As the Washington Commanders organization secured its first playoff victory in 19 years with a game-winning field goal, radio announcers Bram Weinstein and London Fletcher were exuberant and celebrated on the air. A field goal from Zane Gonzalez bounced off the upright and in as time was expiring to give the team a thrilling 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yet listening back to the radio call on Monday morning, Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti offered some criticism of how the momentous play was depicted.
The field goal opportunity took place after a sequence of events that favored the Commanders, starting with a fumble by Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. After a Washington touchdown, the team stopped Tampa Bay on second-and-1 and third-and-1 opportunities, leading the Buccaneers to kick a field goal to tie the game. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels then led the Commanders down the gridiron into field-goal range to set up the kick to send the team to the next round to face the Detroit Lions.
“Snap good, hold down, kick on its way,” Weinstein said. “It is good! The cardiac Commanders are the clutch Commanders! They do it again – we’ll see you in Detroit!”
“Teddy Gonzalez kicks in the door, and kicks us into the second round of the playoffs!,” Fletcher added.
Video taken from the Commanders radio booth showcases jubilation from Weinstein and Fletcher as the commentators documented a historic moment for the organization. Once the replay of the sound concluded on Monday’s edition of Boomer & Gio, Esiason offered his thoughts on the situation as conveyed on the airwaves.
“Oh man, I’ll tell you what,” Esiason said. “Those guys are out of their minds. But why didn’t they describe the kick as it hitting the right upright?”
“I know, I did think the same thing,” Giannotti said. “I mean, listen. They’re very excited, they were waiting to see if it was good, but if you’re doing the game on the radio, you really got to put that in there as part of the call.”
The television broadcast of the Wild Card game, which was on NBC and Peacock with Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark, delineated that the ball went off the right upright and in. Tirico exclaimed that the Commanders had doinked their way to the next round of the NFL playoffs. Esiason added that it was essential to say that the ball hit inside the upright and went through to result in the Commanders victory.
“Well, they win 23-20,” concluded anchor Jerry Recco. “That was Washington radio with the call.”
The Commanders will face the Detroit Lions in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday, Jan. 18 from Ford Field at 8 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by FOX, while the Commanders local radio call will be available on WBIG-FM, the flagship radio home of the team.
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