While Tom Brady has had some ups and downs in his first year as a broadcaster. But during a big moment in Saturday night’s playoff game between the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions, Brady saw something that none of the Detroit Lions on the field seemed to catch.
Leading 31-28, Washington faced a fourth-and-two from the Detroit five-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Rather than kick a short field goal to go up six points, the Commanders sent their offense onto the field. As Washington’s offense broke the huddle and approached the line of scrimmage, Brady noticed something was wrong.
“Need a time-out,” Brady said. “Twelve on the field, time-out. Time-out. Nope. Nope. Oh, no. What are they doing?”
Brady’s partner, Kevin Burkhardt noted that a penalty flag had been thrown. As the play clock was winding down, it briefly appeared as though the flag might be on the Commanders. Instead, the penalty was on the Lions.
As Brady observed, Detroit had 12 men on the field. When the Commanders lined up in formation, the penalty flag was thrown. The yardage on the half-the distance to the goal penalty was enough to give Washington a first down.
Tom Brady was all over the Lions having 12 players on the field during the Commanders’ 4th-and-2 from the 5.
“Need a timeout! 12 on the field, timeout! Timeout! Timeout! Nope. Nope. Oh no! What are they doin’?!” 🏈🎙️ #NFL pic.twitter.com/Z6opHb7mQs
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 19, 2025
“Wow, you called it for 10 seconds, Tom,” Burkhardt said.
“I’m seeing ’em run out there,” Brady said, before he counted out all 12 players on an overhead shot. “Miscommunication. It’s one of those things that you’ve gotta see…trying to re-direct but there’s 70,000 people. No one’s gonna hear you.”
The penalty was huge.
Two plays after the flag, Washington’s Brian Robinson Jr. scored on a one-yard run, giving the Commanders a 10-point lead and fully cashing in on Detroit’s mistake. The Lions were never within single digits of the Commanders again.
