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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏈 Jason Garrett is the latest television personality to get a look for an NFL job as he is interviewing with the Tennessee Titans.

🦊 Fox Sports will have a new president with Mark Silverman stepping down after being in the role since 2016.

🤼‍♂️ Netflix has added the complete WWE premium live event library in an expanded agreement. However, you’re out of luck if you’re looking for those old ECW pay per views and random episodes of Mid-South wrestling.

⚾ Clayton Kershaw should have a role in NBC’s brand new MLB coverage next season.

🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Top 10 Super Bowl LX matchups for NBC

The NFL Playoffs are finally here but surprisingly, we are missing out on some big names and familiar stars. The biggest shock is that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are absent after dominating the AFC for the last several years. On the NFC side, the feel good Detroit Lions are out as are everybody’s favorite ratings darling and punching bag in the Dallas Cowboys.

Super Bowl LX is almost guaranteed to set a ratings record in February 2026 with the new Nielsen Big Data measurement system. NFL ratings are up quite a bit throughout the regular season. And with the increased emphasis on out of home viewing, the Super Bowl should be the one event above any other that will see the biggest boost to the numbers.

Last year’s Eagles-Chiefs game set a viewership record of 127.7 million viewers and NBC should easily surpass that total this year no matter who makes the game. But, you can be willing to bet that the network would like to see some matchups more than others. With that in mind, here are the Top 10 Super Bowl LX matchups for NBC next month. (Advanced apologies to fans of the Panthers, Jaguars, and Texans.)

10) Eagles vs Steelers - Rivalry game with state bragging rights? Check. Defending Super Bowl champions? Check. Brand new Super Bowl matchup with two of the most storied franchises in NFL history? This one checks all the boxes.

9) 49ers vs Chargers - Jim Harbaugh going against his former team would be sneakily entertaining as he looks to go one step further with the Chargers than he did with the 49ers. And he would have to do it in the 49ers’ home stadium.

8) Steelers vs Packers - Aaron Rodgers facing his former team in the Super Bowl would be an incredible storyline. The only reason it’s not ranked higher is it’s not that realistic to happen at +12500 odds according to FanDuel.

7) Broncos vs Rams - Sean Payton would look to become the first NFL coach to win a Super Bowl with two teams. And he would do it against the team that controversially prevented his Saints from reaching their second Super Bowl thanks to one of the most infamous no-calls in the history of sports.

6) Bills vs Eagles - Josh Allen finally reaching the Super Bowl and climbing the mountain in the AFC, then having to overcome the reigning champions would be a fitting final chapter in the movie script.

5) Patriots vs Bears - A matchup between the top two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft would be an incredible changing of the guard moment for the NFL. And the history of the Patriots and Bears would only be an added bonus.

4) Broncos vs Seahawks - The two top seeds in each conference can never be considered a bad Super Bowl matchup. And we’ve actually seen this game before. Hopefully it would be closer than the 43-8 Seattle win in Super Bowl XLVIII, though.

3) Patriots vs Eagles - NBC couldn’t lose with this matchup as Drake Maye looks to begin a new Patriots dynasty going against the defending Super Bowl champions and offering a rematch of one of the greatest Super Bowls in history. Nick Foles would have to do the coin toss, right?

2) Patriots vs Rams - Another matchup dripping with storylines. Not only would it be a game between the leading MVP candidates in Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye, it would also be a Super Bowl rematch from just a few years ago. And this version could not possibly be a worse game than the first.

1) Bills vs Bears - If NBC could pick one game, this one would be it. Just imagine the potential. Josh Allen finally making the Super Bowl and the Bills looking to win their first title. Caleb Williams and the Bears looking for only their second Lombardi Trophy. NBC would take this matchup and pop champagne bottles all night long.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

The NIL era is filled with more commitments and decommitments than can possibly be imagined. And Bussin’ with the Boys co-host Will Compton was not happy that Nebraska was left holding the bag on one key transfer.

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Snoop Dogg call Steve Kerr getting ejected. Get this man in the broadcast booth whenever and wherever he wants.

How many sports media personalities have been given the honor of a Chris Berman NFL Primetime inspired highlight like Laura Rutledge?

The Eagles’ Week 18 game against the Commanders was such a snoozer that someone very loudly fell asleep on their local postgame show.

🗣️ NOTABLE QUOTABLES 🗣️

“There’s no way to defend the SEC. It’s been terrible.” - Paul Finebaum has finally waved the white flag when it comes to the SEC’s performance this postseason.

"I know what the number one pick in the draft looks like. That ain't it." - Bomani Jones is not high on Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza’s draft stock.

“In the decision-making process with this College Football Playoff, the powers-that-be have made the wrong choice in almost every single instance.” - Joel Klatt is not done in his criticism of college football’s power brokers.

“If I feel not what I have been or the way I perceive myself to have been, that’ll be time to step away, I don’t feel that way right now.” - Al Michaels is already eyeing a comeback for next season.

️‍️‍🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

The Tirico Advantage

Mike Tirico received universal praise for his excellent call of Sunday evening’s Steelers-Ravens regular season finale. The way he set up Tyler Loop’s game-deciding kick brought the perfect amount of information, context, and dramatic setup.

And as our Ben Koo writes, that’s no accident. No matter the sport and no matter the context - whether it’s calling Sunday Night Football, hosting the Olympics, or anything in between, Mike Tirico is always ready for whatever comes next.

Then he sets the call up perfectly either way with, “but they went around the country and spoke to a lot of the kickers who were coming out and they decided Tyler Loop was made of the right stuff for moments like this. He now has a chance to win the division for the Ravens. The final play of the regular season! For the final spot in the playoffs! Tyler Loop from 44!”

The ball snaps. The kick is off. The call of the kick is perfect, standing tall on the foundation of the setup of Loop being made of the right stuff and uniquely picked as a successor to the league’s most prolific kicker and now with a moment to validate that pick.

How many announcers know Justin Tucker is the most accurate kicker in league history? Likely some, but not all.

How many announcers would know the backstory of the Ravens’ search for his replacement that led them to Loop? Very few, I would presume.

Was this information from an interview with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh? From reading articles? Fed to him by staffers?

It’s not that Tirico had all of this in his back pocket at this moment, it’s that he always has an insanely deep arsenal of information to throw at whatever the situation is and whatever the sport is.