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A few weeks ago NBC announced that MSNBC’s political dude who stood in front of a big screen and broke down all the votes and whatnot during the election was going to go on “Sunday Night Football” to break down the NFL playoff picture in similar fashion. I thought it would be a stupid bit and that the political fella, Steve Kornacki, had jumped the shark.
And you know what? I was wrong! He’s been great with these things and NBC was smart to bring him on.
Last night Kornacki was back on SNF pregame and halftime shows for a second straight week and once again he crushed his segment as he battled through a few tech issues while perfectly breaking down all the playoff chances for all the teams.
Kornacki uses his big screen and his engaging personality and his math to show viewers where teams started the day, where they stand at the moment, and where they will stand if certain things in Sunday night’s game happens. There are lots of percentage points, which are good. Which are necessary. Which are there to help us know exactly where things stand.
It might seem like a small thing but this segment should become “a thing” that the other networks start copying, much like they did when Fox Sports brought on Mike Pereira to be their NFL rules expert. Now all the networks have their own Mike Pereira and their roles on the broadcast feel like they’ve been there forever.
Without Kornacki, most networks put their NFL playoff pictures up on a screen and talk about it they best they can while telling us who’s in and who’s in the hunt. It’s an OK way to do it but it’s not great. It’s like watching TV in standard definition. We got used to that until we got high definition and then that’s what we all wanted and needed.
Well, Kornacki and his way of breaking the playoff picture down is the new high definition we need in our lives.
If I’m CNN’s John King, I’d have my agent making some calls for some Sunday work late in the the NFL season, because he would crush it, too.
In this day and age it’s easy to sit back and rip networks for giving us annoying announcers to listen to and boring segments to watch.
Now we need to do the opposite and applaud NBC’s vision to raise the game to a new level.
And other networks would be smart to do the same.
Quick hits: Metcalf becomes cameraman… Jacobs throws fantasy owners for a loop… Mahomes’ ridiculous sack… And more.
– Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf took over one of the TV cameras behind the end zone after scoring a TD and his footage… wasn’t great.
– Raiders running back Josh Jacobs threw fantasy owners for a loop with his pregame Instagram stories.
– Patrick Mahomes took a 30-yard sack during Sunday’s win over the Dolphins. 30 yards!
– An LSU staffer shared a picture of the shoe that could keep the Florida Gators out of the college football playoffs.
– MLB fans have decided what Cleveland’s new nickname should be.