Sunday night’s National Football League playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions had considerable implications that spanned beyond the current season. For the Lions, the organization was trying to snap a streak of nine consecutive playoff losses and 32 straight years without a playoff victory. Narrowly escaping the Rams by one point in a 24-23 final score, the Lions did just that and will host another home playoff game at Ford Field next week. Viewers of the matchup listened to Mike Tirico deliver the play-by-play just one night after he was on the call for what proved to be a record-setting Peacock exclusive NFL Wild Card game broadcast.
Joining Mike Tirico for the Rams-Lions game was the traditional Sunday Night Football team of color commentator Cris Collinsworth and reporter Melissa Stark. There were various crescendos throughout the game that ended up going down to the wire. In the end, the Lions were able to hang on and celebrate a moment several decades in the making. Tirico punctuated the moment with a final call stating, “And Detroit, for the first time in 32 years, your Lions have won a playoff game. Have at it.” In the moments thereafter, Tirico allowed the crowd to do the talking, utilizing the sonorous roar of the crowd to tell the story of this seminal occurrence.
“Is there anyone better than Mike Tirico?,” Kay Adams said on Up & Adams on FanDuel TV Monday morning. “Quick shoutout to the only person – I’m just going to say – the only person I would trust in this moment because he took the back seat in key moments, and he just let the crowd shine.”
Tirico will likely be back on the broadcast during next week’s divisional series when the Lions face an opponent to be determined. There remain two Wild Card games to be played, both of which will occur on Monday afternoon, that will evince the next round of the playoffs.
While she was watching the game, Adams observed the amplified noise of Ford Field and how it was transmitted through the broadcast. She also conveyed that the NFL was “at its best” during the game, leading to a historic moment that many fans have waited to see throughout their lives.
“He let us all hear it and feel like we were part of it,” Adams added. “Not everybody does that, and there was no one better to call that game. Thank God it was him.”
