Buccaneers release 2021 uniform schedule

One of the more underrated aspects of the Buccaneers’ 2020 Super Bowl season was that they played it while wearing a new set of uniforms. Gone were the alarm clock-style numbers and, instead, we saw a return to the team’s classic 2000s look—with some modern upgrades.

So, whenever you go back and watch Super Bowl LV highlights, you don’t have to see those divisive 2014-2019 uniforms. Rather, you’ll see a look that the majority of the fan base adores.

Now, 2021 will be the second year of this uniform set—and the final year that Tampa Bay (and the rest of the league) will be confined to one helmet. Next year, we can see a creamsicle Bucco Bruce throwback game. What a sight that will be...

Anyway, on Friday, the Bucs released their uniform schedule for the upcoming season.

The defending champions open up their title defense on Thursday against the Cowboys, and when they take the field, they’ll be wearing the same combination—pewter pants and white jerseys—that they wore in Super Bowl LV seven months ago. They’ll follow that with another home game in Week 2 against the Falcons. In that game, they’ll go with white pants and white jerseys for the first of two times in 2021.

When they take the road to face the Rams in Week 3, the Bucs will go with an all-pewter look for the first of two times on the year. In Tom Brady’s return to New England in Week 4, Tampa Bay will go with the pewter pants and white jerseys look that will be common throughout the season. The team’s Week 5 game against the Dolphins will be the second game for which the team will wear their white pants and white jerseys.

The white jerseys and pewter pants look will return for Weeks 6 and 7 before the red jerseys finally come out to pair with the pewter pants on Halloween in New Orleans. We’ll get another white jerseys, pewter pants combination in the nation’s capital after the bye week before the second all-pewter game on Monday Night Football against the Falcons in Week 11.

Weeks 12 and 13 will feature the white jerseys and pewter pants, then Week 14’s matchup with the Bills will yield a look that the Bucs debuted in the preseason: red jerseys and white pants. It’s a combination that many fans have been clamoring for, and the team will finally wear it in a regular season game as the Bills visit Raymond James Stadium in December.

When the Saints come to town for Sunday Night Football in Week 15, Tampa Bay will go with red jerseys and pewter pants for the final time in the regular season. For the final three games, the Bucs will wear their standard white jerseys and pewter pants.

Many fans are sure to be upset with the team only wearing its red jerseys three times in 2021. Others will surely wish that we could see the all-pewter uniforms more than twice. Nonetheless, we can all be thankful that the defending champs have this set of uniforms—and the return of Bucco Bruce for at least one game in 2022.