It’s the dawn of a new uniform era in the NFL, as Nike has designed “Rivalries” jerseys for eight teams. The eight teams come from the AFC East and the NFC West, and each team in these divisions will wear their Rivalries uniform one time during the 2025-26 season. The game a team wears their new uniform will be against one of their rivals from their division, hence the name. And as of its latest update, these uniforms are now in Madden 26.
These uniforms certainly take some creative liberties with a team’s color scheme and traditional jersey design, as some of them don’t look anything like a team’s regular uniforms. You can think of the NFL Rivalries uniforms as football’s version of the City Connect jerseys in the MLB, which Nike also makes.
To celebrate the release of the NFL Rivalries uniforms, we thought we would rank each one based on how the uniform looks, how well it incorporates a team’s history, etc. The rankings will be from lowest to highest, and they will certainly be opinion-based, so your personal rankings will undoubtedly vary.
8. Seattle Seahawks
Coming in at the number eight spot are the Seattle Seahawks. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this jersey, it looks a little too similar to the Oregon Ducks’ Eggshell uniforms they debuted back in 2021. There’s also just not a lot going on with the uniforms that makes them look overly different from the Seahawks’ alternate gray jerseys.
The dark blue and green helmets are the saving grace for this uniform, as the jerseys only have some differently-colored lines on the shoulder pads, green numbers, and that’s about it.
7. Los Angeles Rams
Next up is the LA Rams and their “Midnight Mode” Rivalries uniforms. The midnight blue on the jerseys is a nice touch, and it ties in great with the helmets that feature the same color. However, aside from that, the rest of the uniform looks a little plain. The numbering has some dots scattered throughout, and the shoulder pads have a classic ram horn design, but neither of those elements stands out too much compared to the other Rivalries uniforms. I would have liked to have seen an alternate helmet design with the midnight blue color and maybe an actual logo or lettering on the shoulder pads.
6. Miami Dolphins
I actually like what the Dolphins and Nike tried here. A black alternate jersey has been something that Miami fans have been asking for, and the Rivalries uniform certainly delivered that. However, I think a darker black would have looked a little cleaner than black/gray color of the final product. I don’t mind that lighter black on the helmet, though, which is arguably the best part about the entire uniform. The blue and orange accents around the jersey and pants help bring it all together, and all things considered, this uniform could have been a lot worse.
5. New York Jets
There are so many elements at play with these Jets uniforms. For starters, they are called the “Gotham City Football” uniforms, referencing the infamous city from Batman. Gotham is something the Jets continue to use in their marketing, but I wish they had done something different with the Rivalries uniforms. We’ve seen the Gotham stuff play out multiple times before, so it feels a little tired at this point.
However, on appearance alone, the uniforms look pretty good. The unique numbering and lettering are nice touches and the contrast between dark green and dark gray/blue looks great on the jerseys. I’m also a fan of the clean, black helmets and the new logo patch that’s on the left side of the jersey.
4. New England Patriots
The Patriots took arguably the biggest swing with their Rivalries uniforms, completing altering the color scheme of their traditional navy blue aesthetic. Instead, New England is going with a “Storm Blue” color, which is halfway between navy and baby blue. The Storm Blue color is meant to represent New England winter storms, and it’s become very controversial in a short amount of time.
I’m personally a fan of the color and the different representations the uniform features. For example, we see six red stars around the jersey collar to represent every New England state and the Gillette Stadium lighthouse is seen on each side of the pants. The Patriots also made a new “NE” logo that’s seen on both shoulder pads and went with a crisp white helmet, which looks fantastic. Overall, it seems like you either love or hate this jersey, but I think Nike and the Pats did a solid job of designing something completely fresh.
3. San Francisco 49ers
It’s difficult to mess up a uniform that features black, red, and gold as the primary colors. The 49ers and Nike swung for the fences and didn’t miss with their Rivalries uniforms, as they reimagine another black uniform. First off, we have to talk about the helmet, which is surprisingly one of the weaker parts of the entire uniform. Many fans wanted to see a red or gold helmet with the black jersey, and I tend to agree. However, the black helmet with the red stripes down the middle and the gold facemask still looks great.
Now for the jersey. The classic gold and red numbering and lettering stands out immediately, as does the “Faithful” cursive text at the top of the jersey. The shoulder pads have the same numbering and three red stripes. All together, the uniform looks incredible, and should look even better in the San Francisco sun.
2. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s Rivalries uniform is the perfect example of minimalism exceeding. The uniforms don’t do too much, but they don’t have to. The Bills went with a white-out look for the uniforms, ditching their traditional red and blue for a royal blue and silver against an all white-uniform. The helmets feature a silver and blue bill with an icy silver stripe down the center. This looks perfect with the jersey, which just has simple numbering and lettering along with the best shoulder pad design of any Rivalries uniform.
Overall, the Bills and Nike did a terrific job with the design, and while the uniforms would look great in a Buffalo snowstorm, we likely won’t see that in an October matchup with New England.
1. Arizona Cardinals
I’m not sure if this one is even up for debate. The Cardinals went with a dust storm aesthetic for their Rivalries uniform, and it came out incredibly clean. The uniform is an off-white color that features dark speckles all across it to represent the dust storms that are so prevalent in Arizona. Most of the jersey looks pretty standard for the Cardinals until you look at the shoulder pads. Each shoulder has a patch of the Arizona state flag, which is arguably the highlight of the entire uniform.
As for the helmets, they feature the same off-white as the jersey and a large, red cardinal. The Cards should consider making this uniform one of their alternates at the very least.
Now that we’ve offered our rankings, how would you rank the NFL Rivalries uniforms? Let us know down in the comments below.
