Fox did its best with a bad game
Tom Brady shined and even showed a sense of humor
The Philadelphia Eagles blew out the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX. The game wasn’t that close as the Eagles ran out to a 24-0 halftime lead and extended it to 34-0 in the third quarter before the Chiefs scored points in garbage time.
For Fox which had these same two teams in a thrilling Super Bowl LVII, the network was hoping that lightning would strike twice. But instead, the Eagles were all over the Chiefs and the game was over at halftime.
Tom Brady for the first time was in front of trends and all over the action. Unfortunately, the game failed him and it continued a season-long trend where and play-by-platy partner Kevin Burkhardt had a slew of bad games in their first season together.
Tom Brady gave his some of his best work
The NFL loosened some shackles on Brady for this Super Bowl allowing him to be candid on officials calls and attend pre-production meetings. This pre-game prep allowed Brady to show the potential that Fox executives felt that he had when they signed him to the $37.5 million megabucks contract two years ago.
When the Eagles’ A.J. Brown was called for an offensive pass interference penalty, he was quick to pan the call and rules analyst Mike Pereira agreed with him. Brady said, “I don’t like that one bit.”
Pereira added, “I think it’s one that did not need to called.”
And that was followed by a defensive unnecessary roughness call made on Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. Brady said, “I don’t like that one either.” And that led him to cite the Tuck Rule call back in 2001 against the Oakland Raiders which benefited the Patriots, “Look, I was on the end of the Tuck Rule and I was glad Twitter wasn't around then."
As Patrick Mahomes was having trouble with the Eagles four-man rush which forced him into a pick-6, Fox was discussing the overhauling of the Philadelphia defense with coordinator Vic Fangio, the signing of linebacker Zack Baun and the drafting of cornerback Cooper DeJean. The series had two sacks and then on 3rd and 16, DeJean intercepted Mahomes and scored a touchdown.
Before the pick, Brady said, “I can just tell by Patrick’s feet, he just doesn’t have 100 percent confidence in his protection right now.”
He also shared some perspective on how it feels to lose a Super Bowl. When it became apparent that Kansas City was going to lose, Brady discussed that how he felt after losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants, that he didn’t talk to anyone after the game and he’s never gotten over it. This was lacking in Brady’s early work, but as he’s become more comfortable in the booth, he’s willing to share his feelings. This shows that Brady absolutely has the potential to be an elite analyst.
During the season, it seemed Brady was more focused trying to make his points in sound bites rather than overexplaining. Tonight, he also showed a sense of humor.
After Fox showed comedian Kevin Hart, a noted Philadelphia Eagles fan, Brady joked, “Kevin Hart’s here? How did the cameras find Kevin Hart? … Kevin, I love you! You took so many shots at me in May (at the Tom Brady roast), I’m coming back at you.”
Brady was referring to Hart’s height, of course.
Overall, Brady had a very good night. I would give him a solid A performance for Super Bowl LIX.
What was up with that scorebug?
It’s become a tradition that the network airing the Super Bowl unveils a new scorebug and graphics package. This scorebug which you see above not only was panned, but it was very unpopular on social media.
Now fans love to pick on new scorebugs because it’s a total change from what viewers see during the regular season and playoffs.
Fox went extreme minimalist for this new scorebug showing team abbreviations, score, time and timeouts. However, the font in all caps seemed quite obnoxious. Fox did elect to show real time stats either on the left or right depending on which team had the ball and would have slideouts to show names or various information.
One tweak I would make is to show team logos rather than all caps in the blocks. That would be more pleasing to the eyes rather than seeing two or three letters in all caps.
The reaction to the scorebug either on X or Bluesky wasn’t kind. Fans felt either it was the worst scorebug in history or pretty close to it. The scorebug gets a D minus
Fox’s production
Fox did have a shaky when it seemed to was trying to find a certain replay, but after that, it found its footing. In the first half when Chiefs receiver DeAndre Hopkins dropped a pass on 4th down, Fox showed a replay of defensive tackle Chris Jones’ reaction getting off. the bench and dropping to the ground in frustration.
As Tom Brady was discussing Patrick Mahomes’ issues with the Eagles defense, Fox’s replays showed the pressure from the four-man front forcing the Chiefs quarterbacks into mistakes. One replay showed Mahomes being bumped by his own offensive lineman due to pressure by the defense leading to a second Eagles interception.
Also, when Devonta Smith caught a touchdown, a handheld camera at the goal line perfectly captured the Eagles wide receiver making the catch. Play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt recognized cameraman Don Cornelli who was shooting his last game for Fox as he was retiring after the Super Bowl.
If Fox had a better scorebug, this might have been close to perfect, but it was not.
I’ll give Fox a B for its production.
Pregame on Bourbon Street
Fox took over Bourbon Street for the first half of its five-and-a-half hour pregame show. Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Johnson held court on a huge set outside and there was a purple carpet that lined Bourbon Street.
In addition, insider Jay Glazer was breaking news from one of the balconies overlooking the street. Tom Brady threw a pass to Gronk from across the street. It was nuts.
This gave the pregame a big event feel and it’s something that Fox does very well. ESPN has this down pat from College GameDay, but when Fox takes its NFL show on the road, it creates a fun atmosphere.
When Fox went inside the Superdome, it aired a A.I. tribute to Jimmy Johnson in what looked to be a sendoff, however, Johnson stopped short of announcing that he was retiring. He was in tears after the A.I. tribute showed Johnson as a player, coach at Oklahoma State and Miami (FL) then with the Dallas Cowboys. It was quite strange to see Johnson in A.I., but it made him very emotional.
With a five-and-a-half hour show, the program also showcased the Fox NFL Kickoff crew of Charissa Thompson, Julian Edelman, Michael Vick, Charles Woodson and Peter Schrager who were stationed outside the Superdome.
The pregame was harmless and showed plenty of features as well as an interview with the 47th President of the United States. It get a C.
I’ll give Fox for the day a low B or B minus if you will.
My favorite ads were Dunkin with Ben Affleck and the Stella Artois ad with Matt Damon and David Beckham playing long-lost twins making a joke about Ben Affleck and was directed by Ben Affleck (go figure).
Coming up, we’ll find out if this Super Bowl set another viewership record. Thanks for reading!