Good morning, Uni Watchers, and a Happy Festivus to one and all!
I always preferred the airing of grievances to the feats of strength…
We didn’t get a lot of new combos or alternates/throwbacks (though there were some) in Week 16, but one never-before-seen look was broken out yesterday by the Buffalo Bills, who, for the first time ever, wore their Color Rush red jerseys and socks with white pants (a look I’ve been waiting to see for years). And while I wouldn’t want to see it every week, it was a glorious sight for the holidays.
Not only did it look very good on the field, the red jersey and socks work so well because the Bills’ helmets and white pants have about equal amounts of royal and red, easily allowing them to swap royal jerseys and socks with red.
I know there were some who felt the Bills white/red/white/red reminded them of the Pat Patriot throwbacks, but I didn’t get that vibe. Are they similar looking unis? Absolutely…
…but that’s going to happen when they both have white helmets, red jerseys, and white pants. But the striping and fonts on the uniform as well as the logo/striping pattern on the helmets are plenty enough different so as to not confuse the two. They’re no more similar than than any teams who go mono-white (and there were four who did that yesterday). But I can see how some might argue the Bills mix/match is “a copy” of Pat Patriot. I just don’t think they look very similar other than colors. What do you think?
And with that, let’s just delve right into the action.
Week 16 got off to a terrific start, uni-wise, with TNF’s tilt between the blue/white/blue/white Broncos and the white/blue/gold/blue Chargers. I really liked Denver’s combo, and it was quite the color palette special. Top 5 candidate right out of the gate.
All four of Saturday’s teams — Houston/KC and Pittsburgh/Baltimore — will also play Christmas Day, so for Saturday’s games as well as the games on Christmas, each team wore a special candy cane patch. The early game between the Chiefs and Texans was also a good uni-matchup, though I still don’t love the Texans’ horn stripe, and I would greatly prefer white or even red hosiery with the navy pants. Still, the red, white and blue (and a little bit of gold) made for a nice color balance.
This game was sooo close to being a T-5 candidate; there are very few Ravens combos I don’t like, and Pittsburgh always looks good. But the Ravens in all purple below the neck is one of my least favorite combos. They would have been better served with white pants for this game.
Contrast was certainly no issue yesterday, with the Cards being one of four teams to go head-to-toe white. And the Panthers wore their 12th different combo this season (in 15 games). I don’t hate the look, but mono-black below the neck doesn’t look good with the silver hats.
Pretty good looking game in Cincy yesterday, with the Bengals going orange/black/orange/black, which is fast becoming one of my favorite Bengals combos. The Browns countered by wearing their 1946 fauxbacks, which I like but would enjoy even more if their helmet stripes matched their pants stripes.
Once again, the Lions went mono-white below the neck, the only uniform combo they’ve worn on the road this entire season. They’re also undefeated in that combo, so I can’t really fault them for being superstitious about it. It’s been a fun ride for the Lions and their fans, even if it’s led to some brutal uni watching all season long. But don’t worry Lions, the Bears’ gorgeous kits will keep you from the And One.
The Jets went mono-green for the first time this season, and I have to admit, it’s not as bad as I feared. That’s not to say it’s a good look, but there are many worse monos out there. Unfortunately the Rams wore their royal pants, which made for less a color palette special and more a color clash.
Really good-looking game down in Atlanta yesterday, made possible by the Falcons wearing their 1966 throwbacks. It was also a bit of an oddity, uni-wise, as you had two teams wearing helmets that didn’t match colors with any other uniform elements. At least the Falcons have some red on their jerseys/pants/hose, whereas the Giants have no blue anywhere but on their helmets.
The Eagles wore black pants for the third time this season, all with white jerseys (once with black helmets, and now twice with green). It’s not a terrible look, but it would look better with white hose. Fortunately, the Commanders countered with burgundy/burgundy/gold/burgundy, which is their best look. It probably won’t be a T-5 matchup, but still decent.
Not only was this a mono-white vs. mono-navy, the two teams wore these exact uniform combos earlier this year, in Tennessee. So why were the Colts in all-white in Indy? It’s their annual Winter White Out game, played, of course, in the climate-controlled comfort of Lucas Oil Stadium.
It was a dreary, overcast/rainy day in Seattle yesterday, and the teams seemed to dress for the occasion. Seattle went with their normal mono-navy home unis, while Minnesota countered with a whole lot of purple. Maybe some action green shirts or pants would have helped lighten up this dreary matchup.
The Jaguars somehow managed to eke out another never-before-worn combo this year, going black/white/teal/white, which is one of their better looks. And of course, da Raidahs always look great in the silver and black. A definite T-5 candidate!
I talked about the Bills’ new combo at the top, but how’d it look when up against the Pats? I thought it looked good but not great. The Patriots continued their recent trend of wearing silver-gray pants, both at home and on the road, but they really need to wear blue hosiery with the gray pants. But still, a definite Top Five condender.
I was pleasantly surprised when the Dolphins announced they’d wear aqua jerseys and white pants (with aqua socks) for this game. It’s quite an underrated look and one we rarely see. Somewhat disappointingly, the 49ers went back to wearing white hosiery with the road shirts. Red socks would have made a good looking game a great one.
Thankfully we got a prime time game where both teams wore their regular uniforms, and guess what? Those regular uniforms can look pretty good against one another. I generally prefer the Bucs in red jerseys/white pants when they play a team with non-white pants, because those pewter pants are pretty dark. It might have looked even better if Dallas had worn navy/silver-gray, but c’mon, you put the Cowboys on a nationally televised game, you want to see them in their primary white jerseys.
My Five and One
5 Jaguars/Raiders
4 Chiefs/Texans
3 Falcons/Giants
2 49ers/Dolphins
1 Broncos/Chargers
And One
Cardinals/Panthers (at least Panthers didn’t wear horrific black helmet, also black pants don’t need the big blue stripes)
Thoughts
The mono look has run its course. Terrible look!
Bengals were beautiful, the block shadow and white helmet look of the Browns is horrible. Bills/Pats would have easily made top five if Pats had blue pants as silver and white lacks just a bit of contrast. . Philly/Washington would have been great if not for Eagles black pants.
This was my first time seeing the Broncos play in this uniform. When seen on TV, it looks incredibly similar to the Bears’ away uni.
GTGFTS – Jan 1, 1964, Final Score Nebraska 13 Auburn 7. First SEC loss in 7 games vs the Big Eight (Precursor to Big XII) in that bowl
…Oh yeah it was the last Orange Bowl played during the day, and I love the foliage in the end zone (of course they had to put stands there eventually)
They could be an entire Uni-Watch post about the Bengals history of trying to carry the Tiger-striped helmet look down to the jersey/pants. The helmet is great, but it has ahead worked less well on the red of the uniform. The Esiason era was their best etcher in my opinion.
The Bengals have had complete stripes on the helmet since they debuted the design in the early ’80s. In other words, each stripe starts with a point and ends the same way on the other side. For most of their existence, the shoulder and pants stripes have featured truncated stripes that don’t work as well. The current jerseys have complete stripes, front to back, and they are probably their best version so far. As for the pants, the short Finding Nemo stripes still fall short.
My issue is the color scheme. Black on orange (or white): looks good and accurately represents a tiger. But if the jersey is black, what do you do? Orange stripes on black? Ech. So maybe just an orange jersey with black stripes instead? I actually like that look. But then there’s the pants. Black pants? Back to the dilemma I mentioned above. Orange pants? Whoa. That’s way too much orange.
The 90s era unis solved this by adorning both the jersey and pants with a solid orange stripe, which was then filled with black tiger stripes. Still not great, but I was okay with it.
Maybe I’m the only who cares. But the whole thing has always bugged me.
The tiger stripes on the rest of the uniform worked best when they were black stipes on some sort of orange color block, both on the jersey and pants. As designed now nothing in the uniform really matches with the exceptions of when they wear mono white, or mono orange.
I think the team’s 2004 thru 2020 design handled the stripes the best, even if the overall uniforms were a mess. Orange sleeve caps with black stipes.
Yes. This is very much aligned with my thinking. Except I prefer the 90s era look.
“I prefer the 90s era look” is what keeps me up at night, worrying about the return of the Pontiac Aztec.
I’d love the Bengals to go back to the original Bengals helmet/jersey combo for a throwback.
GTGFTU: 09/07/2008 – Detroit Lions (21) at Atlanta Falcons (34); Georgia Dome.
Phil – although you said “whereas the Giants have no blue anywhere but on their helmets,” would you count the maker’s mark on the pants as a blue element of the uniform? I could go either way as it is technically blue on the uniform but it is still just the maker’s mark.
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Hi Matt, I’m not Phil, but my reply regarding your blue Swoosh question is a big N-O! I see what you mean, and it does offer a bit of contrast, but it’s not enough, IMWO.
I know these road unis are steeped in the G-Men’s lore, and in their two Super Bowl wins over the Patriots, but if they’re known as the “Big Blue,” their jerseys would look much better with blue numbers trimmed in red, a la the Simms/LT era – again, IMWO.
I had a few people who never comment on uniforms (and don’t even know I am into uniforms) text me during the game asking if the Bills were dressing like the old Patriots as some sort of dig at the Pats. So while yes, the stripes etc were different, when you are watching the game, in typical full field view, what you notice is the color of the helmet, jersey, and pants, and also pick out contrasting trim color. So the Bills going white/red/white with royal blue trim is essentially the Pats throwbacks to non-uni people. Especially because the Bills are a blue team wearing a red costume.
I think they looked good, and made sense for Christmas, but they absolutely appear like Pats knock off, and wearing them against the Pats emphasized it.
You summed it up. Bills are a blue team. Always have been. Always will be.
And the Pats comparison is apt because while the striping might be different, you’re still basically wearing a division rival’s uniform. Familiarity invites the comparison.
Bills unis did remind me of Pats throwbacks but it was nice for the holiday season as was the Colts unis and Jets all green. Agree with Texas wearing red socks with navy pants as well as navy socks with silver pants for the Pats. Dolphins tend to wear the aqua jerseys at home when its a 4pm game or night game.
Right, Dolphins aren’t really a white at home team in the sense the Cowboys are, they just play in hot sunny weather most of the season. They have same protocol all teams do for white at home in hot weather, their hot weather just lasts well past September.
The problem I had with Bills-Patriots was that when I tuned in, first glance was “Oh, that must be the Pats in red,” and it took a while to get past that. New England’s silver wasn’t dark enough to jump out immediately.
For some reason I really don’t like the Jags teal pants.
Maybe they looked off because it was in a dome, definitely need some stripes.
The Eagles wearing black with their dark green helmet that depending on the lighting can look black is a horrible look. I don’t get them wearing this together, same as I don’t get wearing black socks with their dark green.
You could have stopped at “The Eagles look terrible in black”, and your comment would have been just as correct. Black and midnight green don’t work. The Eagles are one of the worst offenders of the BFBS movement. Prior to Buddy Ryan, it wasn’t even a trim color. I won’t carry a torch for a man who never won a playoff game here.
Your number 1 should be the “and 1”. It bugs me beyond belief that the swooshes on the white jerseys and white pants don’t match.
GTGFTU
7 Sep 2008
Flacons beat Lions 34-21
Both teams wearing the Gene Upshaw memorial patch.
Lions wearing 75th anniversary patch.
GTGFTU – 2008, Week 1, 9/7, the first game of the Lions’ 0-16 season, losing to the Falcons at the Georgia Dome, 34-21. Jon Kitna would end up finishing the season on the IR,
The Jets in mono green look terrible. The only saving grace is that the pants have a stripe, but it still is awful.
This week, the Bills/Patriots looked like the Patriots/Patriots,
the Bengals/Browns looked like the Browns/Southmen-Grizzlies,
and the Falcons/Giants looked like the Falcons/Giants for the first time in decades!
One thing I realized yesterday – the lighting in Orchard Park really sucks.
I kept thinking something was off… the red jerseys looked really washed out and dull.
GTGFTU
2007-2008 was my first year of playing fantasy football. Somehow, someone accepted my trade offer of Kitna for Brees
As I rained blows upon him, I realized there must be a better way…
LOL
I promise you that the Lions were not worried about appeasing your definition of a good looking uniform match up, no matter how desperately you want to believe otherwise.
Well of course not. Neither do any of the other teams that make a unform change/addition. That’s really not the point, is it?
I don’t have a problem with the Bills red uni, it was just the wrong team to wear it against.
In good conscience, I could never put the Giants road unis in a top-anything list. They need a complete road uniform overhaul. The team nicknamed “big blue” having no blue whatsoever except for their helmet is nonsensical. It looks even more washed out and boring since they ditched the gray pants in favor of white…the gray with red and blue striping was a FAR superior road look. But the current set, jersey and pants, is crying out for some blue somewhere.
Their original early-2000s redesign was SO much better, and they’ve just keep removing blue elements since then, until their are none left…they need to go back to this desperately.
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The Bills’ red jersey lacks the navy outlines of the white or blue shirt, which I assume are there to distance their appearance from the Giants. Regardless, they looked awesome!
GTGFTU
Found this color clip of the uniforms. Nebraska wearing a Clarendon font….
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Great find, Tim!
If the Football Giants still had their grey pants, that might have been my favorite matchup of the season.
U/W/U might be my favorite non-throwback option for the Broncos at present, but I’d have wanted to see orange socks with those.
I prefer the Jets’ mono-greens to their mono-blacks, but not by as much as I’d have thought. They look so much better with white pants.
The more I see those Patriots grey-and-whites, the less I like them. I think its the stripes, mainly. I want the stripes to be red-and-white to match the flag and the Elvis.
I’ll add that I disagree about the Bills/Patriots lookalikes. Obviously the stripes are different than the old Pats uniforms and throwbacks, but the overall impression is very similar to my eyes. I’m fine with that, though. That’s why we have clash kits. I do still prefer the Bills in royal blue.
I’d have expected to dislike the Ravens in black hats and purple everything-else, but I actually don’t mind that look for them.
GTGFTU is a sight for sore eyes.
Is it me or is the Bills hue of red slightly lighter than the Patriot Pat jersey? Could be the horrible lighting in Buffalo. Patriots need a darker hue of silver for the pants, otherwise I approve of this look. Bengals looked fresh, Giants need blue numbers with red outline, a lot of teams need socks contrasting with the pants. Otherwise not one of the worst looking weekends. My winner is Broncos (orange socks, please, to make this look less like the Bears) and the Chargers: colorful and plenty of contrast.