New Uniforms of 2020

In addition to all teams (other than the Bears) reverting to the NFL Shield at the bottoms of their V-collars, seven teams have made 'significant' changes to their uniform for the coming 2020 season.

As the graphics artist for the GUD, I usually have to look at uniform reveals through a different eye. "You mean I gotta draw THAT?!?"

Additionally, where a team has shown what combinations of jersey, pants, and socks they plan on wearing during the season, I like to be prepared.  I assemble every possible combination eliminating the need to miss Sunday football because someone decided to put together a strange new pairing that no one expected and I need to assemble it.

Atlanta Falcons

White Jersey combos

This is a great place to start because this needs to be said and it's best to do it right off the bat. Teams need to stop matching socks and cleats. In their uni-release, only a single red-pants combination was proffered - white jersey, red pants/socks/cleats - found above in the lower right corner. I don't like any of these red pants combinations. The foremost reasons are the fact that the pants stripe and jersey side panel stripe conflict with each other and the red pants completely conflict with the black helmet when having only white in between. I'm not a fan of all-white uniforms either but the black socks and red socks combos with the white jerseys and pants in the top row would work for me as long as the Falcons wore white shoes. I'm not really a fan of any of the black pants combos in the middle row.

Bottom line: Don't match pants, socks, and cleats. Contrast is needed.

Black Jersey combos

As for the black jersey combos, let's start by eliminating all three of the white socks combos down the left side as well as the bottom right corner again with red pants, socks, and cleats. All four of these are simply bad looks.

My favorites are the two black jersey and white pants combos with the colored socks - again assuming the Falcons go with white cleats. The all-black in the center is passable but my favorite is in the middle of the bottom row - black jersey, red pants, black socks and cleats.

We knew that the Falcons were likely keeping their 'throwback' uniform although they were forced to use it with the new matte-black helmet. Not really a big deal.

However, as 'the art talent' here at GUD, let me tell you...there are two things I can't stand - sublimation patterns and gradients. Here is the first "You gotta be kidding me" of the new season. The really bad news is that I kinda like the gradient combo. I just hope that it doesn't create a trend of more teams going with this kind of look.

Overall, I don't mind what Atlanta did. With the exception of the gradient uniform, they really went minimalist and that's OK. The matte black helmet doesn't bother me although I do think the over-sized helmet logo is comically big and after all, isn't just a tip of the cap from the Falcons to their divisional-rival Buccaneers saying "We like what you did with that big flag on your helmet. Take a look at our big bird!" The one thing I really wish they'd correct is the big ATL on the chest. The over-sized numbers would look better if they didn't have to be squeezed into view along with the big, honkin' "ATL."

Cleveland Browns

White Jersey combos

Cleveland ownership listened to their long-suffering fans and got rid of one of the great uniform monstrosities ever perpetuated in the League ranking right their with the 2014-19 Bucs, 2013-17 Jaguars, and the 2002-10 Bills. A little known fact about Browns uniforms is that the Browns tend to match socks with jerseys. However, every once in a while, the Browns would throw a curve ball at us and wear brown socks while wearing white jerseys. It could happen so I planned on being ready. The two combos to the left are likely what we will see for most Cleveland road games this season. One thing I don't care for is that the Brown pants need a white stripe between the two orange stripes. I know these are essentially their Color Rush pants from past seasons. but to be worn as part of a normal rotation with these new uniforms, they need the white stripe.

Brown Jersey combos

I just mentioned the brown pants being last year's Color Rush pants and missing the white middle stripe. To top that off, it appears the Browns kept the all-brown Color Rush combo but removed all stripes. Basically, the Browns said we need two sets of brown pants. The Browns love their brown pants apparently, but does everyone out there remember what Deadpool said about the brown pants? My apologies for the brief, graphic violence but I couldn't resist. Children get your parent's permission first...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKC0jN-GfhA.

After they released their new uniforms, the Browns announced that they got some negative feedback from fans because they did not include options with orange pants. Congrats to the Browns. They gave their fans what they wanted to see with these retro new uniforms. The lack of orange pants was an oversight. The team admitted the error, and stated that they'd find a way to get the orange pants. Kudos. These looks are the Cardiac Kids that I remember from when I was a youngster. There's something just so right about these two looks. I hope we get them frequently this year.

Indianapolis Colts

The most notable change that the Colts are making is the re-shaping of their horseshoe as seen above. Other less notable changes include changing the Nike 'swooshes' on their white jerseys (and likely their white pants, too) from blue to black. Why? The Colts added a logo to the inside of their collars that may or may not have been plagiarized from an Indiana high school team (but I'll let the courts decide that). The Colts also returned to a number font used in their early days. However, because of our use of the number 11, the change won't be noticeable since the ones will be the same for both the new and old number fonts.

Los Angeles Chargers

White Jersey combos

Go ahead, I dare you to find something wrong with these uniforms. Nit-pickers could say something like "There are no TV numbers." Or "the bolts on the pants don't have enough zig-zags." These people need to get a life. I admit that I am getting tired of the italicized number fonts and would have preferred a nice, old-fashioned block font, but I digress. Hmm. I guess I was able to find a 'negative.'

Powder Blue Jersey combos

Personally, I think the Chargers should do something like only wearing the yellow pants either for all of their day games or for all of their night games, some kind of gimmick like that.

Alternate Blues combos

I like the all-royal but it seems superfluous with the all-navy. I really hope the Chargers actually wear white shoes with the all-navy combo. White helmets and white shoes would book-end the uniform nicely. I wonder of the Chargers field-tested the navy uniform with the numbers hollowed-out, as well. Probably made the numbers too difficult to read though.

One other thing...if the NFL ever does do away with the 'One-helmet Rule,' in the words of my daughter, I think this would look 'sick' for night games...

Los Angeles Rams

Bone & Blue jersey combos

The Rams became the last team to unveil their new uniforms. I believe that these blue and bone jersey combos must be evaluated together as one group.

First, let me say that I have no problem with the helmet. Over the years, many fans have been bothered by the fact that the Rams' helmets always had a navy shell that clashed with the royal of the their usual uniforms. That has been corrected with a brilliant, metallic, royal blue shell. The logo is new and different. It's not great. It's just different and I'm sure we'll get used to it. At least they didn't use the gradient coloring on the helmet logo!

Honestly, the jerseys are my biggest problem with these uniforms. The glossy piping of the numbers would have looked better as just regular fabric. This was too big of an attempt to be 'glitzy.' The fold-over-the-back-of-the-collar logo tags are gimmicky. The jerseys would have looked better if they just slapped the logos right on the collar - inside and out. The contrasting look of the tag on the bone jersey is superior to the blue-on-blue tag on the royal jersey. That one would have looked better had it been a yellow tag. The collarbone 'patch' and the peculiar zig-zag stitching limited to just a small portion in the upper right corner is just stupid.

But my biggest peeve for these jerseys is actually the 'sleeves.' The blue jerseys have the Ram horns. The bone jerseys have some kind of wave or shark fin. Why would you not simply put the Ram horns on the bone jerseys also? That makes no sense.

And you already know my feelings about gradients. My question is why not have two blue jerseys. One would have the gradient numbers to be worn with the gradient-striped pants as a Color Rush combo. Another blue jersey without gradient numbers could be worn with the yellow pants. The gradient numbers look unusually out of place when worn with the yellow pants.

New England Patriots

OK. I'm taking bets. I'm willing to bet that this is the last time that an NFL team has a new uniform reveal and only reveals two combinations.

I like what they did. I like the red-blue-red stripes on the white jersey. But at the same time I still agree with those that say its too much red in a blue-oriented jersey. A blue-red-blue stripe pattern probably would have been better.

Like the Browns, the Patriots left the door open to possibly add white or silver pants in the future. I got one for you. What about red pants? Those could be a worthwhile option with the white jerseys.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs pulled a 'Browns' and simply went back to something that works. They never should have moved away from this design in the first place. While keeping a large helmet logo, the Bucs still reduced the logo considerably. Now, instead of being 'freakishly large,' now they have a logo that's just 'big.' The Bucs also ditched the bling-bling chrome grill. Good. Grills are for cars and patios, not football helmets. I would like to see the new Color Rush uniform worn with some red socks and white cleats. 

So who will be getting changes for next season, in 2021? Cardinals? Bengals? Broncos? Eagles? I guess we'll have to wait. Hopefully there will only be two more months before we start thinking about preseason games.

Bill Schaefer

GUD

A Head-to-Head History: The Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints

 The Falcons and Saints joined the NFL a year apart during the transitional, pre-merger phase of the league. Prior to Atlanta joining in 1966 and New Orleans in 1967, the southernmost team on the coast had been in Washington DC. They became natural rivals, as bus loads of fans venture on seven-hour road trip between the cities when they play one another. A further non-geographic bond is the fact that the franchises share the same all-time leading scorer - Morten Andersen (New Orleans 1982 - 1994, 1,318 points; Atlanta 1995 - 2000, 2006 - 2007; 806 points.)

Although they currently reside in the NFC South Division, the Dixie Rivalry began in the post-merger NFL's NFC West in 1970. They usually battled with one another to stay out of the division's basement, as the Rams and 49'ers more often that not finished at the top. Prior to 1970 the Falcons resided in the NFL Coastal Division while the Saints rotated between the Capital and Century Divisions.

Like most expansion teams, the Falcons and Saints struggled on the field with roster mostly stocked with young players and veteran cast-offs, as there were no quick fixes available via free agency. The first meeting between the teams took place in Week 11 of the 1967 season, where the 1-8-1 Falcons visited the 1-9 Saints in Tulane Stadium. Billy Kilmer lead New Orleans on a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter for a 24-20 win. Two minute drives and comeback victories would become a recurring theme over the years.

That was not the case in 1973 though. In the midst of a nine-game win streak against their Southern rivals, the Falcons set a team record for points in a remarkable one-sided rout. After the end of a 0-0 first quarter, Atlanta went on a scoring rampage that saw them rack up 62 points. The Falcon offense was unstoppable, moving the chains with 32 first downs on the strength of 218 rushing yards, while the Saints offense was error prone, turning the ball over eight times, including five interceptions by Archie Manning.

The balance of the 70's saw the rivalry achieve competitive balance, with many of the signature moments occurring in New Orleans Super Dome. In 1978 Atlanta became the first of the two teams to qualify for the post season, and a signature win over the Saints in November helped them get there. The 5-5 Saints carried a 17-6 late into the fourth quarter against the 6-4 Falcons. Atlanta quarterback Steve Bartkowski lead the Falcons on a touchdown drive that closed the gap to 17-13 with 0:57 on the clock. After recovering the attempted on-sides kick, New Orleans attempted to run out the clock. Coach Dick Nolan elected to run a play on fourth-and-two, but halfback Chuck Muncie was stopped short of the line to gain and the Atlanta offense came back onto the field with 19 seconds left. Bartkowski lined up under center with three receivers split out wide to the right of the formation. The Saints were deployed in a prevent package featuring seven defensive backs. Bartkowski heaved a desperation pass toward the end zone, where his receivers attempted to get under the pass in heavy traffic. At least a dozen hands from both teams reached up to either grab or bat the ball down, but Falcon receiver Alfred Jenkins came away with possession off a tip, avoided several defenders and crossed the goal line for the decisive and dramatic 57-yard score. The "Big Ben" play lead highlight programs across the country and the momentum seizing win not only propelled Atlanta on a playoff run, they produced a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round before losing to the eventual NFC Champion Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional playoffs.

The schedule makers didn't do the New Orleans faithful any favors by schedule a visit from Atlanta on opening day the following season. The back-and-forth shootout saw the teams combine for over 1,000 yards of offense, with stars from both teams rack up impressive offensive numbers: Muncie and Atlanta rookie William Andrews each eclipsed 160 rushing yards, Jenkins had seven catches and a touchdown for the Falcons, while Wes Chandler produced 205 yards on just six catches, including a 40-yard score on an option pass from Muncie. Late in the game, then into overtime, New Orleans rookie kicker/punter Russel Erxleben experienced the highs and lows of his dual profession. Manning lead the Saints on a late drive that was capped with Erxleben's 38-yard field goal knotting the score at 34-34 with 44 seconds remaining. Midway through the extra period, Erxleben had the ball snapped over his head in the punt formation from the New Orleans 32 yard line. He scooped it up near his own goal line, then hurried a two-handed pass under pressure into the hands of Falcon James Mayberry who scored from six yards out for the stunning 40-34 win. Atlanta finished the 1979 season a disappointing 6-10, while the Saints recovered somewhat, finishing a then franchise best 8-8.

1991 saw a reversal of fortunes in the NFC West. the Saints finished in first place at 11-5 and the Falcons qualified as a Wild Card at 10-6, marking the first time either the 49'ers or Rams were left out of the post season since 1982. Three second half lead changes were capped by Michael Haynes 61-yard touchdown pass from Chris Miller with 2:41 remaining. New Orleans took possession on their own 17, and advanced to Atlanta's 35 with 1:10 to play. Bobby Hebert's pass was intercepted by Tim McKyer, who lateraled the ball to Deion Sanders, who ran around before lateraling to Joe Fishback who finished the play with an apparent touchdown. Following instant replay, it was determined Sander's exchange with Fishback was a forward pass, disqualifying the touchdown but the Falcons retained possession and ran the clock out. The loss was especially tough for New Orleans to take. Having made the post season three of the previous four seasons, each had ended with a one-game exit without a victory. The Falcons lost the following week to the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins.

Morten Andersen made one of his final game winning kicks for the Saints against his future team in 1994. The offensive game was remarkable in the fact that New Orleans was able to pull off the victory despite turning the ball over five times. the Falcons were unable to capitalize, despite churning out almost 400 yards of offense, they settled for six Norm Johnson field goals. The kicking duel was settled in the final two minutes of the game. Johnson booted a 30-yard field goal to put Atlanta ahead 32-30 with 1:44 remaining, but Andersen's fifth field goal of the day came from 39-yards out and just 0:08 left on the clock decided the outcome, 33-32.

New Orleans probably regretted letting Andersen leave via free agency following the 1994 season, as he signed with the Atlanta and was directly responsible for a Falcon sweep of the Saints in 1995. During his return to the Super Dome in September, Andersen booted four field goals, including a 21-yarder in overtime for the 24-21 Falcon win. In the December meeting at Georgia Dome, Andersen again was the deciding factor for the Falcons offense, but this time from long range. He set an NFL record with three successful attempts from 50 yards out - 51 and 55 twice - as Atlanta won 19-14.

The most poignant meeting, though albeit not the greatest game, was the Saints return to the Super Dome on September 25, 2006. After spending the 2005 season playing their "home" games at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Saints returned home with a new head coach and quarterback and a 2-0 record. Atlanta was also 2-0, but were unable to match the intensity of the Saints or their fans in the raucous dome. After surrendering a touchdown on a blocked punt, the Falcons managed an Andersen field goal and nothing more. The inspired New Orleans defense dominated, yielding just 10 first downs to Atlanta while holding Michael Vick to 12-31 passing for just 137 yards. Drew Brees' debut in New Orleans was modest statistically, but he was efficient and the Saints went on to a 23-3 win, a 10-6 record and NFC South Title and a trip tot eh NFC Championship game, where they ultimately lost to the Chicago Bears. changes would soon be in store for the Falcons as well, but the groundwork had been prepared for the Saints and Falcons to finally emerge as contenders at the same time.

The meeting at the Super Dome in Week 3 was a key meeting between the two rivals. The 1-1 Saints were defending Super Bowl Champions while the Falcons were coming off the first back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history. The game featured four lead changes as quarterbacks Brees and Matt Ryan moved their respective offenses up and down the field. Lance Moore's 16-yard touchdown reception at the end of the third quarter gave the Saints a 21-17 lead. Ryan responded by leading Atlanta on a 10-play drive that was capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White to regain the lead 24-21. Following an exchange of punts, Brees guided New Orleans to a tying field goal with nine seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime. The Falcons received the kickoff and punted after three plays. Four Brees completions moved New Orleans from their own 32 to the Atlanta 11. Seemingly in safe position, the Saints elected for a 29-yard field goal attempt on first down, but Garret Hartley pulled the ball wide left despite kicking from the right hash mark. Ryan and the Falcons capitalized, methodically advancing the ball from their own 20 to the Saints 23 in 12 plays. Matt Bryant's 46-yard attempt was good for the 27-24 win. Atlanta finished atop the NFC South with a 13-3 record with New Orleans second at 11-5, however both teams lost their first post season contests.

Tonight the Falcons off look to get revenge on the Saints who handed them their first lost three weeks ago, while the Saints try to stay in the playoff hunt after a 0-4 start.

Record Setting Night

Record Setting Night
by Rob Holecko

Last night, Saints QB Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's 1984 single-season passing mark of 5,084 yards on his final throw of the night, a touchdown that gave him 5,087 yards for the season, with one more game still to play.  The Saints beat the Falcons and clinched the NFC South title.

Throughout the night, during the telecast they referred to the record, giving a countdown of how many yards Brees needed.  They flashed back to 1984 and the Monday Night game at the end of the year against the Cowboys when Marino set the record.  They talked about the evolution of the record, from Sammy Baugh and John Unitas, and then in 1967, in the AFL, Joe Namath became the first to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.  Dan Fouts broke that record three consecutive years, in 1979, 1980 and 1981, and then Marino in 1984 passed for 5,084, a record that has stood since then.

In 2008, Brees got close to breaking the record a first time, throwing an incomplete pass on the final play of the season against the Carolina Panthers and winding up at 5,069 yards.

But this time he closed the deal, and he'll get to add to it next week, possibly they won't rest their starters in the season finale as the Saints still have a chance at a first-round bye, if they can win although they'll need the 49ers to lose to the Rams, possibly a tall order.

It was an exciting night in the Louisiana Superdome Allstate Car Carriers Big Old Round Building Mercedes Benz Superdome, possibly the biggest since the 2009 Super Bowl run, a with it being a Monday Night against the Falcons, it was reminiscent of the 2006 Week 3 game against the MNF Falcons when the Saints re-opened the dome after losing the 2005 season to Hurricane Katrina.

The Saints that year, after a dismal 2005 season went all the way to the NFC Championship game where they lost to the Bears, and three years later won Super Bowl XLIV.

Tom Brady has 4,897 yards going into his finale against Buffalo, so he also has an outside chance of passing 5,000 yards and Marino's mark.

Next week Brees also has a chance of passing Peyton Manning's record of 450 completions in a season, he finished last night with 440.

~ ~ ~

"On This Day..."

Last week all the talk (in and around New York anyway) was the Giants-Jets game, but today we will look back to another day where the focus of the NFL was all on the New York teams.  On December 27, 1981, the two NFL Wild Card games were played as the Bills and the Jets faced off at Shea stadium in the early AFC game, and the Giants and Eagles faced off in the NFC game in Philadelphia.

Here's a quick summary of this game from Wikipedia:

Bills defensive back Bill Simpson's interception at the Buffalo 1-yard line with 2 seconds left in the game preserved a 31-27 victory and gave Buffalo their first playoff win since 1965.

The Bills jumped to a 24-0 lead by the second quarter. First New York's Bruce Harper fumbled the opening kickoff while being tackled by Ervin Parker, and Charles Romes returned the ball 26-yards to the end zone. Then after a punt, quarterback Joe Ferguson completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank Lewis, while interceptions by Simpson and linebacker Phil Villapiano led to a 29-yard field goal by Nick Mike-Mayer and a 26-yard scoring reception by Lewis. However, Jets quarterback Richard Todd threw a 30-yard touchdown to tight end Mickey Shuler, and kicker Pat Leahy added two field goals to cut Buffalo's lead, 24-13.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, running back Joe Cribbs ran for a 45-yard touchdown, increasing the Bills lead to 31-13. But Todd then led the Jets 80 yards in 8 plays and completed a 30-yard touchdown to Bobby Jones. Then after forcing a punt, New York drove for another score, aided by a pass interference call against Bills defensive back Mario Clark that nullified an interception. Kevin Long finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 31-27. The Jets got the ball back with 2:36 remaining and then drove 69 yards to the Buffalo 11-yard line, aided by a holding penalty that wiped out an interception by defensive back Steve Freeman. However, Simpson's interception at the 1-yard line halted New York's comeback with 2 seconds left.

Simpson recorded 2 interceptions, while Lewis caught 7 passes for a franchise postseason record 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Shuler caught 6 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Todd threw for 377 yards, while Ferguson threw for 268. Both quarterbacks threw 2 touchdowns and were intercepted four times.

Larry Schmit reports to us in the forum that in this game the Bills' Joe Cribbs wore a gray facemask, while the other Bills wore the correct white facemasks. (see pictures)  Thanks, Larry.

In the other game, the Giants and Eagles faced off.  Here's the Wikipedia run down of that game:

The Giants jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, but had to withstand an Eagles comeback at the end to hold on to a 27-21 win. In the first quarter, Eagles kick/punt returner Wally Henry fumbled a punt and Beasley Reece recovered the ball at the Philadelphia 26-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Scott Brunner then threw a 9-yard touchdown to running back Leon Bright (the extra point attempt failed). Later in the first period, Brunner threw a 10-yard touchdown to wide receiver John Mistler, Henry then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Mark Haynes recovered the ball in the end zone to give New York a 20-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Harold Carmichael, but it was countered by Brunner's 22-yard touchdown to wide receiver Tom Mullady to give the Giants a 27-7 halftime lead. However, New York was shut out in the second half, while the Eagles opened the third period by marching 82 yards to score on running back Wilbert Montgomery's 6-yard rushing touchdown. Montgomery added another touchdown with 2:51 left in the game, but the Giants were able to run out the rest of the clock to preserve the victory. It marked the Giants first post season victory since 1956.

The Bills and the Giants both scored their first post-season victories in decades that day, and while they would both go on to lose to the eventual Super Bowl participants, the 49ers and the Bengals, the following week, for one day the New York teams were the center of the football world.