NFL Week 1 Uniform Grades: The New 2026 Jerseys Ranked (Uniform Showdown)
Welcome to the fall season, which means I am officially trading in my movie reviews for the gridiron.
If you've been following the channel, you know I love ranking things. This NFL season, I'm launching a brand new weekly series called Uniform Showdown. But this isn't just a standard jersey review. I don't care how good a team's logo looks on a rack in the team store. I am grading the actual on-field visual matchups: how the colors contrast, the pants combinations, and whether or not equipment managers are actually checking the weather before dressing their teams.
Because in this series, it doesn't matter how well your team played, it only matters how good they looked.
In Week 1, we got our first look at the massive 2026 uniform redesigns in action, some brilliant throwback choices, and a few absolute disasters that had me handing out my lowest grade (the infamous "Turd" award) right out of the gate.
Here is a sneak peek at what I cover in the premiere episode of Uniform Showdown.
The Good: The 2026 Upgrades & The Alternate Geniuses
Week 1 gave us our first on-field look at some of the biggest redesigns of the year. The Los Angeles Rams finally ditched their terrible gradient numbers, which used to look like pee, and faced off against the San Francisco 49ers in a beautiful warm-versus-cold matchup. The Tennessee Titans also debuted their massive uniform overhaul against the New York Jets, giving us a gorgeous baby blue versus emerald green AFC clash that looked like an instant classic.
But my biggest praise of the week goes to the Cincinnati Bengals. When it's hot outside early in the season, teams need to adjust. The Bengals understood the assignment, ditching their dark jerseys for their orange alternates against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, creating one of the best high-contrast matchups of the weekend.
The Bad: The Black Pants Disaster
If the Bengals got an A+ for dressing for the weather, the Carolina Panthers failed the class.
The Panthers hosted the Chicago Bears in scorching heat. Carolina smartly wore their light blue jerseys, but for some inexplicable reason, paired them with black helmets and black pants. Not only is that a terrible choice for the weather, but it horribly clashed with the Bears' incredibly dark navy uniforms. It was a visual mess that ruined what could have been a great looking game.
The Missed Opportunities
Sometimes, a good uniform matchup is ruined by a single piece of clothing.
Cardinals vs. Chargers: The Chargers have some of the best uniforms in the league, but they opted for white pants this week even though their opponents, the Cardinals, were in their all-white away set. If LA had just worn their yellow pants, this would have been a top-tier visual matchup. Instead, it was a washed-out disappointment.
Saints vs. Lions: Both teams wore solid color pants with the exact same color socks, making both squads look like they were running around the field in yoga pants.
Watch the Full Week 1 Breakdown!
I go through every single game on the slate in the full video, handing out my official hearts, turds, and number grades to see who takes the early lead for the best and worst dressed teams of 2026.
Check out the full video above to see my grades for the Vikings' throwbacks, the Cowboys vs. Giants Sunday Night Football classic, and the new-look Falcons vs. Steelers.
Don't forget to leave a comment on the video telling me which matchup you think I got completely wrong, and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single week of Uniform Showdown!
