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5 Great NFL Announcing Moments From Week 1

Football is back and so are great calls.

Kyle Koster, Liam McKeone

Tyreek Hill had an eventful Sunday.
Tyreek Hill had an eventful Sunday. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

There's nothing like the NFL. And there's especially nothing like the NFL when something exciting happens. The best broadcasters in the world are tasked with bringing America's new favorite pastime to life. Usually they go viral for flubbing something. But more often than not they do great work as well.

For instance, here are a few awesome moments from Week 1.

Kevin Harlan on Tyreek Hill: "He's a ghost!"

There are very few announcers the audience would rather have calling one big play than Kevin Harlan. No one in the announcing game is better at matching the energy of their voice to the excitement of the moment. Which means Harlan and the Miami Dolphins are a perfect marriage, seeing as Mike McDaniel's squad thrives on a near-exclusive diet of explosive touchdowns.

Look no further than yesterday's Dolphins-Jaguars game as proof. Specifically, the moment when Tyreek Hill finally shook loose against Jacksonville's secondary. Tua Tagovailoa found his favorite target and All-Pro receiver in the third quarter, and once the ball was in Hill's hands, he was gone. Harlan's pitch rose as Hill sprinted down the sideline, then the CBS announcer punctuated the moment by shouting "HE'S A GHOST!"

And we thought announcers had run out of ways to describe Hill's speed.

Ian Eagle shows off his vocabulary

Just about everybody loves Ian Eagle and one of the things he does the best is get creative with his calls. Since announcers first took the booth they've run up against the constant issue that there's only so many ways to describe what's happening on the field. Eagle has long shown the ability to describe what he's seeing in ways that stand out from his counterparts— and, crucially, a paired ability to make it sound natural.

During Sunday's upset win by the New England Patriots over the Cincinnati Bengals, Eagle called an exciting sequence that started with a fumble by Cincy at the goal line and led to a sweet scoop and return by Pats corner Marcus Jones. After the sequence, Eagle let the broadcast breath by letting in the shocked buzz of the crowd before hitting the audience with "Marcus Jones, the thievery."

Thievery! A simple "he stole it" or "what a theft" must have been too easy for Eagle.

Adam Amin calls a touchdown with his whole chest

There were not many true highlights that came from the Chicago Bears' win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon. It was an ugly game filled with lowlights and the biggest scoring plays of the day were more mistakes made by one side than quality decisions made by the other. Which can be a tough task for a play-by-play announcer tasked with keeping the audience engaged on every snap.

But Fox Sports' Adam Amin is a pro and did what he could until the moment was right to raise the energy. And the moment did come, in the form of a truly remarkable catch by Titans tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo. Okonkwo went up on a lob from quarterback Will Levis and somehow came down with it after leaping over a Bears defensive back.

Amin was locked and loaded for the moment and absolutely bellowed "WHAT A CATCH!" It was the sort of full-throated exclamation you're more used to hearing at watch parties than from the broadcast. Yet it didn't feel overstated at all.

Mike Tirico lets Lions fans be the soundtrack

The NFL saved its Sunday best for last as the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions played another white-knuckle game, for the second time in a row going in the home team's favor. After squandering a lead and needing a last-minute field goal to even claw into overtime, the Lions won the coin toss and then went full service academy by running the damn ball on every play until David Montgomery plunged in from the 1-yard line and sent Ford Field completely up for grabs.

Mike Tirico, chronically underrated despited being arguably the best and most versatile voice in broadcasting, was once again excellent. He caught on early to what the Lions were doing in the extra period and you could hear the excitment in his voice grow as each successful pound of the rock brought pay dirt closer.

Then, in the winning moment, he got in and got out, allowing a thunderous crowd to roar. Sometimes less is more and letting the sound of euphoria did so much more than his words could have. Smart choice.

Adam Archuleta sees impending doom

Rookie quarterbacks did not exactly light it up through the air in their debuts on Sunday, Denver's Bo Nix included. He threw two interceptions, including a late one in the Broncos' 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The Oregon product threw into blanketed coverage, suggesting he couldn't see what was developing.

CBS's Adam Archuleta, on the other hand, saw the whole thing happen in slow-motion, which allowed him to blurt out "oh no" to preview what lay ahead.

We've all been there, just not with a microphone going out to millions. Which makes this type of comment great. It's like Archuleta was just being present in the moment like Adrian Grenier, not trying to be a broadcaster.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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