1. Last night was nice, but that was an appetizer. The main course comes this Sunday when we get a full slate of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. games. Nothing beats NFL Sundays.

So, as some of you get ready to watch Scott Hanson for seven hours, while others get ready to enjoy Sunday Ticket’s beautiful quadbox on YouTube, here are some random thoughts about NFL broadcasting.

• The best NFL broadcast crew, by far, is Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Aikman, remarkably, is going into his 25th year as an analyst. He has separated himself from the pack with his honesty. While most analysts have no problem lying to viewers or sugarcoating things, Aikman tells it like it is. And does so in a fair and straightforward way. Buck has simply become the sport’s best play-by-play person. Their chemistry is also unmatched across all the networks.

• The most intriguing broadcaster will once again be Tom Brady. The GOAT had a very uneven freshman season in the booth. Will Year 2 see an improvement? Brady did get better as the season went on, but never convinced the masses that he had the stuff of a lead analyst. And just like last season, it doesn’t help Brady that Greg Olsen, Fox’s No. 2 analyst, seems to get better and better every year.

• The second-most intriguing broadcaster will be J.J. Watt, who is now on CBS’s No. 2 crew with Ian Eagle. Watt has massive potential because he is opinionated. He hasn’t been shy about calling out the league, coaches and players on social media or during his weekly spots with Pat McAfee. If he can bring that to the booth, the Eagle-Watt crew will easily become one of the best in the sport.

I spent a little bit of time with Eagle and Watt at a CBS event over the summer and I can tell you that chemistry will not be a problem for them.

• The gap between CBS and Fox when it comes to play-by-play men is WIDE: I think we take for granted how stacked CBS is when it comes to the NFL. Jim Nantz, Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan is quite a 1-2-3. Andrew Catalon, who is on CBS’s No. 4 crew, would be Fox’s second-best play-by-play person.

• While Catalon is CBS’s most underrated broadcaster, Adam Amin is Fox’s most underrated play-by-play caller. Amin, like Catalon, provides an infectious energy while calling a game. He and Mark Sanchez make up one of Fox’s better booths.

• Al Michaels originally signed a three-year deal with Amazon Prime Video for Thursday Night Football. That expired after last season and Michaels is now on a year-by-year basis with Amazon, so this could be the last season for one of the greatest to ever do it. While Michaels has been criticized by some on social media in recent years, I would suggest enjoying what could be his final year calling games.

• The team that networks are rooting for the most is the Steelers. Nobody knows how good the Steelers will be this year, but you can believe that CBS, NBC and others are hoping Aaron Rodgers can turn back time. The Steelers are a TV draw and their late-season schedule is STACKED. If Pittsburgh is good, most of these matchups will be huge.

Week 10: at Chargers
Week 11: vs. Bengals
Week 12: at Bears
Week 13: vs. Bills
Week 14: at Ravens
Week 15: vs. Dolphins
Week 16: at Lions
Week 17: vs. Browns
Week18: at Ravens

• Here are all the platforms you will need access to if you'd like to watch every game this season:

CBS
Fox
NBC
ESPN
ABC
Amazon Prime Video
Netflix
Peacock
YouTube
NFL Network

• It’s amazing to me that CBS, Fox, ESPN and NFL Network are still, in 2025, all trotting out the same exact pregame shows. You’d think in this day and age, at least one outlet would try something different with its pregame show. But they all stick to the same formula and make it impossible for any of them to stand out.

• CBS’s Jim Nantz narrated this video to get you all pumped up for the start of the 2025 season.

2. All the hullabaloo about RedZone having commercials this year? It turns out that viewers will be subjected to a grand total of one to two minutes of ads—in a split box with RedZone—out of seven hours.

The ads will come in 15-second increments.

Again, ESPN has nothing to do with these ads that will run during RedZone. ESPN’s deal for RedZone, which hasn’t even happened yet, calls for ESPN to just distribute RedZone. RedZone will still be owned and operated by NFL Media.

3. Props to Mike Tirico, who was all over the Jalen Carter spitting incident right from the get go last night. Solid job by NBC, too, quickly providing the incriminating video.

4. Longtime ESPN tennis broadcaster, Cliff Drysdale, called his last match at the U.S. Open on Thursday. Drysdale, 84, sounded as sharp as ever calling the Aryna Sabalenka–Jess Pegula semifinals match.

Drysdale’s departure from the network is notable because the only people left from when ESPN started in 1979 are Chris Berman and Dick Vitale.

5. It’s amazing how little publicity the WNBA has gotten since Caitlin Clark went down with an injury. Every time she played, there would be news items about the ratings she generated. With Clark out for several weeks, I don’t think I’ve gotten one press release from a network that airs the WNBA about ratings.

Unfortunately for the league, Clark announced last night she is done for the season. Just a killer for the league’s postseason viewership.

6. This week’s episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with The Athletic’s sports media reporter, Andrew Marchand.

Topics discussed: Charles Barkley’s recent comments that he still doesn’t know what’s going on with Inside the NBA on ESPN; Fox and ESPN’s over-the-top college football coverage in Week 1; Lee Corso’s perfect ending; why ESPN dropped Doris Burke and added Tim Legler to its lead NBA crew; Major League Baseball’s television future; ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer product; Ryen Russillo leaving The Ringer and much more.

Following Marchand, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we go through some NFL win total over/unders for the 2025 season, look at Week 1 betting lines and discuss NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: In honor of Week 1, here’s a random NFL Primetime clip from Week 1 in 1991, featuring a wild Broncos-Bengals game.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Random NFL Broadcasting Thoughts to Kick Off the 2025 Season.