Carolingian Steamroller

Personally that's a no for me, even with the thick socks. I much prefer the 60's version of the Pat Patriot look with red socks.

White pants and white socks paired with a dark jersey should be outlawed. It's my absolute least favorite look in all of football and yes the Pats throwbacks are included.

That is where we diverge. I think material makes a big difference since ultimately we are talking about the aesthetics on the field. The way the fabric plays off the light (and here is where it matters that the Saints play half their games in a dome comes into play) is how we experience the aesthetics of the game. People don't complain about flat finish pants on the Niners because the flat finish already had a strong association with flat finish gold from the Montana/Young era. The visual experience of watching the Niners is specifically well adapted to flat finish pants. I think the Saints current gold pants do a good job of match the base color of the helmet and jersey numbers but the lack of sheen really matters, especially compared to the previous set(s) of gold pants and especially the Brees era when they had the most success: The Saints throwback pants do have a rich gold finish and they match the numbers but they don't match the helmet. Could they switch to full time throwbacks including the rich gold helmet? Maybe. That's an interesting idea but I think given what the base uniform is today, I think the 80's format of black and white pants makes a lot of sense.

Counter Counter Counterpoint: Gold pants ideal but without the sheen, the color of the fabric is really off compared to the numbers and helmet so it does actually make sense to (sadly) shelve the gold pants until they can get the color/sheen right. Black over black is the main design with black over white against a team in dark pants. There's a reason the only team left in gold pants is the Niners and they lean into the flat tan/brown color because of the 80's pants.

I think its fine. I like that they've opted to have the knicker style but that combo is jinxed. Zero wins in the entire history. It's interesting to see both side by side. I probably lean towards the white socks but not sure.

Counterpoint: This is the solution to the lack of shimmery pants fabric. It has precedent in Saints history, you can always go black over black, and its a good look for a handful of games or at least until they figure out the fabric situation.

Correct. Even that design doesn't use that much athletic gold:

Put enough paprika on anything and it'll taste good. Side note: around the island of Hispaniola, escaped slaves, naval deserters, and general ne'er-do-wells would sell the slow roasted meat of feral pigs captured on the islands to passing ships. It's called barbacoa in Spanish or in French, boucan. Hence the name for its purveyors: BUCCANEERS.

Texans and Titans in Luv-Ya and red...

Just realized the Titans current look is in its 5th year. Rebrand becomes possible after this year. Seems like it just came out.

This is the third game for the black jerseys in 2022. I don't think purple color rush counts against that number. Bonus note: the black over black is one of the Ravens oldest combinations. It goes back to 2004 and they've worn it annually except for 2008 and 2009.

I may not agree but I think the Colts definitely did in 1995. I had remembered Indy wearing them the whole season but my memory was shoddy. According to the GUD, the Colts wore them for the first three weeks of the 1995 season (including one white-at-home game) and then promptly abandoned them, ne'er to be seen again. This was also the first year of the Colts three year experiment with black cleats. One thing that did last after being introduced in 1995 was the blue facemask. I had thought the blue masks debuted earlier but nope. They came right along with the blue britches. I don't know if I'd want them to roll with the blue facemask now but I'd definitely go with blue over white or black. I liked the grey facemask when it came back but mind you, facemask architecture has changed dramatically since 2003.

I'm sure you've got a certain AL Central team in mind with that.

Not that one.

Do the pants have the silver center stripe or are they just blue/white?

How about we not argue over IQ or intelligence like a gaggle of 13 year-old nerds and go back to arguing the merits of pinstripes on the road like proper adult nerds?

Part of the factor is that late in the year the sun sit lower in the sky, even at noon, which changes the angle of the lighting. Also with the dry air (and on a windy day by the lakefront in Chicago, the air is very dry) there's a lot less diffusion creating a very high contrast image if it's a clear day.

There's an interesting collection of factors here. Nike produces all the uniforms but the individual game-to-game choices are made by some combination of the team marketing departments and the equipment staff. I'm sure marketing is looking at fan opinions and engagement stats but equipment managers are talking to the players. My first guess was, "Hey these guys are now used to wearing a dozen different combos, including a BFBS and GFGS, every year. This is just what they know coming out of college." But looking at the top schools for current NFL rosters: Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan, Penn State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma. All very, very traditional schools in terms of aesthetics, that DON'T do a lot of uniform combinations (compared to say Oregon). So I dunno. Who knows why we're getting the types of combinations we're getting.

I'd ditch the helmet spike but this is pretty much what I'd go for. Maybe red outlines on the main jersey numbers too? But this is pretty perfect.

Specifically this one:

That's a very succinct way to describe it. The pieces are there but it doesn't scream TITANS. I think what really defined the original Titans look was the double blue (actually a rare combo in the NFL) and the shoulder yokes. I think they have some combinations now that look more Titans-y, such as the navy over Columbia. I think you could easily tweak this look into something that feels more on brand. Maybe adding a touch more red (number outlining? facemask?), dropping the arm pit panels and ditching the silvers (swap with Columbia).

They should really consider white facemasks for this game...