Knee Jerk Grades for NFL "Rivalries" Uniforms

The sacred art of professional sports uniforms/uniform design is something near and dear to my heart, so I was a bit nervous when the NFL announced their new "Rivalries" sets alongside Nike back at the NFL Draft in Green Bay. After months of waiting, eight of the latest uniform sets in the wardrobe, exclusively for the AFC East and NFC West teams in 2025, are now here awaiting judgment. Here's my knee-jerk grades for each.

Miami Dolphins Rivalries Uniforms

Let's start with the ones that were the obligatory first to leak out early. Ultimately, not straying too far from their color palette, Miami opted for a deep blue look throughout, including the matte helmets. In small doses, orange works well here, such as on the inside stripes of the sleeves and helmets. However, the orange-only lettering and collar come off looking really bad, the former especially so, right above the two-tone blue numbers. Doing the obvious thing (Miami Vice) isn't always the worst option, and this is a textbook example of that.

Grade: Hell

New England Patriots Rivalries Uniforms

One of the two AFC East teams embracing the winter storm motif, the Patriots feature a "Storm Blue" base with minimal red accents, visible only on the stars around the collar, the inside of the collar, and on the Nike logos. These uniforms also feature a modern, less rounded take on the number font from the cult-favorite '90s Patriots uniforms (bring the blue ones back, I beg of you @RobertKKraft), a fishnet pattern on the metallic grey shoulder and pant stripes, a nameplate font similar to their workmark logo, and an all-new New England secondary logo on the shoulders. Based on some leaks from earlier this summer, I had been expecting the blue here to be notably unsaturated, and while it may not pop here like the '90s royal blue, these are ultimately solid enough.

Grade: B

New York Jets Rivalries Uniforms

The good people of Gotham already suffer enough with the likes of the Joker, Scarecrow, Ra's al Ghul, and those of that nature running amok in their streets, but now, worst of all, the New York Jets have once again invoked their city's name for branding and merchandising purposes. The dark green on its own looks really good, but the gothic number font here is going to be as "acquired taste" a uniform element as anything here, and I think they could've done something better than the matte black helmets they landed on. Also, we can't forget the quite literal manhole cover-inspired chest logo and the patterning on the sleeves. The jokes write themselves sometimes. Not as bad as Miami's, but not exactly strong.

Grade: C-

Buffalo Bills Rivalries Uniforms

I was worried over the then-rumored idea of the metallic silver that would appear on this Bills set, but these came out strong. The icy pattern on the pants stripes and on the helmet was definitely a gamble on the design front, but they came out looking incredible, and this set feels like a better version of the Vikings whiteout set that they've been sporting the last couple of seasons. The one thing I can say for sure is that I don't like the embossing of the Bills' shoulder logo. That's 100% a case of doing too much, but it comes nowhere near "ruins the entire uniform" territory.

A very strong entry from Western New York's squad.

Grade: B

Seattle Seahawks Rivalries Uniforms

If this is controversial based on the naturally divisive "Oregon"-esque look that the Seahawks landed on, then so be it, but I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. Going with white as the primary color feels like a huge miss, but the "Oregon" elements here, namely the two-tone helmets, exotic patterning on the shoulders, and the metallic green numbering, were executed well enough. I'd like to see these under the lights to be 100% certain, but while these are ultimately fine, it felt like there was more to achieve here. That said, Seattle pulled off something very hard in that they made good two-tone helmets, so bonus points for that.

Grade: B-

San Francisco 49ers Rivalries Uniforms

Tremendous work all around. A Grade: no further notes.

Grade: A

Los Angeles Rams Rivalries Uniforms

My heart sunk when these officially dropped this morning, and they featured white numbers. There are some other elements here that I don't love, but yellow numbers were such a slam dunk that the only thing I can think of is that the Steelers put in some request to ask them not to, given their current all-black uniforms are what they are. Also, not great here is the gradient blue pattern on the inside of the ram horn sleeves. It should've been either straight blue or nothing at all. Disappointed would be an understatement.

Grade: D

Arizona Cardinals Rivalries Uniforms

The helmets that the Cardinals landed on are ultimately unimportant, but everything else here is so good that it doesn't detract from the full set for me. The Arizona flag, displayed inside the state shape on the shoulder, is an incredibly good touch, as the metallic orange that appears as a bordering color and on the beak of the bird. Simply put, this is a great and unique spin on the original City Connect uniforms that the Arizona Diamondbacks developed some years ago, and it's the best of the eight offerings.

Grade: S

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