Although it actually exceeds the limit on the number of times a team can wear an alternate or throwback uniform each season, the Philadelphia Eagles will wear their all-black alternate uniforms during Sunday’s game against the New York Giants (1 p.m. ET on CBS).
The Eagles wore their black alternate helmets, which debuted in 2022, in the season-opening 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil, paring them with their white road jerseys and black pants for the first time in franchise history.
They then broke out their Kelly green throwback uniforms in a 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 3 and a 41-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 29, seemingly maxing out their alternate or throwback limit for the year.
However, Sunday’s combination suggests they received an exemption from the NFL for the game in Brazil, when they opted to wear the colors worn by Corinthians – the soccer club that plays at Neo Química Arena in São Paulo – and forced the Packers to wear green jerseys like Corinthians’ rival, Palmeiras, in a stadium where the color and opposing fans are “banned.”
That’s surprising to see since the league has strictly enforced the uniform rules this season, as the San Francisco 49ers notably wore the home version of their 1994 throwback uniforms instead of their standard home design in their Oct. 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals due to a heatwave in the region and had to scrap their scheduled throwback game against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 30 to stay under the aforementioned limit.
All that said, this now marks the 10th time in 11 seasons where the Eagles will wear their black alternate jerseys and pants against the Giants, with the 2017 campaign being the lone exception. They are undefeated in those contests, including a victory in their 2022 matchup, which featured Philadelphia in black helmets instead of their standard midnight green lids.
The Eagles went 2-1 that season in the all-black uniforms, including a 40-33 win over the Packers and a 40-34 loss to the Cowboys, but shelved the black helmets for the 2023 campaign to make way for their Kelly green throwback lids.
They were able to bring back the black helmets this season, though, as their decision to update the wordmark on their jerseys constituted as a redesign and allowed them to join the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Jets as teams permitted to have a third shell before it goes league-wide in 2025.
Photos courtesy of @Eagles on X/Twitter.
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