UniDiction 2011: Week 12 - Eagles vs. Patriots and Week 11 Round-Up

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So, the Eagles get a win, and I get a loss. I guess that's a fair trade. I'm 3-7. Yikes.

Week 11 (and Week 12 Thanksgiving Games) Round-up

I normally do a previous week round-up here, but because there were three games on Thanksgiving (technically "week 12" games), I'll be including those here. Week 11 actually didn't have anything notable other than the Redskins at home choosing to wear their White pants below their Maroon jerseys, which isn't even that notable except for the fact that they have those great Yellow pants which look so much better with that jersey.

Each of the three Thanksgiving games actually did have some uni-relevant items, though (yes, I notice if you say "uni-relavant" fast, it sounds like "irrelevant" — the irony is not lost on me)... 1) The Lions chose NOT to wear their traditional throwbacks for their traditional Thanksgiving game. Not a big loss, as it's on the wrong side of the classic vs. old line, but still noteworthy it didn't make an appearance. 2) The Cowboys wore their 1960s inspired throwbacks which, though we hate the Cowboys around here, are admittedly very, very nice, and have a unique take on the usually "modern for the sake of modern" yoke + off-colored shoulders and sleeves design, which looks, again, classic, instead of busy. Really, though, the Cowboys suck. 3) The Ravens wore their Black alternates over their White pants. Nothing too notable there other than it never hurts to point out that this should be the Ravens primary color uniform combo (instead of Purple/White), and they should NEVER wear Black over Black.

Much more (including the Week 12 UniDiction) after the jump.

Week 12 Eagles vs. Patriots

The Patriots are an out-of-division opponent, so let's take a look at all of their combos. Normally, they're in Navy over Silver or White over Navy. Both are decent looks, though both have that "late 90s, early 2000s" feel, with "slices" of color on the shoulders and an odd offset stroke around the numbers. Nothing too offensive there, just a "modern" uniform which already looks kind of dated. The Patriots also have a rather popular throwback which I bundle with the Buccaneers throwback as being a "look how ugly the 1970s and 80s were!" category, yet somehow, the popular opinion is that the Bucs throwbacks are "kitschy" while the Patriots (with the bright Red and cartoony "Pat Patriot" logo both of which are just as loud as the Buccaneers Pastel Orange and "Bucco Bruce") are somehow "classic." I guess one uniform being associated with historic futility and one being, well, not, is enough to move the "classic to kitsch" scale appropriately.

For trivia's sake, I'll point out that the Patriots had a Silver alternate from 2003–2007 which was just a "swap Silver for White" version of the White jersey. Really nothing special because it's difficult to tell it's not the White jersey in pictures, though for those who keep track, it created a number of "color vs. color" match-ups, which is rather rare in the NFL. Of course, the Silver "color" is so light that it's closer to being metallic White, so I'd wouldn't argue too strenuously if someone said it didn't really count. Again, more trivia, check out their forgotten era of uniforms in the 90s, post-Pat Patriot, but prior to replacing Royal(?) Blue with Navy.

The UniDiction

Either 2, 3, 6, or 7 points awarded for each category (safety, field goal, touchdown, touchdown+point after, of course)

Helmet/Logo

Eagles: 7 — Same as always. Definitely one of the best helmet designs in the league. I'm a sucker for "functional" helmet designs, and the wings fit the bill.

Patriots: 6 — First, I think Pat Patriot looks ridiculous. There's no need to return to that helmet/logo combo. The current logo doesn't look dated, is aggressive, and "says" Patriot. I like it. The Red facemask is a nice touch, too.

Jersey

Eagles: 6 — When fans think of the "post-Cunningham" Eagles, they're picturing the Midnight Green jerseys. A unique, bold color, with detailed strokes on the numbers, and nice use of logos on the sleeves and collar. I'll remove a point due to the use of drop shadows.

Patriots: 3 — Well, it's kind of busy. The contrast color (Red) offset stroke on the numbers is an easily overlooked detail which really makes them pop. The Blue sidepanels are an unfortunate "modern" inclusion. I could live with the Blue shoulder slices, but on the whole, the jersey is just okay.

Pants + Socks

Eagles: 6 — The White pants provide nice contrast with the solid green of the jersey, and instead of plain white, the thick Black and Green stripes (with the pencil thin grey stripe) on the side of the pants gives them a slightly modern touch. Black over White socks also break up the White from the pants. I wouldn't mind if they swapped the Black socks for Green, though.

Patriots: 3 — Like the jersey, the pants are almost there. The stripes go White-Red-Navy-Red-White (with the Navy being the actual base material showing through), but wouldn't a simpler White-Red-White stripe look better? Also, in general, the Blue triple stripe on the socks seems like a nice touch, but that design element shows up nowhere else on the uniform. Simply, they look tacked on. The socks worn with the Silver pants are solid Blue.

Intangibles

Eagles: 3 — Obviously the best combo from the current uniform set. The Green needs to be a few shades lighter (if they wouldn't do a straight return to Kelly Green) for it to really work, and if you're changing the Green, you might as well change everything.

Patriots: 3 — The Navy pants will look almost Black in the afternoon game, so nothing good there. The fact that the White uniform set and Navy uniform set are not direct color-swaps also bothers me. (notice the offset stroke on the numbers on the White jerseys and normal stroke on the Navy jersey, the sock stripes with the Navy pants, and the pants striping variation). Three points because there are undoubtedly worse uniforms from a similar era (the Bills previous uniforms, specifically).

Final Score

Eagles 22

Patriots 15