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The final two games for the first week of action in the new 2020 NFL season have been played, and the results are in the books now. Each team has played at least one game, so we have seen every team in action this season.
Below is my review of the final two games.
Before I do, though, I wanted to mention one thing forgotten in the previous blog entries published recently. It is about uniforms, and one team’s new, updated uniform, which supposedly was supposed to be an improvement, but it is not. I am talking about the Los Angeles Rams, during their Sunday Night Football game against Dallas a couple of nights ago.
Now, I will admit that the trend of uniform changes has generally been for the worse in the NFL, and more generally in sports, has been that they have gotten worse. For a little while, it seemed that there was some merit to at least some of the uniform changes. Most of the trends have been towards much darker looking uniforms, so that most teams seem to have a considerable amount of some very dark color or other, often outright black or navy blue. But even some other colors were altered to such darker shades, that they hardly looked like the team’s original colors. The green of the Philadelphia Eagles or the shade of green used by the New York Jets until a couple of seasons ago comes to mind as one example. When the Atlanta Falcons altered their uniforms from mostly red (helmets and home jerseys) to black, it was not a bad looking uniform. I missed those old red uniforms, but could understand why they did it. Ditto with the New England Patriots a few years later, when they changed from the white helmets and red home jerseys to the silver helmets and blue home jerseys, which have been altered a bit since, but which nevertheless was the beginning of the era of how we now see the Patriots.
Those two uniform changes were the first total, complete uniform and image changes that I remember seeing since becoming a fan. I became a fan in 1981, and the Cincinnati Bengals had seriously changed their uniforms. They used to have much plainer uniforms that resembled the old Browns uniforms, only with the word BENGALS written on the sides of their helmets. Then in 1981, they changed it to the tiger stripe helmets, and with tiger stripes on the sleeves, that they have kept ever since, even through some alterations. Again, to me, this was an improvement, because the Bengals have one of the coolest looking uniforms in the league these days. I could even get behind some of the uniform changes since, particularly the black pants when wearing their white away jerseys. I can make exceptions, like the Seattle Seahawks, who may have dark blue helmets and uniforms, but these were an improvement over the previous uniforms, which were kind of this weird greenish-blue which looked at times almost gray, but looked…well, boring to an amazing degree. Hell, I could even get behind the uniform changes for the Denver Broncos, with the much darker shade of navy blue, although I am glad that they returned back to their traditional, distinctive orange jerseys.
All of that said, some other uniform changes have not been improvements. One example that annoyed and upset me (within reason) at the time, and still annoys me even today, was that of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They used to have one of the most immediately distinctive, and in my opinion coolest, uniforms in the league, if not in all of sports. Then, they switched to pewter and red as their main colors, with some black prominently serving as outlines for the numbers. They went from having one of the most distinctive uniforms to one of the most boring and generic. Apparently, they know it as well, because they seem fixated on altering their uniforms time and time again. Yet, not one of these changes by the Bucs has been pleasing to the eye, and they remain as one of the teams with the most boring uniforms to see.
Nor are they alone. The Titans also could have looked quite distinct, for years. They could have looked a bit more like the old Houston Oilers. True, the Oilers were a troubled franchise, but it was not their uniforms that was the problem for those old Oilers. That light shade of blue could have made the Titans look distinctive. Instead, they used dark blue, and a few seasons ago, they changed from white helmets (boring and overdone) to navy blue bordering on black helmet (really boring and even more overdone). I mean, they could have become the only team in the league with light blue helmets, or they could have become only the second (or third, if you include Washington’s maroon as red) team in the league with red helmets. Instead, they chose the most boring looking uniforms possible.
There are other teams that changed their uniforms, too. The Bills and the 49ers were two examples, but they both at least returned to their older, better uniforms, to their credit. The Bills had changed their uniforms a few times. Still, I liked their red helmets of the later eighties and the nineties, but their alterations from 2003-2010 were horrendous. The changes to the 49ers uniforms were not actually all that bad, but that team did not need uniform changes. The uniforms that they wore during their dynasty days of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were perfectly fine. No changes necessary. Returning to a uniform closer to the ones both teams had in the early eighties was an improvement, frankly.
Of course, there are other uniform changes that were not improvements. I already mentioned the Eagles, who changed their uniforms to the present ones in the mid-nineties, and how this was not an improvement. The Cardinals have weird logos, although their uniform changes were not radical. The Jaguars never seem to get their uniforms right, and the Browns changes from more traditional uniforms looked horrendous. Likewise, the Vikings and Lions, to me, had better uniforms back in the eighties.
The Rams also have made repeated uniform changes. But like some other teams, no uniform changes were necessary. The helmets and uniforms that they had in the eighties not only were not a problem, but they were in fact some of the best helmets and uniforms in the league. But their alterations, beginning in 2000 and being fairly regularly changed here and there ever since, have not been an improvement. And this past Sunday, after much publicity about how they were going to change their uniforms once again, the final result was….well, just terrible. They looked a bit like the old Rams helmets, but somehow, far, far worse. And those plain white jerseys and pants just did not go with the helmets at all. In all, their uniforms looked terrible, to the point where I ask myself yet again, why so many teams seem to feel a need to change their uniforms and logos so frequently.
Some teams got it right. That includes the Chargers, that other Los Angeles team. Also the Jets, who returned to a more standard green jersey, and with green helmets, which are an improvement and make them look more distinctive. But the Rams just looked awful, and what makes it such a shame is the memory of how they had some of the best helmets and uniforms in the league not all that long ago.
Okay, anyway, here are reviews of last night’s games:
Pittsburgh 26, NY Giants 16 – This was pretty much what I expected. The Steelers looked like the better, more complete team, and handled the Giants well, admittedly. The G-Men had opportunities, but mistakes got in the way. Big Blue did not get blown out, but neither did they really give a serious fight and threaten to win this home game. Looks like another long season for Giants fans. My prediction: Accurate
Tennessee 16, Denver 14 – A low scoring affair that wound up playing almost exactly the way I had pictured it. The Broncos are not the most explosive team, and the Titans are notoriously conservative and low scoring. So, it was a very tight game, with neither team blowing out the other, and came down to the wire, with the Titans ultimately managing to squeak out an important road victory at Mile High, as expected. My prediction: Accurate
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