ESPN’s Joe Buck, Troy Aikman Have Strong Performance in Shocking Bills-Jets Game

Also in Traina Thoughts: Bonus ‘SI Media Podcast’; Tom Brady can hoop; NFL Week 1 ratings; and more.

1. There were so many days in July and August when I’d fire up the laptop to write this column and had absolutely nothing to write about. The daily mantra during those days was “get to football, get to football.” Today is one of those days where there is so much to say, I don’t know where to begin. So I will just throw out bullet points to try and cover as much stuff from a shocking and wild Monday Night Football game as possible.

• Joe Buck and Troy Aikman did an excellent job of not speculating about what was wrong with Aaron Rodgers when he left the game after taking just four snaps. There was a little confusion with Rodgers getting up after being sacked and then dropping to the ground and then walking off, going into the tent and then getting carted off. For several minutes, nobody really knew what was going on, and Buck and Aikman deserve props for not adding to the confusion and letting it all play out.

• Media people love to say they won’t speculate about injuries right before speculating about injuries. Those people also love to tell us they aren’t doctors as if we thought media folks were also orthopedics on the side. Thanks for the clarification. Even Adam Schefter at halftime told Scott Van Pelt that he has not examined Aaron Rodgers. Thanks!

• I thought having Van Pelt on air as the new Monday Night Countdown host added a certain big-game feel to ESPN’s broadcast. Obviously, Bills-Jets already had a big-game feel, but Van Pelt’s presence on the pregame show and at halftime made an impact, and he has the perfect demeanor for the role.

• In last Thursday’s “Traina Thoughts,” I said that Chris Berman’s “Fastest 3 Minutes” highlight segment at halftime of MNF is one of the best pieces of NFL content. Unfortunately, the segment never aired last night because ESPN had to make adjustments to cover the massive Rodgers news.

• My buddy and former Sports Illustrated colleague Dan Rapaport tweeted this Sunday night, and this was me. I continually thought flags were being thrown thanks to ESPN’s new scorebug. I don’t understand why scorebugs are so difficult for networks to get right.

• Joe Buck had the perfect call of Xavier Gipson’s game-winning touchdown return because he let us know there was no flag on the play. Every play-by-play person needs to take a lesson here because the majority of kickoff and punt returns have a flag thrown on them, so this is vital information to know while the guy is running to the end zone.

• Kevin Harlan had the exact call you’d expect from Kevin Harlan on the national radio broadcast.

• Here’s how betting markets have adjusted Jets odds now that it is expected Aaron Rodgers will be out for the season.

• I’ve said many, many, many times in this column that Larry David always knows. Last night was no different.

2. Late Monday afternoon, I dropped a bonus SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast. This is a one-topic podcast during which Sal Licata and I talk about NFL Sunday Ticket’s debut on YouTube.

With NFL Sunday Ticket leaving DirecTV after more than 20 years, there were many changes to the service. What worked? What didn’t work? What can be done better? We discussed our experiences on getting Sunday Ticket set up and running into roadblocks and how we managed to watch as many games as possible. Everything from the new multiview options to the differences between watching Sunday Ticket on YouTube vs. YouTube TV to YouTube offering a superior presentation than DirecTV to the lack of issues with streaming the games is covered.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

3. I love this. A bunch of delusional people who aren’t living in reality think the Jets should reach out to Tom Brady and the GOAT is out here draining buckets and enjoying his life.

In the lab! Just trying to keep up with the kids these days… pic.twitter.com/ttwpJLPoxN

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 12, 2023

4. CBS got big ratings for its late window Sunday, which featured Eagles-Patriots, Dolphins-Chargers and Raiders-Broncos. The games combined for 21.35 million viewers, making it CBS’s most-watched Week 1 since 2015.

Meanwhile, 21.8 million people watched the Cowboys blow out the Giants 40–0 on NBC Sunday night. NBC generated 27.5 million viewers for Lions-Chiefs last Thursday, making it the most-watched opening-night game since 2015.

5. Vince McMahon’s last day as owner of the WWE was yesterday. On Tuesday, the WWE officially merged with UFC to form TKO. McMahon will remain in charge of WWE and is now a 16% owner.

Meet TKO Group Holdings, Inc. a premium sports, entertainment, and media company made up of @ufc and @WWE.

Join us in celebrating its listing of $TKO 🔔 pic.twitter.com/ZWEmyWGUCq

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) September 12, 2023

6. Last week's episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina featured an interview with Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman, who joined Fox NFL Kickoff this season. Edelman discusses his new gig with Fox, why so many former Patriots are on television and why he chose TV over coaching. Edelman also talks about what it was like playing for Bill Belichick and with Tom Brady, how Belichick would use other players’ quotes to motivate the Patriots, how Brady would mock him for not being fully in on the TB12 Method, the issue of gambling in the NFL, his love of burgers, beef with Ben Affleck, bad betting losses and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I’m a few days late on this, but there was a whole hullabaloo on social media about whether Martin Short is funny. Martin Short is an all-time talk-show guest, and there will be no Martin Short slander allowed here.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.