It’s always fun when announcers discuss a streak that immediately ends, and that happened on NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage of the New Orleans Saints-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game this week. With Tampa Bay trailing 31-0 in the third quarter (a deficit Tom Brady hadn’t seen in a few years), the Bucs’ Mike Edwards recovered a Drew Brees fumble and took it back 31 yards, setting up first and 10 at the 21.
That then turned into 1st and 10 at the 12 after a pass to Mike Evans, and 1st and goal at the one after a (controversial) pass interference call against Janoris Jenkins. And that led to Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth discussing how the Bucs had scored on every goal-to-go situation so far this year (in 22 attempts) and how the Saints had allowed a touchdown on every goal-to-go situation so far this year (in 13 attempts):
The Bucs were perfect on goal-to-go situations this year, and the Saints hadn't stopped a goal-to-go situation. But right after NBC discussed that, that changed. pic.twitter.com/z9OkgfP8T0
— Andrew Bucholtz (@AndrewBucholtz) November 9, 2020
And, yep, both of those streaks promptly came to an end. Brady threw an incomplete pass for Evans, then Ronald Jones II was stopped on a plunge, then Rob Gronkowski dropped a pass, and then Brady threw incomplete for Evans again, leading to a turnover on downs. If you had the right side on BetOnline for this game, hopefully the result turned out better for you!
That was certainly a notable stat, especially with the Bucs being perfect in that situation and the Saints being completely imperfect in that situation. And there isn’t actually an announcer jinx; it wasn’t what Michaels and Collinsworth said that caused this. But it was certainly funny to see that stat immediately change right after it was shown and discussed.
[Clippit]

About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.
Recent Posts
DiJonai Carrington responds to Emmanuel Acho’s criticism of ‘white privilege’ post
"I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds."
Scott Van Pelt decries college football preseason rankings in transfer era: ‘You’re selling stories’
"Look at last year as an example of where teams began the season, and rankings, and it will happen again."
AI is even coming for sports journalism jobs in Madden 27
Plus, for the first time, real NFL coordinators.
Michael Wilbon: ESPN panicked over Michael Jordan joining NBA on NBC
"I got such a kick out of that NBC release"
Michael Kay laments Yankee fans not showing up for Old-Timers’ Day: ‘It’s been a problem’
"I'm not here to scold you"
Sophie Cunningham reportedly shopping tell-all book
Cunningham's request to "get back to basketball" might be temporary.