Week 2 2015 Uniform Matchup Rankings

by Tim Brulia


We are in the groove. Time for the Week 2 rankings.

16) Patriots-Bills: NE in navy/silver, BUF in white/white. Oh, Bills. If you're going WAH, please wear the blue pants. That combo looks so sharp that it hurts. But alas. All white against the standard navy over white of the Patriots. Not that thrilling for my distinguished eyes.

15) Falcons-Giants: ATL in white/white, NYG in blue/gray. We saw this very same combo last year and I wasn't all that thrilled and I'm not again this season. The blue is cool, the gray compliments well, but there's just something with the Falcon whites that seems to be missing something when they face the G-Men.

14) Ravens-Raiders: BAL in white/black, OAK in black/silver. Meh, I don't know what coud have made this one any better. Ravens in all white? Not really. This is when a purple pants dare by the Ravens would have made for a stunning and sweet surprise. But I guess, it is what it is. They still say that, don't they?

13) Titans-Browns: TEN in navy/white, CLE in white/white. The Browns, perhaps ducking for cover after last week's unusual combo, pull of their most conservative look of the new duds unveiled earlier in the year. The orange numbers are a nice break from all those years in brown numbers. Matched up against the Titans most conservative look in their wardrobe, and when you think about what possibly could have been...

12) Cardinals-Bears: ARI (I guess that's what they're using as the Cardinals place abbreviation instead of ARZ) in white/white, CHI in navy/white. Remember about 10 years ago when the Bears stunned the uni geek world by opening the home season in WAH (white at home)? That might been a nice touch here. But tradition rules today. It's still a smart looking matchup, though I would have preferred the Red in red pants.

11) Seahawks-Packers: SEA in white/white, GB in green/yellow. Three options for the Seahawks in this one. I they went second best. The all whites are probably better than white over navy in this case, but I think white over gray would have been the best choice. Of course, the Packers can do almost no wrong in their customary green over yellow gems.

10) 49ers-Steelers: SF in white/gold, PIT in black/yellow. After those yucky black things from last week, the Niners return to earth with the more familiar white over gold. The Steelers in the trusty black over yellow aids and comforts the enemy colors to a degree.

9) Broncos-Chiefs: DEN in white/white, KC in red/red. A now and then all red look from the Chiefs. I like this a lot, but I do think the white socks as opposed to the red that was worn might be a slight improvement. Broncos in standard white on white with all the navy trimmings and a taste of orange slice.

8) Cowboys-Eagles: DAL in navy/silver, PHI in white/white. The Cowboys in their best uni should have shot this one up the tree. But no. The Eagles insisted on all white instead of the dark green trousers. Still, any excuse to get the Cowboys in these bad boys as opposed to the all too familiar white is a bonus.

7) Chargers-Bengals: SD in navy/white, CIN in white/white. Bengals with a rare turn at WAH, and when they go all white, they lately have rocked the orange socks, and that's the right move. We can scream all we want for the Chargers to wear powder blue full time, but the navys here really aren't that bad. Better matchup than expected.

6) Dolphins-Jaguars: MIA in aqua/white, JAX in white/white. The Dolphins in one of the NFL's better uni combos, the magical aqua jerseys over white. The Jags with all white togs makes it a nice visual from these eyes. Maybe some more Dolphins orange would have made things better. But I'll take this.

5) Buccaneers-Saints: TB in red/pewter, NO in white/black. In can't really complain about this one. It is so good to see the Bucs in red, even with all the other crazy stuff going on with this uni. Saints, as far as I'm concerned, play it right with the black pants. But yeah, either a nice gold stripe down to side and/or some funky gold socks would give this combo the rightful pizzazz it needs.

4) Texans-Panthers: HOU in navy/white, CAR in white/white. Right now, I am liking this matchup. A good array of colors done right. Navy, pale blue, black, silver and a dash of red is a good modern look without needless bell & whistles.

3) Jets-Colts: NYJ in white/green, IND in blue/white. The only two teams in the NFL without a secondary color pull off their best possible look in this one. White obviously stands out here, but the execution of the spartan color schemes is what stands out for me. If the Jets had gone with the all white look, I would have twitched in boredom. Thanks, Jets. And thanks Colts, for staying blue.

2) Lions-Vikings: DET in white/silver, MIN in purple/white. One of those classic NFC North uni matchups. This one just doesn't get weary at all. The silvers, purples, yellows, honolulu blues and the obligatory black trim is a marvelous blend.

1) Rams-Redskins: STL in white/navy, WSH in burgundy/yellow. Let's toss the Redskins mish-mash striping elements aside. This is a pretty darn good get together, color-wise. No white pants, no double yellow/gold pants pairings. Just a perfect amount of navy, burgundy, yellow and gold done right. I dig this one, baby,

More to come next week. See you then!

Week 1 2015 Weekly Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

Hi-Ho! Timmy B back atcha for another season of the vitally important and historically significant weekly uniform rankings! By the way, my opinions do not in any way reflect the opinions of my partners in crime, Rob Holecko or Bill Schaefer, or anyone else involved with the GUD.

Let's go.

73,358) Vikings-49ers: MIN in white/white, SF in black/black. OK, first, the Vikes. Nice helmet, wish you would have worn the purple pants. Now, the Niners. I don't know if I've been more disappointed with a uniform than this. All black is so tired. All black with red NOB's and numbers and NO trim is terrible. An eyesore, nearly impossible to see the numbers from the scrimmage TV cameras. Identification is the key element in a football jersey. This is why you have huge honking numbers on the front and back. gold or white outlines on the numbers would have been a monster plus. At least the Nike logo was in gold. The pants? Pointless. I would have kept the gold pants here.

15) Seahawks-Rams: SEA in white/navy, STL in navy/navy. A little more gray on the Seahawks would have been a big improvement on this navy laden lineup. Or perhaps, the Rams in white pants. One and/or the other would have been a help here.

14) Browns-Jets: CLE in brown/orange, NYJ in white/green. Wow. What color! Now, who's carrying the ball for the Browns? Can't tell? Join the club! Twice before in Browns history (1946 and 1984), the Browns decided to wear orange numbers on brown jerseys, with at least at least a full white outline. Twice before those very seasons ended, the Browns ended up switching to white numbers because fans and media alike complaining that they couldn't see the numbers. It appears that history may be repeating itself. On top of that, the Browns made a surprising decision to wear orange socks with the brown/orange combo, which really looked out of place. But at least it was different. Oh, the Jets? They wore the white over green combo. But the green seems to be more olive drab than ever. Still, preferred to the all white-whitey-white-white combo. One of the more bizarre matchups that I've ever seen.

13) Dolphins-Redskins: MIA in white/white, WSH in burgundy/yellow. A Redskin WAH (white at home) combo would have forced aqua tops on the Dolphins, which would have created a way more colorful matchup. But alas, it appears that the Dolphins will yet again play in all white this season. Disappointing. But the Redskins in burgundy does save the day. Sorta.

12) Eagles-Falcons: PHI in white/white, ATL in red/white. Man, if the Eagles had rocked the green pants here, this matchup could have medaled. But the Birds stay close to the vest with the all white look. Falcons, whose red uni seems so much better than their white ones, perk this matchup in a spunky way.

11) Titans-Buccaneers: TEN in navy/white, TB in white/white. Would have kinda liked the Bucs to go with pewter pants and red socks. Would have made for a lively matchup. But, they go with their most "conservative" look again a navy over white Titan team. The result is eye pleasing if not eye candy.

10) Saints-Cardinals: NO in white/gold, ARZ in red/white. I guess as the season progresses, the Saints will eventually break out the black pants and the Cardinals will unleash the red pants. But not today. Not saying both in dark trousers, but at least one in dark bottoms would have brought this game up the list a few notches.

9) Colts-Bills: IND in blue/white, BUF in throwback white/white. Bills coach Rex Ryan digs the WAH look early in the season. The Bills cooperated by wearing the not quite exact throwback to celebrate the 1964-65 AFL Championship team. From this end, the Bills could've done better with the blue throwbacks from this era. It was an OK matchup, but not the best.

8) Ravens-Broncos: BAL in white/black, DEN in orange/white. The Ravens do the right thing in wearing the black pants. And while the Broncos orange continues to groove my eyes, I just can't evoke a pure thrill here. Maybe sometime soon, the Ravens need to expose the purple a bit more.

7) Giants-Cowboys: NYG in blue/gray, DAL in white/mint. A very, very familiar look for these twice yearly opponents. Does it get boring? Every now and then, sure. But this week, the comfort of familiarity is soothing. Just that breath of Giants red makes it worth the mundane.

6) Chiefs-Texans: KC in red/white, HOU in white/white. The Texans are making a tradition of starting the home season in white over white, then going to the more normal white and navy contrasts. The Chiefs brilliant red jerseys add some needed color to the proceedings.

5) Bengals-Raiders: CIN in white/white, OAK in black/silver. Bengals do well to go with orange socks instead of black and make orange a great off-set color against the standard black over silver of the Raiders. The result of this little maneuver is a fairly appealing matchup.

4) Packers-Bears: GB in white/yellow, CHI in throwback navy/white. The Bears do like this throwback, and they should. It's about as accurate as it gets (save for the NOB and modern sleeve cut). Bouncing off the reliable Packer togs, the twosomes pair up nicely.

3) Lions-Chargers: Like the Texans, the Chargers seem to be making this all in white opener their little new tradition. And against the Lions in their prominent honolulu blue and silver, it works. Navy trim, yellow and powder blue bolts and navy socks compliment this matchup better than one would expect. One bit of disappointment, the Lions using the William Clay Ford s a permanent memorial,

2) Steelers-Patriots: PIT in white/yellow, NE in navy/silver. The kickoff to the 2015 featured familiar hue that do contrast nicely. Black, white, yellow, navy and a glint of red. Sharp, though predictable. Included was a commemorative championship patch for the Pats and it was a plus.

1) Panthers-Jaguars: CAR in carolina blue/silver, JAX in white/white. This has surprising eye appeal for me. I've always loved the light blue Panther jerseys and have thought these should be the main dark jersey for them. And for some reason the Jaguars helmet with gold on back and matte black on front works well here. Glad they kept the black slacks in the shelves.

So, we are under way for 2015. Keep your eye on the blog! And enjoy Week 2!!

New for 2015

The 2015 Season is HERE!!

With that in mind, as always, there are some changes in the mix for the coming season. We will review them as best we can.

Falcons:
The Falcons are celebrating their 50th season While they have created a logo to celebrate, we did not see this as a patch in the preseason. If this does not see action in the regular season, consider this moot.

Ravens:
The Ravens in celebration of their 20th season in Baltimore will wear this patch.

Browns:
Of course the Browns unveiled a near total overhaul of their uniforms back in April. Rumor has it the coaches are not pleased with the orange numbers on the brown jerseys because of the difficulty in picking up numbers on game film. Duh. Could we see a mid-season switcheroo to white numbers on the brown tops? Stay tuned.

Lions:
Are the Lions going to make the WCF memorial patch a permanent thing? They wore the William Clay Ford patch in the preseason. Keep an eye out for this.

Packers:
The Pack ditched the 1929-31 "fauxback" for this ode to 1937-48 influenced navy gem.

Dolphins:
The 'Fins are breaking out this 1966 throwback homage for a Monday nighter later in the season. Like the Falcons, Miami is also offering a 50th season celebration patch, that is color coordinated with the jersey being worn.

Giants:
A memorial helmet decal for Frank Gifford and a memorial patch for Ann Mara (unavailable as of this blog) is in the offing.

Eagles:
A memorial helmet decal for Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik is being worn.

49ers:
As noted early in the offseason, the Niners are going to breakout a black alternate jersey with red trimmings. As well, a helmet decal to honor Bob St. Clair's passing is being worn.

Buccaneers:
The Bucs are saluting their 40th season as a franchise with this patch.

And on a league-wide basis, the NFL featured a "Heads Up" decal worn on all helmets in the preseason and will feature the now standard Breast Cancer Awareness pink ribbon decal for Weeks 4, 5 and 6 and display the Salute to Service camouflage stickers to be worn for Weeks 9, 10 and 11.


We will continue to post the weekly matchups and perform the GUD's unofficial weekly uniform rankings as the season progresses.

Keep it here and be sure to check out updates on our Facebook and Twitter pages as always.

"Old Is New Again" or "What in Sam Hill is a 'Clash' Jersey?" - Part II

Time to move on to the NFC...

As mentioned in Part I, Philadelphia, Carolina, San Francisco, Arizona, and Seattle each already have their 3 jerseys - white and two colors.

Dallas is the lone candidate from the NFC to join the Colts, Jets, and Raiders without a clash jersey. Why, you ask? They already possess a navy jersey and a white jersey. What are they going to do? Invent some new shade of blue or silver that again manages not to match any existing shade of either that they already use? No, navy and white are enough.

The rest of the NFC? Well, here we go.

GIANTS:
Reaching back into their history and pulling out the red jerseys again in their second reincarnation since they were reintroduced back back in 2004-07.

EAGLES:
As with the Ravens, I'm not sure how much contrast benefit the black jerseys provide versus the midnight green jerseys, but here they are anyways. Perhaps a silver (or is it 'charcoal'?) version instead?

REDSKINS:
Am I the only person in the universe who a) dislikes the Redskins' yellow pants? b) links those yellow pants to the decline of the Redskins' performance? and c) really misses the burgundy pants and white socks? I had to revive the latter to pair with this clash jersey.

BEARS:
A ready-made clash jersey in orange for the Monsters of the Midway.

LIONS:
Black was not an option as a clash jersey as it would be an omnipresent reminder to all Lions fans of the Millen Era. Instead we go with a silver jersey and bring back the blue pants from 1998. The stripes on those pants needed to be re-ordered to keep grey always bordering the black stripes. I originally planned to do away with the black altogether but the intent of the project is not to make a radical alteration to the entire uniform scheme, so the black remained.

PACKERS:
As a Bears fan, it pains me to say this but of all of the clash jersey combos I've assembled, I think this Packers combo is the best. I started with the white jersey template and simply reverse the yellow and white. I removed the middle sleeve stripe leaving only the two outer green stripes. Doing so made this jersey into a fine replica of the early 1950s. Reversing the yellow and green in the pants and adding a contrasting yellow belt accentuates the look. In order to break up the green a bit I changed the socks to yellow and added 2 green stripes identical to those on the sleeves. Why do those green pants look so good?

VIKINGS:
Another yellow clash jersey. Nothing remarkable here. Just a yellow version of the white jersey.

FALCONS:
Atlanta reclaims the black version of their red primary off of the scrap heap.

PANTHERS:
A ready-made triumvirate.

SAINTS:
The gold jersey returns!

BUCCANEERS:
Fixing this hot mess was not the goal. Creating a usable clash jersey was.

CARDINALS:
Not the most original or sensible clash jersey but it does the job.

RAMS:
Whether the team stays in the Gateway City or bolts for the City of Angels, this clash will contrast well with either the current modern set if the team stays or with a throwback look the team may opt for upon its return to California. This clash has us feeling like its 1956!

49ERS:
While the jury is still out on this concoction, you cannot dispute that clash it does. I do admit that I like the gold swooshes on the black background, though.

SEAHAWKS:
Could have been worse. There could have been an 'action green' jersey thrown into the mix instead.

Hope you enjoy folks!
The season starts for real this week!

Bill Schaefer

"Old Is New Again" or "What in Sam Hill is a 'Clash' Jersey?" - Part I ***UPDATED***

Prior to the 2015 season beginning, an announcement was made that Thursday Night games would be permitted to be waged as it was over 50 years ago - with both teams wearing colored jerseys. One year before "The Greatest Game Ever Played," the League instituted a rule in 1957 requiring each team to have a white jersey option. Doing so would provide contrast for viewers on television - the new medium for broadcasting games.

In the years leading up to that time, 'color versus color' (or CVC) was the norm. Teams like the Bears, Lions, and Redskins wore their colored jerseys for almost every game, in some cases for decades, without interruption. However, teams like the Giants, who primarily wore red jerseys for most of their games until 1953, needed something else in their lockers when they played Washington (burgundy), traveled to the Chicago Cardinals (red), or even went across town to visit the Brooklyn Dodgers (red). Two teams playing in red simply wouldn't do.

Enter the 'clash jersey.'  From 1937-52, the Giants carried an extra blue clash jersey designed to replace the normal red ones when they played a team wearing red (or reddish) jerseys. Other teams that featured clash jerseys included those same Dodgers and Cardinals whose versions of their clash jerseys were identical to their primary jerseys, just in a contrasting blue as opposed to red. Green Bay had plain or striped yellow jerseys to contrast their greens. The Rams had plain blue (plain red in 1949) to contrast their yellow jerseys in their Cleveland and early L.A. days. The Steelers had yellow versions of their black jerseys in the early 1940s. Even the Colts wore a plain, unstriped red jersey as a clash jersey when they played against other dark or navy jersey teams for their first three years of play.

So with HD televisions and an image-conscious NFL now encouraging CVC match-ups on Thursday Nights this season, some teams will eventually need to reach into the past in order to provide for the future. They will require a modern version of the clash jersey. After all, what better way to escalate jersey sales than to require nearly half of the League to add a new official jersey?

Despite such NFL 'shoves' in that direction, several teams either can't, or shouldn't, go the clash jersey route. For example, if your team has only two colors in their color scheme and one of them is white, you should really stick with that color and white. I'm looking at you, Colts and Jets. First, I can't picture a black & royal or a black & green version for either team. Second, while a blue clash jersey was fine for those red teams half a century ago, I don't think the League wants teams to introduce a color that is not part of the team's scheme. <coughNinerscoughblackjerseycough> Excuse me, please. What was that?

Some teams actually already possess their clash jerseys. The Chargers have their powder blues that would provide enough contrast against other navy based teams. The Broncos still carry their navy jerseys as an alternate that can be worn against other orange or red teams when wearing their own orange wouldn't slice it. The Cardinals have a black jersey to wear against other red-based clubs.

Other teams have worn their clash jersey in the past but have since abandoned it and would need to resurrect said third jersey. The Bears wore an orange jersey as an alternate from 2005-11. The Falcons wore the black version of their current red primary as their main jersey for several years in the early 2000s until switching to the current red and creating a black throwback that has since been abandoned as well. My favorite would be the Saints bringing back the gold jerseys they wore for a single game back in 2002.

Fans would likely need to get used to seeing plenty of yellow (not gold) as clash jerseys. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Kansas City, and Washington all utilized yellow as their main 'second color' other than white. These yellow jerseys would necessitate the Packers, Steelers, and Redskins to add a new pair of pants to their wardrobe as a mono-yellow look would be hard on the eyes.

What, then, should these new clash jerseys look like?

Well, one thing we can be sure of. Back in the day, the Cardinals sometimes kept their red socks to wear with their blue clash jerseys. Other times they coordinated and paired matching blue socks with the blue jerseys. In today's NFL, any team going with the clash combo would go the 'whole nine yards' in order to match up and down.

For the AFC as already noted, the Jets and Colts would not add an extra jersey. The Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Jaguars, Texans, Titans, Broncos, and Chargers each already have a white jerseys and two differently colored jerseys and therefore need no further additions. That leaves the Bills, Patriots, Dolphins, Steelers, Chiefs and Raiders being in need of a newly colored clash jersey. But after thinking about it, my belief is that the Raiders would forgo every opportunity to add a third jersey. I thought about a silver jersey similar to what the Patriots used for several years but I couldn't see that getting paired with silver pants. And since the Raiders just don't wear something other than silver pants, I went ahead and added Oakland to the Colts and Jets as teams not receiving a new jersey.

BUFFALO:
This was a relatively easy swapping of red and blue. I did the same thing with the socks.

PATRIOTS:
Navy and red are exchanged again. I was tempted to remove the jersey side-panels but decided against it. The pants stripes were recolored so that the stripes match the jersey side-panels. The belt was also changed to red. I was tempted to change the silver shoulder stripes on the clash jersey to navy but decided against it due to the fact that they'd then look too much like the Texans' red jerseys.

DOLPHINS:
An exchange of orange for aqua has this clash jersey combo resembling the one worn in 2003-04 and again in 2009-10. I thought about reversing the orange and aqua in the pants stripe but then it would not match the helmet stripe so I left it be.

STEELERS:
Half-way through this clash jersey I had a change of heart. Due to the way the Steelers have cut their 'northwestern' sleeve stripe pattern in half, along with the fact that the home jersey and road jersey patterns are not the same, I decided to go with the road white jersey template and change it into a yellow clash jersey. Black and yellow were reversed and the socks, too, were changed to yellow. I badly wanted to add northwestern stripes to the socks but came to the conclusion that complete NW stripes on the socks would be too much in contrast with the abbreviated set of stripes on the sleeves so I left them out. In order to avoid the 'full-banana,' I chose to bring back the white pants worn by the Steelers in 1970-71 which would actually look really good when worn with either of the other two jerseys, as well.

CHIEFS:
The Chiefs (and/or the NFL and its jersey manufacturers) have been producing novelty yellow Chiefs jerseys for years. Now one will finally see game action. White and yellow have been swapped out in a re-colorizing of the Chiefs' road white jersey. This clash jersey just screamed to be paired with the Chiefs' red pants.

The rest of the AFC - minus the Colts, Jets, and Raiders - should already be familiar to our viewers but, for consistency, we'll include them here.

RAVENS:
Not sure how much contrast black provides versus the purple. I can't see how Baltimore could wear purple against a team wearing, say, navy. Black wouldn't be much good in that case, either.

BENGALS:
Definitely adequate contrast provided here, though.

BROWNS:
Ditto for the Browns.

TEXANS:
No problems here.

JAGUARS:
For the sake of brevity, let's just say that contrast is not the problem here.

TITANS:
Despite putting the light blue jerseys into storage, they'd work well as a clash jersey. But would a red jersey work better? I think it does. And it is a team color, too.

BRONCOS:
I still like the navy jersey better.

CHARGERS:
Will Spanos ever wake up and make the powders the primary?

The NFC should present some more opportunities.

The Eagles, Panthers, 49ers, Cardinals, and Seahawks each have three existing jerseys.

The Cowboys are my only team that I have determined do not need a third jersey (to be explained next time).

That leaves 10 teams in the rest of the NFC needing their clash jerseys developed from scratch or resurrected from the storage closet.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Bill Schaefer