Following the Bengals' recent uniform release, TRO has decided to rank the uniforms currently in each franchise's arsenal from worst to best.
32) ATLANTA FALCONS
via Danny Karnik / AP Photo
Around this time last year, the Atlanta Falcons were dealing with some outdated uniforms, so they decided to revamp their look. They did not handle the transformation well. They look somewhere between a fictional football team in a movie and an arena football team. The large "ATL" over the number is something that maybe you can get away with on an alternate jersey worn once or twice a year, but not as a staple of the uniform. The numbers look like Dracula's teeth, and we'll let the two-tone Microsoft Word gradient color mix speak for itself.
31) WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM
via Alexander Jonsei / NFL
We all know the Washington Football Team is in the process of replacing their old logo. It is respectable that they decided to take the time to get it right, and that they decided to maintain the uniform's previous color scheme.
However, this is a color scheme that requires a logo. The burgundy, gold, and white cannot stand on its own without some sort of logo on the helmet to dress it up. While this is just a uniform article, and not a team name/logo/mascot evaluation, the lack of one here just leaves us with a boring burgundy and gold mix, leaving the WFT looking like a generic Nike product each week.
30) ARIZONA CARDINALS
via Mike Stobe / Getty Images
The Arizona Cardinals are in need for a uniform upgrade. Their style screams early 2000's. There are too many design flaws for a team with so much uniform potential. This style of jersey, with the random outlines, different colors coming down the sides, and random white inserts around the armpits, has got to go. The fans, the league, and even Kyler Murray are looking for a tune up. It's time.
29) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
via Stephen B. Morton / AP Photo
The Jacksonville Jaguars have undergone some wild uniform changes over the years. Despite the loud teal color, these uniforms are kind of boring. The plain black pants are reminiscent of a college team. Same goes for the jersey that only has a couple black stripes around the collar to offer.
28) DENVER BRONCOS
via Dustin Bradford / Getty Images
The Denver Broncos are another franchise dealing with a slightly outdated look. This style of jersey is no longer the "look." The the armpit/lat stripe that turns into the plain and overly thick leg stripe mixed with the thick collar color just are not that aesthetically pleasing anymore.
27) NEW YORK GIANTS
via Elsa / Getty Images
Maybe its the years of Eli Manning, and now Daniel Jones, wearing the extra baggy, old-school sleeves, but the New York Giants uniform is just fairly boring. The blue jersey is at least crisp, but there's not much to it, and the white uniform is as bland as it gets.
26) NEW YORK JETS
via FanSided
The New York Jets recently changed their uniforms in 2019, for the first time in over twenty years. Since the change, there's something about them, they're almost TOO green, and the helmet might be TOO shiny. They tried a new approach with the horizontal shoulder marks, which don't do the uniforms many favors either. Maybe if they start winning more games they will look better.
25) CLEVELAND BROWNS
via ProFootballNetwork
The Cleveland Browns do manage to look decent on the field despite being the "Cleveland Browns," with an orange helmet for a logo, and a brown and orange color scheme. That being said, there's only so much you can do, and only so high you can land on a list like this when you're cooking with ingredients like that.
24) HOUSTON TEXANS
via Eric Sauseda / HoustonPress
The Houston Texans have basically not touched their uniforms since they became a franchise. It's not a bad uniform, and the team has a very solid logo and color scheme. It's just that you would just think a city like Houston would have a more modern look. They could take some notes from the Cincinnati Bengals and make some subtle tweaks to this uniform to push them over the edge.
23) TENNEESEE TITANS
via USA Today
The Tennessee Titans need to ask themselves a question, what are we trying to do? Their uniforms, are not that bad, there's just a whole lot going on. One week it's all navy with white numbers, one week it's all teal with navy numbers, one week it's all white, and any of the remaining weeks it's some mixture of the three. While variety is a great thing to have in a uniform, and you'll note that teams that lack variety find themselves in the bottom half of this list. However, too much variety, with differing details within that variety gets you in the bottom half as well. The Titans are trying to balance, navy, teal, white, two shades of gray, and red on their various uniforms. Each variation of the uniform seemingly tries to juggle all of these colors instead of splitting them up across the different options. Also, the numbers are not good.
22) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
via ProFootballNetwork
The New Orleans Saints have a rather clean uniform. However, there's not much going on, and not a lot of variety. These aren't bad uniforms, but they certainly are overhyped for how simple they truly are.
21) DETROIT LIONS
via Nic Antaya / Getty Images
A decent uniform rotation, the Detroit Lions have some aspects that aren't found elsewhere around the league. For instance, they went with the team name on the sides of the shoulders, instead of across the chest, or a logo on the sleeves. It's an interesting look, and TRO is not entirely sure how to feel about it. They have a good color scheme to work with and a great logo, but their silver on silver alternative look leaves much to be desired.
20) MIAMI DOLPHINS
via PrimeSportTalk
The Miami Dolphins have very sound uniforms. The colors, the stripes, the font and numbers outlined in orange are appropriate for South Beach, and color up the league. The only thing holding them back is the modern dolphin logo.
19) KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
via Ronald Martinez / Getty Images
The Kansas City Chiefs have a good uniform, particularly the helmet with the white facemask. They've opted for no team name or logo on the jersey, and it works out for them well. The secondary color outlining the numbers is a nice touch that ties into the stripes and accents. Its only downfall is that at times it's a little too much red, particularly in their all red alternate.
18) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
via Michael Zagaris / Getty Images
The San Francisco 49ers uniforms have stood the test of time. They are classic with large, clean numbers, and a good use of striping in the appropriate places. The solid color socks are holding them back, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
17) BALTIMORE RAVENS
via NFL SpinZone
The Baltimore Ravens use a solid rotation of uniforms. The thing that sets them apart from the rest of the league is that they have a patch from the Maryland state flag on their shoulder sleeves. Then they utilize the team's "B" on the pant legs and have a wide selection of options to choose from each week: purple/white, black/black, purple/purple, or white/black.
16) TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
via Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did the right thing before last year and got rid of their god-awful uniforms. Remember the alarm clock numbers, what were they thinking? In any event, they rebounded with a rebranding, and it led to a Super Bowl (ok maybe it wasn't the uniform). They took a page out of their own book and revamped everything good about previous uniforms to give the team three solid options. Hopefully they tore out and burned the page in their book that led to the previous era.
15) NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
via Katheryn Riley / Getty Images
The New England Patriots took inspiration from their color rush uniform and applied it to their entire rotation, and it has worked out in their favor. A change was needed after Tom Brady's 20 year run in Foxborough came to an end. The stripes are big, the numbers are firm, and the colors look good. Very "Patriotic" which is fitting for obvious reasons. The only downside is: how long do we think these large stripes will maintain their luster?
14) GREEN BAY PACKERS
via Packerswire / USA Today
Sometimes you can't bet against history and tradition. The uniforms for the Green Bay Packers just feel like cold weather football and remind us all of Sunday Night Football high resolution cameras covering picture perfect games as the snow falls down in Lambeau. However, their lack of a viable alternative keeps them from progressing any further on this list. I can respect that the VERY old navy, yellow, and khaki uniform from time to time, but relying on it as your only alternate is not the best option.
13) CHICAGO BEARS
via Bearswire / USA Today
The Chicago Bears have a very good uniform. The orange and white numbers, the use of the stripes around the shoulders, and the simple helmet logo, keep this team looking like an organized, but intimidating unit week in and week out. They do a good job with alternative options, whether it's the orange jersey, the navy jersey with all orange numbers, or last year's orange striped look, they manage to keep it fresh.
12) CINCINNATI BENGALS
via Bengals / Twitter
The Cincinnati Bengals finally upgraded their uniform catalogue, and they did a great job. The subtle tiger stripes on the shoulders, the font and numbers, the more authentic-looking stripe on the pants, and of course, the variety have catapulted the Bengals from what would have been near the bottom of this list to a fringe top-10 uniform. Find out more from their release:
11) BUFFALO BILLS
via Adrian Kraus / AP
The Buffalo Bills recently went through a massive uniform change, and thankfully so. The uniforms of the previous era were honestly chaotic. The Bills have restricted themselves to three clean colors that really pop when put together. There's not much bad to say about the new-look Bills.
10) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
via Eagleswire / USA Today
The Philadelphia Eagles have had a uniform that has managed to stay solid throughout the early 2000s to the present. The winged helmets are outstanding, the two-toned stripe on the pants are honestly unique, and the rotation of green, black, and white just blend smoothly. The shade of green just screams gridiron. Since the Eagles have the wings on their helmet, they get to have the luxury of placing their logo on their shoulder sleeves without any pushback.
9) CAROLINA PANTHERS
via PFF / Twitter
The Carolina Panthers could use a uniform shape up, but they still find themselves just inside of the top 10 for a number of reasons. The first being the versatility and blend of colors. You will notice the Panthers take the field in black/silver, black/black, blue/black, blue/blue, white/white. The Panthers have managed to have a lot going on without it being too much. They use a good font for the numbers, and they have a shade of teal unique to them. The team's "Keep Pounding" slogan can be found inside the back collar of every jersey, which is just a nice touch.
8) LOS ANGELES RAMS
via Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
It's interesting to find the Los Angeles Rams in the top 10 because when they released their uniform upgrade this time last year they seemed to be the laughing stock of the offseason. The new Ram looked cartoonish, and everyone wondered why they used the color "bone" (pictured above) instead of white. However, when the rams took the field, man, did those different uniforms look good out there. Whether it's blue on blue, blue on yellow, or bone on bone, the Rams found a way to take what made the throwback LA Rams great, bottle it up, and catapult it into the new generation. The helmets look great, the numbers are unique, and the Falcons should take note that the gradient colors work way better when it's subtly included in the numbers on one Jersey (blue) and not make up the ENTIRE jersey.
7) LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
via Isaac Brekken / AP
The Las Vegas Raiders have swag, 1964 Impala with hydraulics, West coast swag. The silver and black fits their mantra perfectly. It's intimidating, and it lets you know that they're going to come ready to hit you in the mouth, but they're going to look clean doing it too. It's a shame the team was pulled from Oakland, but hopefully they will continue to embody this gritty California feel.
6) PITTSBURGH STEELERS
via Justin K. Aller / Getty Images
Another team whose uniform is timeless, the Pittsburgh Steelers have got it right. The yellow reflects the big yellow steel bridges the city is famous for, and the black brings the toughness and grit often associated with the hardworking people of Pittsburgh. The uniform has good symmetry and each piece complements the rest. Also, yes, the bumble bee throwbacks are cool.
5) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
via Andy Lyons / Getty Images
The Indianapolis Colts received some social media flack last year for hyping up uniform changes, but having them be so minor, the average observer could not notice the difference. They got rid of the unnecessary black accents, altered the number font, and widened the logo plate on the helmet. Even without the changes, they'd be within the top 10. You can't go wrong with the blue and white. Excellent color to name to logo association.
4) MINNESOTA VIKINGS
via John Autey / Pioner Press
The Minnesota Vikings honestly have an outstanding uniform. The purple stands out, as they've managed to wrangle a better shade of purple than the Baltimore Ravens. The yellow and white accents compliment it nicely. The name and number fonts not only match each other, but they also look very Viking-ey. Most importantly, they have matte-purple helmets. They've delivered us these amazing helmets while having them somehow still match their purple cloth jerseys, socks, and pants.
3) DALLAS COWBOYS
via Amy Lemus / Getty Images
Crisp, traditional, cool. The Dallas Cowboys uniforms have long been visually pleasing, especially their navy jersey. The navy and silver suits them and the city of Dallas very well. The clean and thick stripes go great with the star, almost like Captain America's shield minus the red.
2) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
via Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times
The Seahawks have tremendous uniforms. The color scheme is great, with that Microsoft green accenting each piece of the uniform. Outside of the Rams, they are the only franchise to have a pattern inside their numbers. The difference with the Hawks is that they continue this pattern down the middle of their helmets. The collar stripe and pants stripe match each other, and they've tastefully placed the team name off to the side of the chest-piece, almost like a well-placed name tag kindly reminding you who they are. Great uniform, with lots of options: navy, gray, lime green, and white.
1) LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
via the Los Angeles Chargers
Without a doubt, just head and shoulders above everyone else. The powder blue chargers uniform is one of the best in league history, and the chargers made the wise decision to make it their main jersey once again. All article long we've talked about variety, well the Chargers offer us SIX different options without straying too far from who they are. The bolt as a pants stripe is phenomenal. The numbers under the helmet bolt, and the uniqueness to each option is just second to none. Chargers fans have a lot to look forward to with Justin Herbert and these uniforms.
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