After calling the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Tom Brady will be back in the booth for Saturday’s showdown against the Baltimore Ravens. FOX released its announcing crews for the weekend with its “A-team,” play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt with Brady as analyst, set to call a game that could decide the AFC North.
Joining Burkhardt and Brady for the broadcast will be sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi along with Mike Pereira serving as the booth’s rules analyst.
Sunday in Philadelphia was the first Steelers game Brady has called since entering the booth this season. His performance was mixed. He shared a couple of interesting stories from his playing days but had several flubs, stumbling pre-game and once referring to the Steelers’ defense as the “Phillies.” Wrong team, wrong sport.
Overall, Brady’s performance in the booth has been met with a collective “meh.” He’s improved since a rough first outings but is an average-level announcer. Because of his stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, the NFL imposed restrictions on Brady that prevent him from sitting with coaches and players during pre-production meetings. That’s hurt his ability to offer specific insight into each week’s matchup. And many still believe Greg Olsen, now relegated to the B-team with Joe Davis, is FOX’s top analyst. Olsen will call Sunday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
Andrews is one of sport’s top sideline reporters while Rinaldi earned acclaim for his feature pieces at ESPN.
Pittsburgh beat Baltimore in their first matchup, an 18-16 victory in Week 12. They’ll have a tougher task the second time around, the road team on a short week after getting worn down by the Eagles yesterday. It’s one reason why the Ravens are clear favorites despite the Steelers still leading the AFC North.
A Steelers win would officially clinch the division, their first since 2020, and it would likely give them the No. 3 seed in the AFC. If so, they would host the No. 6 seed during Wild Card weekend. But a loss to the Ravens swings the division wide open, making the last two games mean everything. After playing Baltimore, Pittsburgh will have another short week before hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day and then hosting the Cincinnati Bengals Week 18. Baltimore will wrap up its season by travelling to Houston to play the Texans, also on Christmas Day, before hosting the Cleveland Browns in its regular-season finale.
