Week 1 Uniform Matchup Rankings

Welcome back to the 2012 edition of the GUD's weekly uniform rankings.

Last year, I did a weekly ranking of uniform matchups that were based on one thing, how pleasing they were to my eyes. As I stated last year, these are my rankings and mine alone, and these are the way I feel about them as I type them. My opinions could easily change from week to week. So how lousy I feel about a particular matchup in Week 1 might be how great I feel about the exact same matchup in Week 14.

#16. Falcons-Chiefs: Lotta red here, but most of it is KC red. ATL red is but a trim color. Chiefs, like the Bears, are giving the sleeve stripes more notice by moving the TV numbers from the sleeve to the shoulder. I'm not seeing a lot of cool colors here, an OK matchup.

#15. Patriots-Titans: The Titans are one of many teams that like to go white at home (WAH) early in the season before switching to the darks, mostly for "hot weather" reasons. This forces the Patriots to go dark blue. Titans chose to wear their columbia blue pants. This isn't a bad matchup, just not one that gives me color sensations.

#14. Jaguars-Vikings: Again, little change from the Reeboks to the Nikes, but honestly, not a very exciting matchup. Jags should have opened up the teal more with this set, but alas. The Vikes purple does work for me. The matchup is average.

Even a nice classic matchup
unaffected by the new Nike Collars
could do no better than #11

#13. Bengals-Ravens: Purple and black against orange and black, plus a lot of white. A pair of black pants on one of these teams, and I think it would have been in my Top 5. But alas, it's an early season gig, so the likely reason both are in white pants.

#12. 49ers-Packers: "America's Game of the Week," or so Fox shamelessly says (although they apparently say that about all 4:25 games.)  This one just wasn't quite "America's Uniform Matchup of the Week." Still, a lot of the traditional look. Bright red and gold trim on the Niners away unis and the Pack strutting the familiar green and gold look.

#11.  Colts-Bears: The Colts with no change from 2011, while the Bears place the TV numbers from the sleeves to the shoulders, creating much needed space for the sleeve stripes. Works well, and while a tad dry, a ton of traditional for these two long time NFL squads.

#10.  Cowboys-Giants: The season lidlifter features the defending NFL Champions against a worthy opponent. The Giants are now wearing the gray separated striped pants full time. The Cowboys have the same basic look. The Cowboys continue the "fifty shades of grey" look with the bluish helmets and the greenish (my wife calls them "minty") pants. A traditional look. The Giants, staying modest, did not have a "Super Bowl Champions" patch. Nice, but not eye popping.

#9. Eagles-Browns: There was some buzz that the Browns were going to wear brown for this encounter, but not to be. The Eagles went with green (which - at least to me - seems not quite as dark as in previous years) and the Browns went with the full white treatment. Not a bad matchup. Guess we'll have to wait later in the season for the Browns to wear their namesake.

Maybe if the Jets had worn
green pants (or green jerseys &
the Bills had worn Blue pants)
this matchup could have
been higher than #6

#8. Rams-Lions: The Rams decided to ditch the gold pants, which has some in despair. And perhaps it would have been nice to see them here. But, for a weird reason, I like this all white look for STL. And with the Lions in traditional honolulu blue and the silver fixin's, this matchup happens to agree with me.

#7. Chargers-Raiders: Chargers in white/navy with the Raiders in black/silver. Rather predictable, but in this case, it's a good match. Good colors and they mix decently.

#6. Bills-Jets: Bills in year two of the uniform reform. The Jets, going all white at home, socks included. Love how the Bills blue really sparkle, it's a perfect shade. The Jets all whites somehow works here in a matchup that hearkens back to the 1965-72 era. It does work.

#5. Seahawks-Cardinals:  Still unsure where I fit into the Seahawks new look. This combo is a nice one. Just a little uncomfortable with the Nike gang making the swoosh the focal point of the sleeve. The Cardinals rock the red. On a color scale, one of the better uni matchups for Week 1.

#4. Dolphins-Texans: The Texans have traditonally opened their home seasons with an all-white look. This means that the Dolphins have to wear their aqua jerseys and the unusual combo for the both teams is a pleasant change. What could have made this matchup possibly the best for Week 1 is if the Texans would have worn the rare red pants, or even red socks. Still, a nice change for me.

This nice looking WAH matchup
just missed the top spot

#3. Panthers-Buccaneers: Whenever Carolina rocks the carolina blue jerseys, it's just plain magic. Paired up with the Bucs in white/pewter, it's a great matchup. I just like this setup a lot.

#2. Redskins-Saints: This is a beauty. Saints going white at home and the Redskins have to wear the burgundy. Not counting the mashup of striping combos on the Skins, Washington is wearing the yellow pants with the burgundy socks loaded with striping. The Saints, trotting out the faded vegas gold pants, and this just gives me a visual joy to look at.

#1. Steelers-Broncos: For the first time since 1996, the Broncos are using orange as the base jersey color for home games, and it's long overdue. 5 different colors at play here; black. navy, white, yellow and orange. Bright and sunshiny. A great uni matchup!

The long awaited return of the "Orange Crush"
home unis (and Peyton Manning)
brought this matchup the top spot

What do you think?  Agree or disagree with these uniform matchup assessments?  Let us know in the comments.  Which game do you think will be the best looking game in Week 2?  Check back with us next week to find out in the next installment of the GUD's Weekly Uniform Rankings!