Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the best in the business.
Awful Announcing’s announcer rankings seemingly reflect that notion, but there was also tangible evidence during the Monday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets. Not that there was any doubt that Buck and Aikman would step up to the plate and take the league (and officiating) to task if need be, but their candor is palpable ā and that’s all the viewers at home are asking for.
The audience doesn’t want to be lied to or misled. And it’s not that Buck and Aikman are guilty of doing that, but when Monday night’s game represents the league’s product as a whole on a national stage, the broadcasting booth shouldn’t mince words, nor should it accept every ticky, tacky call.
Aikman certainly wasn’t.
Aikman on telecast about Epenesa penalty: “I don’t like the call at all.”#Bills
ā Ryan O’Halloran (@ryanohalloran) October 15, 2024
Troy Aikman was hysterical on MNF. His reaction to the million penalty calls, the “wow” at Tyler Bass’ worse-than-college-football shank at a FG and the “I think I’ll keep them to myself” when Joe Buck asked him for his thoughts on the ghastly Pulp Fiction animation of the QBs š¤£
ā sita (@bluebirdmyna) October 15, 2024
He wasn’t the only quarterback who wasn’t pleased with the calls. The Bills and Jets combined for 22 penalties for 204 yards, which led Buck to joke that Adrian Hill (and his crew) got so much air time on Monday that the head official would need a SAG card soon after.
It was that kind of game.
And those kinds of calls make you wonder about the future of the sport and whether the rules actually matter. There were two roughing-the-passer penalties, neither of which made any sense. The Jets would get called for defensive pass interference for breathing on opposing receiver(s). Oh, and the rule of a ball being uncatchable nullifying any pass interference seemed to no longer actually matter.
And that’s only scratching the surface of the incompetence.
But Aikman was also right that the lack of discipline from both sides was like a preseason game. There were some clear and obvious fouls that Hill and his crew had to call — and did — but that didn’t exactly make every call the right one.
Viewers didn’t tune in to see a ref show, but they got one and more.
Troy Aikman: It’s like a preseason game.
Aikman later: I guess they gotta throw the flag, don’t they? It’s easy to get upset with the officials. But those were penalties. pic.twitter.com/pTGw59WTQo
ā Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 15, 2024
Javon Kinlaw is penalized for “Improper conversation with an official,” his third penalty of the drive.
Buffalo’s David Edwards was PUMPED. pic.twitter.com/AwdKL0Pbiv
ā Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 15, 2024
Bills OL Dion Dawkins gave us the rare “during the change of quarter” penalty.
Followed by Joe Buck reminding us of Dawkins’ history with the Jets — which is not good. pic.twitter.com/y8XREjODsw
ā Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 15, 2024
Even if you can laugh about how hilariously drunk Monday night’s game was, it’s not something that should be happening on a big stage, let alone Monday Night Football. But perhaps it was in everyone’s best interest that the dynamic duo of Buck and Aikman was on the mic, two announcers who could actually criticize the officiating and question some of the calls made in the Bills’ 23-20 win.
At the end of the day, when a game is as penalty-laden as Monday night’s fiasco, frustration is bound to boil over for everyone involved. But Buck and Aikman took it in stride, calling out the never-ending flags with just the right amount of candor and not letting it bleed into the play-by-play or analysis.
It was Aikman who didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts, pointing out the bad calls, while Buck kept the energy alive, despite the officiating crew’s best attempts to suck the life out of the game.
Buck and Aikman don’t just call it like it is; they call it out when it’s ridiculous and do it better than anyone else in the business.
