The Divisional Round is honestly the best weekend of the NFL season. You’ve got eight teams left, the pretenders are gone, and the stakes are high enough to make every third-down conversion feel like a heart attack. But for those of us watching at home, the experience is basically defined by who is talking to us for three hours.
Getting the right NFL announcers this week is a big deal. It’s the difference between a game feeling like a historic clash or just another Sunday afternoon blowout.
This weekend, the league is rolling out the heavy hitters. We’re talking about the "A-Teams." The voices you associate with championship trophies and confetti. If you’re settled in on your couch from Saturday afternoon through Sunday night, here is exactly who you’ll be listening to and why some of these pairings are actually more interesting than the games themselves.
The Saturday Slate: Brady in Seattle and Nantz in Denver
Saturday starts in the thin air of Denver. The Buffalo Bills are headed to Empower Field at Mile High to take on the top-seeded Broncos. Since this is a CBS game, you already know the deal. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are on the call.
It’s kind of funny how the narrative on Romo has shifted over the last couple of seasons. People used to obsess over his ability to predict plays before they happened. Now? Some fans find the "Ooh, I don't know, Jim!" energy a bit much. But for a playoff game of this magnitude, Nantz’s gravitas is unmatched. He has that "big game" voice that makes even a holding penalty sound like a Shakespearean tragedy.
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Fox Goes All-In on the NFC West
Once the sun goes down, we shift to Seattle. The 49ers and Seahawks are meeting for the third time this year, and Fox is sending their lead crew: Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady.
Can we talk about Brady for a second?
Honestly, his second year in the booth has been a massive improvement over the first. He’s much more "incisive," which is a word he actually used in a recent newsletter to describe his new approach. He’s stopped trying to sound like a broadcaster and started sounding like the guy who won seven rings. That’s what we want. We want to know why a safety is out of position, not just hear him repeat what we just saw on the replay.
Having Brady call a Seahawks home game is always a bit spicy, too. Seattle fans haven't forgotten those Super Bowl battles.
Sunday: The Return of the Veterans
Sunday morning (or afternoon, depending on your time zone) belongs to the AFC. The Houston Texans travel to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots. This game is being carried by ESPN and ABC, which means we get Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
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These two have been a pair since 2002. Think about that. They’ve been together longer than some of the players on the field have been alive.
There is a comfort in a Buck and Aikman broadcast. They don't over-explain. They let the crowd noise at Gillette Stadium breathe. Aikman is famously blunt; if a quarterback makes a "terrible" decision, he’ll say it. He won’t sugarcoat it. In a high-pressure playoff environment, that honesty is refreshing.
The Nightcap in the Windy City
Finally, we wrap things up with the Rams at the Bears on NBC. This is the Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth show.
- Game: LA Rams @ Chicago Bears
- Time: 6:30 PM ET
- Network: NBC / Peacock
- The Vibe: High-energy, heavy on the PFF stats, and lots of "Now here's a guy" moments from Cris.
Tirico is arguably the most versatile play-by-play man in the business right now. He handles the chaos of a playoff game with a level of smoothness that’s honestly hard to fathom. And love him or hate him, Collinsworth does his homework. You’re going to learn something about a backup offensive lineman's hand placement that you never knew you needed to know.
Why the "A-Team" Logic Matters for Your TV
You might wonder why the networks don't rotate their crews more. It’s basically about brand identity. When you hear Nantz, you think CBS. When you hear Tirico, you think Sunday Night Football.
During the regular season, you might get stuck with a "C-Team" crew that mispronounces the linebacker’s name three times. But the NFL announcers this week are the elite tier. The league and the networks know that the Divisional Round usually pulls in massive ratings—sometimes higher than the Conference Championships if the matchups are right.
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They can't afford a "boom-mic" slip-up or a color analyst who loses his train of thought.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Broadcast
A lot of fans think the announcers are biased against their team. If you go on X (formerly Twitter) during the 49ers-Seahawks game, half the fans will swear Brady loves San Francisco, and the other half will swear he’s rooting for Seattle.
In reality, these guys are mostly rooting for a close game.
A blowout is an announcer's worst nightmare. Have you ever tried to talk about a 35-3 game in the fourth quarter? It’s brutal. They have to start telling stories about the backup long snapper’s childhood hobby. When the game is tight, the broadcast takes care of itself. The NFL announcers this week are looking for drama because drama makes them look better.
Final Word on the Weekend Booths
If you’re planning your viewing schedule, keep in mind that the local radio calls are always an option if you can’t stand the national guys. But there is something about the "big" voices that makes the playoffs feel real.
Saturday is about the new era with Brady. Sunday is about the legends like Buck and Aikman. It’s a balanced mix.
The best way to enjoy the games is to pay attention to the "why" behind the commentary. When Romo gets excited, look at the coverage he’s pointing out. When Aikman gets quiet, watch the body language of the coach on the sideline. These guys see things we don't.
Check your local listings to make sure your signal is clear, because with the weather hitting some of these northern cities, the atmosphere is going to be just as loud as the voices in the booth.
Next Steps for Your Weekend:
- Sync your audio: If you prefer your local radio announcers, use an app like TuneIn to sync the audio with your TV (you might need to pause the TV for a few seconds to line it up).
- Check the 4K feeds: If you have a provider that supports it, Fox usually broadcasts their Brady/Burkhardt games in "4K" (upscaled), which looks significantly better than the standard HD feed.
- Monitor the weather: Denver and Chicago are looking chilly. High-wind games often change how announcers call the game, as they focus more on the "ground and pound" strategy rather than the deep passing game.