The Carolina Panthers will wear their black alternate helmets with their white road uniforms for the first time when they travel to Santa Clara, California, to take on the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET on ESPN).
The Panthers have worn their black helmets with both their black home jerseys or Process blue alternate jerseys since they were introduced in 2022, as they circumvented the old NFL rules regarding alternate helmets by labeling the former as their Color Rush set.
Carolina wore 14 different uniform combinations last season, though the franchise was still required to pair its standard silver helmets with its white road jerseys, rotating among white, gray, black or Process blue pants and white, black or Process blue socks to create unique looks.
That changed this year, however, as the league relaxed its uniform rules to allow teams to mix-and-match their alternate and primary elements. The Panthers now join the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles as teams who have taken advantage this season.
This marks the fourth appearance for the black alternate helmets, including a 30-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 21, a 30-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys and a 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 26. All featured Process blue jerseys, though the games against the Falcons and Bills had black pants and socks while the Cowboys game had Process blue pants and socks.
That doesn’t leave any room for the all-black Color Rush look this season, as teams are only permitted to wear alternate and/or throwback uniforms as many as four times each season. They notably wore silver helmets with black jerseys, pants and socks in a 17-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 9 and have three additional dates scheduled for the black jerseys, though they’ll all include silver helmets.
Photos courtesy of @Panthers on X/Twitter.
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