An Awful Announcing rendering of Rich Eisen, Dan Orlovsky, and Jason McCourty via USA Today Images
League NetworksNFLBy Sam Neumann on

There is something to be said for those of us who woke up with an extra hour of sleep on Sunday — shoutout Daylight Saving Time — and had what was billed as perhaps the Game of the 2023 NFL season thus far on TV

While Sunday’s Kansas City Chiefs-Miami Dolphins game from Frankfurt, Germany, didn’t exactly live up to the hype, NFL Network’s broadcast did everything it could — and then some to bring the juice. And those who watched Rich Eisen, Dan Orlovsky, and Jason McCourty on the call of the Week 9 matchup between two AFC powerhouses seemed to agree. 

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Coming over from ESPN, Orlovsky offered a great offensive perspective and balance to McCourty’s defensive point of view. Orlovsky has been on the call for a couple of Monday Night Football doubleheaders this season already, but it was interesting to see a seamless crossover from the Worldwide Leader to a league-sponsored network.

You would have never imagined that this trio of broadcasters has never worked together before. And that level of chemistry and camaraderie isn’t just something you can fake. There were a couple of instances on Sunday, in which they really gelled. Eisen razzed both Orlovsky and McCourty for having no idea what The Benny Hill Show was, as he mentioned it despite Week 9’s game being in Frankfurt, not London. And while that moment was interrupted by a Draft Kings commercial, it still made its way onto the broadcast quite nicely.

Another moment included both Eisen and Orlovsky giving Pat McAfee the business, after a punt from Dolphins punter Jake Bailey hit The Frankfurt Stadium scoreboard.

Eisen, himself, was on his 100th assignment doing play-by-play Sunday. And based on his call of the game, the opportunity doesn’t escape him, either. He said as much during a recent interview with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch.

“The last two weeks in London, I was definitely better at it and more comfortable doing it,” Eisen told Deitsch. “It was the first time I’d ever called games in back-to-back weeks. I love doing it. There’s nothing like it. My entire career, I’ve either talked about something in advance to preview it, like a pregame show, or talked about something afterward, like a highlight show, like SportsCenter, or what I do on my daily show. Calling a game is essentially telling people what’s going on as it is happening. It’s a tremendous responsibility.”

Eisen didn’t take the responsibility lightly, which was clear by his presence in the booth Sunday.

Considering the circumstances – the trio of Eisen, Orlovsky, and McCourty had never called a game together before Sunday — they did an excellent job, and based on the reactions, others felt the same way. If this is the reception that this trio is gonna get, we may see them more often together. And the NFL Network may need to borrow Orlovsky a couple more times in the future.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann