll pair their white pants and hosiery with the midnight green tops. The Panthers, on the other hand, have been breaking out new combos often this season. They also tend not to announce their full uni combos until about a day before the game. If you’re curious how the team selects what it will wear each week, you might find this interesting.
UPDATE: The Panthers will wear Process Blue pants and white socks. This is another uniform combination not yet worn in 2024!
The Browns have a tendency to wear their orange pants quite often against the Steelers, and this Sunday they will again. This should be a fantastic looking game, as the orange and gold look so good together, and both teams have classic styling. This is a pretty safe bet for the good side of the Five and One.
Last year the Jags wore a whopping 13 different uni combos, and this year they may equal that total, but this week they’re actually wearing a “repeat” combination of black/white/black/white. They’ll match up against the Titans who are wearing the rare (but worn before) combo of navy/light blue/navy/navy (one of their worst sets). Another contender for the dreaded “And One” this week.
This will be, more or less, an exact uniform matchup of Super Bowl XXXVII, although the Buccaneers “pewter” pants looked a lot more like their helmets (they were lighter and shinier) all those years ago. And Tampa Bay may have chosen this uni matchup on purpose: they’ve worn white at home a lot this season, and this will mark the first time this year they’re wearing red over pewter. I’m not as big a fan of the Bucs redesigned unis, since Nike can’t seem to make a proper pewter color for the pants, but it’ll be pretty good looking regardless.
The Saints’ pants and socks are still TBA as of this writing, and their decision on which pair to wear will have a big impact on whether this game sniffs the Top 5. Surprisingly, this game will only be the fourth this season where the Saints are wearing their regular road jerseys, and thus far, they’ve worn all-white pants/hose once, all-black pants/socks once, and for one glorious game, they wore their gold pants and black hose. Fans with eyes are hoping they repeat the gold/black look — and if they do, it’s a strong contender for the T-5. Anything else will be a disappointment.
UPDATE: The Saints will wear white pants and socks.
It should be a pretty decent looking game down in Miami, with the Dolphins going mono-white at home, while the Jets will be attired in their primary “home” uniform of green/green/white/green — the prototypical “Sack Exchange” look. Every time the Dolphins wear white pants, I pray they’ll pair them with aqua socks, but they haven’t done so for even a single game in 2024. Still, the Dolphins are one of several teams to go mono-white, and I’d rather see that than to go white/white/aqua/aqua. This game will definitely have an outside shot at cracking the Top 5.
If this Seahawks/Cardinals tilt winds up as the “And One,” it won’t be because of the Seahawks, who are wearing their blue/white/gray/white combo (why they don’t wear navy socks/hose is beyond me). The Cardinals will be sporting their mono-BFBS uniforms, so this matchup would be tough for any team to overcome. Although as bad as the Cardinals regular home unis are, maybe this isn’t the worst possible uni pairing…
If you like royal, this is the matchup for you! Actually, even if you don’t like royal, it’ll still be a pretty good looking game, with the Bills wearing white/white/royal/white and the Rams in their second best look (and the ONLY look they should ever wear with royal jerseys). The Rams uni is soclose to being good, but the “My Name Is” patch and gradient numbers on the jersey take it down a notch.
The photo above is from 2018 but it’s pretty much what Sunday’s game will look like. Although the Bears haven’t announced their pants, they haven’t gone with white jerseys/white pants since 2008, so I fully expect them to wear their midnight navy pants. The 49ers have returned to having three white stripes on their red jerseys, and the “Saloon” font for a wordmark, but other than those two minor changes, they’re essentiall the same as in 2018. This should be a very nice matchup.
Sunday Night Football: Chargers vs. Chiefs
Technically neither the Chiefs nor the Chargers have revealed their pants/socks yet, but I will guarantee the Chiefs will be wearing white pants. And I’d bet good money the Chargers will wear their gold pants for this one as well. Why? Every time this decade that the Chargers have played in Arrowhead, they’ve worn white over gold, and I see no reason for that to change. Even if the Chargers decided on white pants, the game would still likely be a Top Fiver. With gold pants, it’s a lock.
UPDATE: The Chargers will wear gold pants and blue socks.
And there you have it — a look at all the Sunday uniform matchups for Week 14. Monday Night Football will feature the Bengals against the Cowboys, with Dallas wearing their “Icy Whites.” I may have more to say about that game on Monday.
And I’d bet good money the Chiefs will wear their gold pants for this one as well.
***”And I’d bet good money the Chiefs will wear their gold pants for this one as well.”
Now that has me wondering, what would Kansas City look like with gold pants?
Dammit … should have caught that one when I proofed this.
Having a rough week ;).
Now fixed.
Almost any Chiefs concepts I’ve seen have given them a gold jersey for an alternate, not pants. But in this article, there’s an all-gold concept link
It gives you *some* idea of how the Chiefs would look with gold pants (but not unfortunately white/gold or red/gold).
“ Although the Bears haven’t announced their pants, they haven’t gone with white jerseys/white pants since 2008”
Far too long to keep this combo on ice. Sigh.
Still a Top 5 candidate.
While I understand the hosiery has an impact on the aesthetic of a uniform, the weekly lamenting about socks has the same feel as when Paul didn’t count teams that have uni ads in his MLB rankings. It just feels…tired.
Well, I just won’t complain about people who complain about people who complain about wrong sock colors….
With that said, I do get tired of looking at my favorite teams and thinking “they’re wearing pajamas”…
I actually think this would be a prime week for the Browns to break out the brown pants. It’s hard to pick a good time for it, given that the orange/white/orange/white look they’re wearing may be one of the best road looks in football, but I think that brown pants contrast the Steelers gold pants a little better than the orange pants do.
I really like the colors of Tennessee. Too bad they can’t get a better uniform. And even this week’s uniform would be pretty good if they wore light blue socks, going Navy/Light Blue/Navy/Light Blue.
Totally unrelated but the Celtics jerseys tonight are plain ol’
Great slate this week! Raiders Bucs, Jets Fins, Bills Rams, chiefs chargers. Browns Steelers and Bears 49ers.
Interesting to see the Panthers actually include the sock color on their uni reveal. I’m unsure if any other team does this. Of course, what they intend to wear vs. what actually gets worn on the field could be two different things. And that uni combo for Carolina does look pretty good actually!
Re: Tampa Bay’s pewter pants. Are the Super Bowl-era pants more bronzy than the current set? The updated pants look more charcoal-y in fact. It’s probably very subtle and could even change depending on lighting, time of game, indoors/outdoors, etc.
Almost all teams include sock choice on their uni reveals. And the Panthers are pretty good about everyone being on the same page regarding the hosiery. You might get a couple guys going rogue, but for the most part they’ll all be in white socks/hose. I think since the socks will be white, a lot of guys like to wear white compression pants, so we may have close to 100% of the players in white.
Re: Bucs pants. I’m not sure what happened, but the pants are both darker and have no sheen, as the SB set did. Maybe the shade of “pewter” is the same, but they appear darker, but I don’t think that’s the case. Either way, they don’t look as good now as they did then, in what is essentially the same uniform.
Phil, has anyone actually asked “why” the trend to the “all white” socks trend has started? It would be interesting to know if it’s a push from the players and as to why.
Not to my knowledge, Jeff. I never want to *assume* anything, but I have a feeling it’s just the newest style, much like untucked undershirts. Today’s players don’t want their daddy’s uniforms and they don’t even want to wear them like their fathers did. I probably felt the same way in my late teens and twenties. If I ever do get an answer, I’ll definitely write on it.
Would love the irony of an update that has them looking like the old redskins with the gold helmet.
I view the Saints mono look kind of like the Bills ugly ass uniforms from 2002-2010. What the F@@k were they thinking. A great uniform has turned to shit.
I will never understand why this site continually hates on the Buccaneers non-pewter pants while simultaneously yearns for the Saints to wear their non-gold pants more. They both suffer from the same dysfunction.
I don’t hate on the Buccaneers pants — I just think they’re too dark compared to what they used to wear (see Supe pic). I’ve said it’s a unique color and they own it. Could the color be improved? Absolutely — but that’s far from hating on them.
As far as the Saints pants — I yearn for their gold pants because they have stripes and the team doesn’t pair same color socks with them. Those always look best with either white or black jerseys. But do I love them? No, and I’ve written often they should return to old gold (or as close as they can get to it). Metallic gold…which really isn’t because Nike’s fabric has no sheen…isn’t a great color. Not that long ago, when discussing their CR/fauxback, I proposed they should use the color on that as well as the throwbacks and to use the fauxback and throwback as the basis for a new primary uni going forward.
link
But I don’t hate the Bucs pants and simultaneously love the Saints’.