Are Titans' Oilers uniforms NFL's best throwbacks? Ranking all 32 teams' alternates

It's possible the NFL has never looked cooler.

That was perfectly evident Sunday, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the most recent team to throw it back, breaking out their beloved – beloved? – "Creamsicle" uniforms for the first time since 2012. (The NFC South-leading Bucs even got into the spirit of the occasion, capsizing in a 20-6 loss to the Lions – very reminiscent of their feckless performances during a two-decade run in "Florida Orange" from 1976-96.)

But that throwback comeback will hardly be the last – and if you don’t already know what’s coming in Weeks 7 and 8, you’ll be thrilled to see other classic uniforms coming out of mothballs. Even better, some fresh fashion-forward alternates are also coming down the pike.

Naturally, not every team is successfully leveraging the new opportunities the league has afforded with the use of secondary helmets and alternate and/or retro color schemes. So let’s take this haberdashery interlude to do a deep dive on NFL couture and rank the alternate uniforms from best to worst:

1. Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday night, y’all – Kelly Green (with silver pants and helmet wings) is finally back after Nike finally dialed in the color fabrication. The “Midnight Green” scheme that’s been synonymous with Jeffrey Lurie’s ownership is underappreciated, not to mention championship-certified. But Kelly should always be an option in Philly’s palette, and its 13-year absence has been far too lengthy. (And a nice unintended consequence? Using the Kelly helmets twice this season precludes the return of last year’s alternate black tops.)

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

So nice to see “Bucco Bruce” return after an 11-year hiatus. And it seems retro is here to stay – at least intermittently – moving forward, the Bucs claiming on their website: “Creamsicle is a link between past and present. Of heroes come and gone. On this bridge between eras, it’s up to all of us to pass the torch. This is not a throwback. It’s our heart and soul. The core of who we are.” Maybe that’s a bit much for a team that was so abjectly bad during their inaugural Creamsicle phase, but pretty cool the Buccaneers have embraced their history – and the two post-Bucco Lombardi Trophies have surely helped. And that leads to another point: Tampa’s new-ish all-pewter alternates are perhaps the most underrated uniform of the Color Rush ilk.

3. Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay's expansion brethren from 1976 will also be turning back the clock to their original silver, blue and green look – complete with the less-caffeinated Seahawk – in Week 8. Not since 2001, before the ‘Hawks moved into their current stadium, have we seen the unis made famous by Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, Kenny Easley and Curt Warner. It’s a very nice offset to the attention-grabbing highlighter-green alternates.

4. New Orleans Saints

“Old gold,” black and white looks good in virtually any combination – aside from those regrettable gold jerseys they tried in 2002 – whether in a callback to the team’s earliest looks from the 1960s or the monochrome white or black combos utilized in the current era. But the Saints really hit a home run with the alternate black helmet introduced last year, one that featured their iconic fleur-de-lis logo in gold on the side with a stream of smaller ones in a tapering pattern down the center line – similar to the feathers used by the Seahawks.

5. Cincinnati Bengals

They’re now 3-0 in the “White Bengal” presentation – which finally includes a white helmet – after it debuted last year and returned in Week 3 against the Rams. Spectacular. It will resurface for Week 13’s Monday nighter against Jacksonville, too … though not before we have to endure the return of the team’s additional orange jersey.

6. New England Patriots

The white “Pat Patriot” helmet and its throwback kit – a callback to AFL royalty – blessedly reappeared last year, just in time to spruce up a team that’s gone with a pretty basic look … to include the basic product Bill Belichick and Co. are currently putting on the field.

7. Tennessee Titans

The next time we seem them on the field – Week 8, following their bye – they won’t quite be evoking AFL royalty … but only because their famously glorious, “Luv Ya Blue” Houston Oilers look with the white helmet and Columbia Blue oil derrick didn’t come into existence until 1975 and was last featured by the Tennessee Oilers in 1998. But the Titans have finally gone back to their roots and will even be shoving it in the faces of their H-Town replacements, the Texans, in Week 15. "It's been a long time coming," said Hall of Fame Oilers QB Warren Moon, who also hopes the Titans will get to wear the jerseys in Houston someday in appreciation of those fans.

8. New York Jets

They finally came to their senses and brought back their slick J-E-T-S logo from the 1980s in the “Legacy White” package they’ve already used to honor the “New York Sack Exchange” twice this season – including opening night. You remember, when new QB Aaron Rodgers got the win in his glorious NYJ debut. Moving forward, boys, let’s continue catching up to the Giants by also adding a home green jersey to pair with the flashback Boeing-esque sigil. After that, let’s maybe consider an entirely radical logo – which actually incorporates the silhouette of a jet fighter – and slap that on your crowns while scrapping the dopey Stealth Black helmet introduced in 2022.

9. Detroit Lions

When it comes to the extra uniform – forgettable throwbacks or gray Color Rush – they’ve done alternate in pretty much the most forgettable ways. Until now. Make sure you see Week 8’s Monday night game at Ford Field, when the Lions will break out their new metallic “Honolulu Blue” helmets featuring their 1960s alternate logo plus two stripes – the display effectively a nice co-brand with Ford’s famous Mustang, another icon from the ‘60s. Very cool way to commemorate what’s already becoming a memorable season between the lines for the NFC North leaders, not to mention the franchise’s 90th year as the Lions.

10. Los Angeles Chargers

You could argue – and I have – no club has better unis. Not only that, since moving back to LA and updating their closets in 2020, they’ve given themselves so many mix-and-match scenarios, in addition to the royal blue and navy (with corresponding helmet lightning bolt) Color Rush options. But as much as folks used to pine for their Powder Blue alternates – which have lost just a little luster in the current iteration – now it’d be nice if the Bolts could either bring back the royal helmet with sunshine-y lightning used in the Air Coryell days, or the navy buckets with white bolts rocked by Junior Seau, LaDainian Tomlinson and so many others. (For the record, love the navy and white.)

11. Atlanta Falcons

Let’s commend them for maximizing the use – three appearances this season – of the retro red helmets and original logo with the black, white and gold striping mix meant to honor both the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. Wouldn’t mind occasionally seeing the classic falcon on the black helmets as a callback to the Deion Sanders days, but that can wait. At least we won’t be subject to those vile gradient alternate jerseys in 2023.

12. Pittsburgh Steelers

Little reason to mess with something that’s practically perfect, but their deviations work well. The “Steel Curtain” era throwbacks won’t pop off the screen, but the 1970s number font style is the giveaway. Pittsburgh’s all-black Dark Knight look is among the best alternates going – especially when you consider the mistake it would be to revive some of the club’s awful appearances from yesteryear, bumblebees, shoulder swatches and whatnot.

13. Indianapolis Colts

Sunday afternoon, they’re going to roll out their new “Indiana Nights” one-off for 2023. Couple of thoughts here. They’ve added black helmets because Indy fans allegedly demanded them, and they play into the nocturnal theme – fine … aside from the fact the Colts have zero prime-time games this year. Otherwise, this is fairly boss. The secondary logo – with the state of Indiana serving as the center of the “C” for Colts on the shoulder is a plus. But the “heather pattern” used for the blue-on-blue uniform – golfers will recognize it immediately – really distinguishes this get-up.

14. Minnesota Vikings

Never too far afield, their alternates provide truly nice subtleties. They reverted to the “Purple People Eaters” days while rocking "The Vikings Classic” in Week 1. And keep your eyes peeled for the perfectly pleasing and pristine purple-and-gold alternates.

15. New York Giants

It’s not quite as slick as the retro Jets, but Sunday night marked this season’s first usage of the block GIANTS logo – with the white Color Rush road treatment – Big Blue used for the final quarter of the 20th century. It will return twice more in 2023, both at home when the Giants can also sport their Lawrence Taylor-Bill Parcells era blue jerseys.

16. Miami Dolphins

A shame they’re not donning their old-school look this week, perfectly timed to the 1972 team popping champagne as the last unbeatens (49ers, Eagles) of the 2023 season suffered their first setbacks. But the Fins will be kitted in their original unis in Week 8 and again in Week 16. (In the future, perhaps let’s consider a new dome with a watery, shimmery look for the aquatic mammals? Maybe?)

17. San Francisco 49ers

They’ll continue wearing the duds – with shaded jersey numbers – the 1994 Super Bowl champions made famous, sporting the red version twice this season and the white roadies once.

18. Los Angeles Rams

Their 2020 rebrand has aged fairly well so far – doesn’t hurt when you win the Super Bowl in your new threads. It’s also helped that they’ve deemphasized the “bone” jerseys and pants originally intended as their roadies to a more seldom-utilized alternative.

19. Arizona Cardinals

Let’s issue belated credit for this season’s very clean uniform reboot, the whites (with a new dash of silver) especially evocative of their long-gone days in St. Louis. The alternate all-blacks, plus helmet, that debuted in Week 5 still seem extraneous. But, fine, whatever. Cardinals can only be so badass.

20. Washington Commanders

Their latest rebrand has gone so well … that new ownership is already mulling yet another one. But the alternate black uniforms topped with the black lids are the least-objectionable aspect – the usage of the D.C. flag on the right shoulder (in burgundy and gold) and back of the helmet the deftest touch.

21. Green Bay Packers

They're one of several old-school organizations that’s never embraced hindsight or foresight flair especially well. The green jerseys with gold numbers paired with green pants in recent years have been a marked step forward … but another could be taken with a fresh second helmet to top it off.

22. Dallas Cowboys

Never been a huge fan of their 1960s-era throwbacks, whether home or away – and they’ll sport both this season. In Monday night’s win, they topped it with their alternate white-shelled helmet adorned with the current star insignia. Meh.

23. Carolina Panthers

They added a black helmet to the wardrobe last year and have evidently decided it would look better atop their “Panther Blue” jerseys than as part of a monochrome blackout. Low bar, but agreed … not that it’s likely to help them win a game.

24. Jacksonville Jaguars

What is it with 1995 feline expansion teams? Thankfully, the Jags are finding their way back from the black-and-gold, two-toned wilderness. But nothing inspiring, or especially objectionable, in their black and (mostly) teal look at present.

25. Baltimore Ravens

They’ve got multiple ways to mix and match their various (dark) colors, the best alternate the purple on purple with gold jersey numbers. The original logo Baltimore used from 1996 to ’98 was one of the busier ones in NFL history … and might be fun to break out periodically for nostalgic purposes – especially if we could see those ugly black pants with the fat white stripe from the days of Ravens yore.

26. Houston Texans

The NFL’s youngest franchise is also the only one to never change its crest. Tradition – yay. But last year, the Texans really stepped out by adding a metallic “Battle Red” helmet to go with the alternate jerseys branded the same way. Yaaawn.

27. Buffalo Bills

This ranking is more a penalty that they’re not doing more than interspersing the alternate red jersey and pants. Let’s mix that grazing bison from the AFL days into heavier rotation and work up another lid – meaning something more imaginative than just taking the red shells from the 1990s Super Bowl teams out of mothballs.

28. Denver Broncos

For years, pretty much everything they’ve touched has turned to horse scat. Extend that to their attempt at merging their history with an edgy look. This year’s “snowcapped” (read: white) helmets adorned with the Orange Crush and Elway-era D logo might have worked … if the Broncos had been able to wear all white instead of Color Rush orange. It just wound up looking like a … melted creamsicle? It returns in Week 16 if you were fortunate enough to miss it the first time.

29. Cleveland Browns

Let’s acknowledge there isn't much to do historically for a franchise that opted for a hideous color scheme and no primary logo. And rolling out a “retro” white helmet based on a leather model from the 1950s … is something – though perhaps preferable to slapping the Keebler Elf on there, something only Ja’Marr Chase would fancy. While on some level we appreciate the Browns’ decades-long holdout on helmet symbology, couldn’t we bend that rule in the alternate space? Especially after the wicked subsidary logo they unveiled earlier this year with the input of fan votes?

30. Chicago Bears

A shame a franchise so steeped in a century-plus’ worth of tradition – which also means it probably shouldn’t be looking especially chic – looks like such jack… Sorry, looks like such jack-o'-lanterns in their orange jerseys and new orange helmets. Stick with the winged University of Michigan knockoffs – yes, the Bears briefly wore them first in the 1930s – and call it a day. Better yet, let’s wind back to the 1960s and occasionally re-adopt the white version of the familiar “C” logo and truly honor the late Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.

31. Las Vegas Raiders

In my most recent overarching uniform power rankings, their iconic look ranked No. 1. And, as expressed elsewhere, it’s sometimes foolish to mess with magnificence. But the Silver and Black are being ranked last here mostly to put them on notice while serving a complacency penalty. The white Color Rush and white throwback jersey (with silver numbers) they’ve utilized in recent years are totally ... fine. But there’s a real opportunity to take their sinister look to a new, Darth Vader-caliber level a few times a year. Black pants? Black helmets with a chrome Raiders shield? Seriously, Mark Davis, what are we waiting for here? Commit to uniform excellence!

Unranked: Kansas City Chiefs

Pulling on the red pants is as frisky as they get, so no alternates or throwbacks to assess. And a team based in K.C. has little reason to dust off its long-ago Dallas Texans roots. As far as anything in the pipeline? “I think we have a very distinct brand with the red and white, and I don’t anticipate steering away from that any time soon,” owner Clark Hunt revealed this year, saying he also wanted to honor the wishes of his later father – AFL and team founder Lamar Hunt – who wanted uniform continuity. Welp, it wins.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Titans' Oilers uniforms NFL's best throwbacks? Our full rankings