Best and Worst historical Super Bowl uni matchups

[MCM0313]

Bizarrely, I haven't been able to find such a thread in the archives, at least not in the past few years. Anyway, I think this could be a fun topic to discuss. Which Super Bowls just looked great? Which ones were a disaster (*cough cough, last year's*)? 

 

Also, teams wearing white in the Super Bowl are, thus far, 31-18 if I recall correctly, with at least the four biggest margins of victory (49ers over Broncos by 45 points, Bears over Patriots by 36 points, Cowboys over Bills by 35 points, Seahawks over Broncos by 35 points). It's a small sample size, but that's still a bigger difference than you'd expect. Do you think it's just a coincidence, or does wearing white somehow convey a psychological advantage?

[Mac the Knife]

 

Super Bowl XIV.  The most picturesque Super Bowl on several levels.

[jc...]

I-X ... White is 6-4.

XI-XX ... White is 6-4.

XXI-XXX ... White is 6-4.

XXXI-XL ... White is 5-5.

XLI-XLIX ... White is 8-1.

 

It's a more recent trend. The Packers were the ones to flip it. From 41-44, the AFC won both odd numbered Super Bowls, and NFC won both even numbered Super Bowls. All winners wore white, because of the alternating home/away thing. After the Green Bay flip, NFC won even, AFC won odd. 

[MCM0313]

7 minutes ago, jc... said:

I-X ... White is 6-4.

XI-XX ... White is 6-4.

XXI-XXX ... White is 6-4.

XXXI-XL ... White is 5-5.

XLI-XLIX ... White is 8-1.

 

It's a more recent trend. The Packers were the ones to flip it. From 41-44, the AFC won both odd numbered Super Bowls, and NFC won both even numbered Super Bowls. All winners wore white, because of the alternating home/away thing. After the Green Bay flip, NFC won even, AFC won odd. 

That's not really a flip. They didn't reverse the trend, they just bucked it. Even before that...I mean, white jerseys were 18-12 in the first 30. It's probably a coincidence, it's just an interesting one.

[MCM0313]

34 minutes ago, Mac the Knife said:

 

Super Bowl XIV.  The most picturesque Super Bowl on several levels.

That was a good one. Love the Rams' long yellow sleeves with blue horns, and of course their iconic helmet. Steelers look good too but not as good as the Rams.

[jc...]

7 minutes ago, MCM0313 said:

That's not really a flip. They didn't reverse the trend, they just bucked it. Even before that...I mean, white jerseys were 18-12 in the first 30. It's probably a coincidence, it's just an interesting one.

 

After I re-read it, I had that totally messed up. 

Basically, the AFC and NFC alternated wins between 41-49. But the Packers win in the middle, as you said bucked the trend. 

 

[MCM0313]

I posted this one in another thread, but this may be my favorite Super Bowl uni matchup. They compliment each other so well.

 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

This year won't look good, in any combination of the teams. The best possible would be New England in blue against Carolina in white; or vice versa, and that's not saying much. Can you imagine Denver vs Arizona? 

[MCM0313]

2 hours ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

This year won't look good, in any combination of the teams. The best possible would be New England in blue against Carolina in white; or vice versa, and that's not saying much. Can you imagine Denver vs Arizona? 

Denver v. Carolina would look excellent IMO.

[dakotapalm]

 

THis one is quite good.

 

 

 

The first Super Bowl is also in the top grouping.

[phutmasterflex]

I'll give you what I think is the best: SB 32

 

Old school vs. new school unis -- a perfect story of the NFL's past and present in the matchup

California sun giving the unis max effect to start the game and it ending under the lights

Green and yellow vs navy and orange - Great color contrast for both teams

Each team had two common-colored uni elements with pack with yellow helmet and pants, Broncos in blue helmet and jersey

 

[MCM0313]

6 minutes ago, phutmasterflex said:

I'll give you what I think is the best: SB 32

 

Old school vs. new school unis -- a perfect story of the NFL's past and present in the matchup

California sun giving the unis max effect to start the game and it ending under the lights

Green and yellow vs navy and orange - Great color contrast for both teams

Each team had two common-colored uni elements with pack with yellow helmet and pants, Broncos in blue helmet and jersey

 

Very detailed analysis, and I like your take on the contrasting styles. (Ironically, the Nike-fied Broncos had a more old-fashioned offense than the traditional-looking Packers.) I'll admit the Broncos 1997-present scheme has really grown on me since my initial dismay when they introduced it. I still wouldn't put it quite at the top. 

 

I think it would be pretty interesting if, once the teams have been determined and the uniform situation has been officially announced, someone were to do a 1-50 ranking of all Super Bowls in terms of aesthetics (primarily uniforms, but also taking end zones into account). It would be very subjective, obviously, but all this stuff is subjective.

[FiddySicks]

This is totally objective and in no way biased. This was the best ever matchup. Best. EVER. Simply stating a fact.

[fouhy12]

5 minutes ago, MCM0313 said:

Very detailed analysis, and I like your take on the contrasting styles. (Ironically, the Nike-fied Broncos had a more old-fashioned offense than the traditional-looking Packers.) I'll admit the Broncos 1997-present scheme has really grown on me since my initial dismay when they introduced it. I still wouldn't put it quite at the top. 

 

I think it would be pretty interesting if, once the teams have been determined and the uniform situation has been officially announced, someone were to do a 1-50 ranking of all Super Bowls in terms of aesthetics (primarily uniforms, but also taking end zones into account). It would be very subjective, obviously, but all this stuff is subjective.

I would be willing to put one together. I think one also has to take into account the aesthetics of the game as a whole. Things like endzones, Super Bowl logo and patches, time of day, stadium, and field conditions all play a part in the overall look of the game.

[FinsUp1214]

As far as bests are concerned, there's those ones that are pretty universally (myself included) lauded as bests, like Chiefs/Packers, etc.

 

But I think one that doesn't get enough credit is Bucs/Raiders in XXXVII:

 

 

The Raiders always look great, but I like this Buccaneers set more than even the creamsicles (which were still good). So to me, it's one of those "both teams looked thier best" games. Add in the afternoon sunlight and the neat little quirk of it being two pirate themed teams playing at a coastal site (the stadium decor certainly added well to the matchup), and it's a winner. May not be the greatest ever, but one that deserves much more love I think.

 

EDIT: bucfan beat me to it! That's two in favor! ?

[MCM0313]

10 minutes ago, fouhy12 said:

I would be willing to put one together. I think one also has to take into account the aesthetics of the game as a whole. Things like endzones, Super Bowl logo and patches, time of day, stadium, and field conditions all play a part in the overall look of the game.

You put it together, I'll read and comment and yell at you about all the ones you got wrong. Seriously though, please do! It would be an awesome thread. I might even make my own list.

 

(Personally, I don't think Super Bowl logo matters all that much. I mean, they've all been decent. I try to keep it to things that a team can control. But your thread, your rules.) 

 

If you do take other factors into account, though, please don't penalize Colts-Bears too much. It was a muddy mess of a game, but the uni matchup was top-notch and I thought the mud on the Colts' all-white outfit was pretty cool.

[fouhy12]

Just now, MCM0313 said:

You put it together, I'll read and comment and yell at you about all the ones you got wrong. Seriously though, please do! It would be an awesome thread. I might even make my own list.

 

(Personally, I don't think Super Bowl logo matters all that much. I mean, they've all been decent. I try to keep it to things that a team can control. But your thread, your rules.) 

I think the logo matters because it impacts the aesthetics of the stadium, field, and uniforms. Especially in modern times, the colors and styling of the logo impact the branding of the game as a whole. The design of the field and the accents used in the stadium often pull from the logo, and of course the logo itself is used as a patch on the jersey.

[TheRicSlick]

10 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

This is totally objective and in no way biased. This was the best ever matchup. Best. EVER. Simply stating a fact.

The result wasn't too bad either.

[C-Squared]

Went searching for a good XXXIV pic... mission accomplished

 

[MCM0313]

2 hours ago, C-Squared said:

Went searching for a good XXXIV pic... mission accomplished

 

Wow, gotta love how Dyson stretched that ball over the goal line while waiting to see what the call would be. I would call this a good but not great uniform matchup: excellent Rams uniform (their white-on-yellow set was probably my favorite non-color uniform of its time), but mediocre Titans uniform.