SI

Jim Nantz Explained Why He Called Josh Allen's Late TD Run the 'Play of the Year'

Considering the stakes, it's a very fair take.

Kyle Koster

Bills quarterback Josh Allen carries the ball during second half action against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen carries the ball during second half action against the Kansas City Chiefs. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills exorcized some regular season demons by ruining the Kansas City Chiefs' undefeated season on Sunday. Leading 23-21 with 2:27 to play, Bills coach Sean McDermott wisely chose to go for it on a fourth-and-two because there's no world where anyone should willingly give the ball to Patrick Mahomes if he has a chance to win. Josh Allen made that look like a genius decision by running around like his hair was on fire, speeding and powering his way through the Chiefs' defense en route to the end zone and a 30-21 final score.

In the heat of the moment, CBS's lead announcer Jim Nantz called Allen's wild scramble "the play of the year in the NFL." After the successful extra point, he explained why he went there.

"By the way, given all the stakes here, that's why I call it the play of the year," he said. "We happened to see that other little one down in Washington a couple of weeks ago but with all of this—the undefeated champs having what could be a knockout punch for the first time this year, this is about as big as it gets."

This ... does not seem like a controversial stance at all. Yes, the Washington Commanders are having a surprisingly productive year but their victory over the Chicago Bears will not be as meaningful in the NFL's big picture as the Bills downing Kansas City. Especially if Buffalo can surpass them as the AFC's No. 1 seed.

In fact, it's sort of a bummer that Nantz even felt a need to contextualize what was a really solid call because he was anticipating backlash from people online who hadn't left their couches for 10 hours. Anyone with a functioning brain understood what he was doing in the moment and holding everyone's hand through the very basic thought process took a little sizzle out of the moment.

More of the Latest Around the NFL

feed

Published
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.

Home/Media