Best Super Bowl Uniform Matchups Ever

Will Despart February 7, 2026 Fact checked by: Matt Moreno No Comments

The Super Bowl is without question the most iconic annual sporting event in the United States. It’s obviously paramount to play your best on the biggest stage. To play your best, you have to feel your best, and to feel your best, well … you have to look your best. 

One of the most underrated parts of every Super Bowl, once you get past the X’s and O’s and all the important stuff, is the uniform matchup. It’s a day when alternates are typically put aside for an ol’ reliable, the uniform matchup in a given Super Bowl often serves as a historical indicator as much as it is an aesthetic choice.

Desmond Howard #81 of the Green Bay Packers returns a kickoff while pursued by Mike Bartrum #86 of the New England Patriots during Super Bowl XXXI January 26, 1997 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana . The Packers won the game 35-21.
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

In Super Bowl 60 (LX), the Patriots will be wearing white jerseys for a fifth straight Super Bowl appearance, although they’ll be switching it up slightly this time around by wearing white pants with the white jersey instead of the historic blues. The Seahawks will go with the all-Navy look, akin to what they wore in Super Bowl 49 (XLIX) against the Patriots 11 years ago.

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This year’s uniform matchup certainly isn’t bad, but it probably won’t rank among the upper echelon in Super Bowl history unless the Santa Clara sunset does some real favors. In no particular order, here are five of the greatest uniform matchups in Super Bowl history, ranging from some of the sport’s most iconic looks to uniforms that encapsulated a particular moment in time.

Five Iconic Super Bowl Uniform Matchups

49ers vs. Dolphins, Super Bowl XIX

One of the most iconic quarterback matchups in NFL history, and Dan Marino’s lone appearance in the Super Bowl, was also arguably among the most aesthetically pleasing Super Bowls ever. The Dolphins, led by a fresh second-year quarterback in Marino who had essentially rewritten the single-season record books in his first full campaign as a starter that year, wore their classic white roadies (with the white helmet to match) that they wore when they secured their unbeaten 17-0 season in Super Bowl VII.

The 49ers’ iconic red home jerseys have had their fair share of action in the Super Bowl, but in terms of uniform matchups, it’s hard to think of many times they looked better than they did at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto that night. Perhaps Super Bowl XXIII against the Bengals, but I’d say this one takes the cake. 

Patriots vs. Packers, Super Bowl XXXI

The Packers’ return to prominence in January 1996 was a stylish one in New Orleans, with the once-stylish Brett Favre and company donning the classic green jerseys and yellow pants, which you can make a case is arguably the single greatest uniform set in league history. Parlay that with the OG Pat Patriot uniforms, with the jumbo logo on the shoulder and the oversized numbers that have only aged better with time.

The only way this one could have been made better would have been if the NFL let the Patriots go blue against the Packers’ green, but that would have been too much to ask of commissioner Paul Tagliabue at this point. Another reason this uniform matchup was so strong was that it didn’t get the benefit of a West Coast sunset or the South Florida stadium lights. We got to enjoy the beauty of these uniforms from a dimly lit Superdome, and the game wasn’t all that great either. 

Packers vs Broncos, Super Bowl XXXII

The following year, after the Packers trounced New England in the Big Easy, they put on their white roadies to take on aging John Elway and the Denver Broncos in San Diego, in yet another Super Bowl where Favre and co. were entering as two-touchdown favorites. The reason this matchup is so special in NFL uniform history, however, is that it was the first season the Broncos debuted their controversial blue home jersey after ditching their iconic orange uniforms. Even Elway wasn’t a fan, showing visible distaste when the Broncos unveiled the uniforms that ensuing offseason.

As fate would have it, the Broncos would pull off one of the most iconic wins in Super Bowl history in those blue jerseys that night, and they would instantly become an iconic part of NFL lore. Two more championships and a third appearance in the big game later, the Broncos finally abandoned the look in 2024 after nearly three decades.

Rams vs. Titans, Super Bowl XXXIV

The first Super Bowl of the 2000s has a very serious case of being the most stylish. It pitted Kurt Warner and “The Greatest Show on Turf,” still in those OG Rams colors, against Steve McNair and a team full of swagger in the Tennessee Titans. That swagger was aided in large part by the sleek, blue uniforms the team unveiled during its early years in Nashville, and its near-victory against one of the era’s most iconic opponents only cemented those colors in NFL lore. 

Who knows? Maybe if Kevin Dyson got another yard, those Titans uniforms would have ascended to a status not unlike the one we saw the Broncos achieve with the success following their late-90s rebrand. The fact that this game was played on turf at the Georgia Dome only helped, as there was plenty of flashy footwear enhancing the aesthetic.

Steelers vs. Cardinals, Super Bowl XLIII

On their own merit, the Arizona Cardinals’ 2000s uniforms never did too much for me. They were sleek when they debuted, but by 2024, when they were shelved, the look felt like it had overstayed its welcome. With that being said, the Cardinal Red never popped more and never looked better than it did against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ always-iconic road look that February 2009 night in Tampa. 

It also helps that game was chock full of classic Super Bowl moments, starting with James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return to close the first half, leading into Larry Fitzgerald’s iconic go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth before Ben Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone with 35 seconds remaining to win it for Pittsburgh.

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