SI

Best & Worst of Tom Brady in the NFL Broadcast Booth: Week 6

Liam McKeone

Brady called the Cowboys-Lions game this week
Brady called the Cowboys-Lions game this week / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Tom Brady's first season as an NFL broadcaster will be under an incredibly strong microscope. He is Tom Brady, after all. Everything he does is of great interest to the general public. But as the former quarterback knows well, there are no bright lights quite like that of the NFL.

For most, opinions on Brady will come down to a handful of viral clips that circulate on social media platforms over the season and into the playoffs. These clips could be good or bad, but either way they'll inform the larger audience of Brady's current status as an announcer until there are north of 20 million pairs of eyes on him in the postseason.

Here, we'll break down those clips. It will serve as a window into how Brady performed in his most recent appearance and a barometer of his progress as the season goes on.

This week, Brady called the Detroit Lions' blowout victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Here's how he did.

Best

Brady had his most complete game in the booth of his career so far on Sunday. He was quick and decisive with his breakdowns, piled onto the Cowboys when it became clear they came out incredibly flat against a top NFC opponent, and kept things somewhat interesting down the stretch of a pretty boring game.

His work on the telecast, in particular, was worth noting this week. Brady did an excellent job breaking down Dak Prescott's end zone interception early on. Not only did he do so in a manner that even a casual viewer could follow, the insight he dished out was very interesting to hear. It was obvious Brady had been in that position before and he disseminated his knowledge succintly.

Brady did that again later on in the first half when the Lions caught the Cowboys napping with a quick snap that led to a Jameson Williams touchdown. The former quarterback got granular with why the Lions did it, why the Cowboys were so thrown off, and how it led to an easy score. Clinical stuff.

Worst

While Brady did have a very strong day he was not perfect. With Detroit up 34-6, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson tried to exact revenge on Dallas for last year's officiating debacle by calling a goal line pass to Taylor Decker. It was a clear and obvious nod to Decker catching what should have been a game-winning two-point conversion in the two sides' December 2023 matchup.

But that apparently went over Brady's head. He analyzed the sequence like he would any other and questioned if Johnson was getting too cute with the playcall, capped off by some light criticism that doing so forced the Lions to settle for a field goal.

All that is technically true but does not matter in a multi-score game. Moreover, not making the overt connection between this play and last year's debacle is a miss for Brady. The color commentator has to be more aware than that. Even in a blowout.

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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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