Here’s a look at the announcing assignments for the NFL’s 2025 Wild Card Weekend. That includes some discussion of each game based on broadcasters, matchups, or both. All times are Eastern.
Saturday, Jan. 11, afternoon window: AFC No. 5 LA Chargers at AFC No. 4 Houston
CBS/Nickelodeon/Paramount+, 4:30 p.m.
Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn
Nickelodeon: Nate Burleson, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Dylan Schefter, Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks), other animated characters
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Kugler, Ryan Harris
For the eighth-straight season where they’ve made the playoffs, the Texans will start their postseason campaign with a Saturday afternooon Wild Card game. (We wrote about this around their fifth-straight and sixth-straight appearances in that slot, in 2018 and 2019 respectively; they then missed the playoffs from 2020-2022, but were back in the Saturday afternoon Wild Card slot last season.) As noted in those previous posts, the Saturday afternoon slot is usually the lowest-drawing one, and the Texans haven’t done well in most team-by-team national viewership numbers.
However, unlike most of those past Texans’ playoff games, this game will get at least some level of extra TV spotlight. That’s thanks to it being the one chosen for Paramount Global’s Nickelodeon altcast. Like Paramount’s 2024 Super Bowl altcast, this will be “Live From Bikini Bottom,” the home of SpongeBob SquarePants, and SpongeBob voices Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke will be in the main booth (with Carolyn Lawrence contributing sideline reporting as SpongeBob squirrel “Sandy Cheeks”; Dylan Schefter will also be doing sideline reporting, while Diana Zermeño will explain rules and penalties in character as Dora The Explorer. There will also be other Paramount Global characters appearing on the altcast, from franchises including Transformers, Sonic The Hedgehog, Rugrats, and more.
Interestingly enough, Paramount’s release on this indicates this altcast is set for Nickelodeon only, not Paramount+ (unlike the Super Bowl altcast, which was on both). But it will be available on NFL+. The main game broadcast with Eagle and Davis (fifth of 25 in our recent reader booth rankings) will be available on Paramount+ as well as CBS, the CBS Sports app, and NFL digital properties.
In terms of the on-field game, the 11-6 Chargers are on the road against the 10-7 Texans because Houston won the AFC South. But they’re three-point road favorites. Head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers are on a three-game winning streak, while the Texans did win their last game (23-14 over the Houston Oilers-clad Tennessee Titans), but got drubbed 31-2 on Christmas by the Baltimore Ravens, and lost 27-19 to the Kansas City Chiefs the week before that.
For Houston, there will be a lot of attention on QB C.J. Stroud, who’s been in a bit of a slump to end the season. He completed all six passes he threw against the Titans before he was pulled (the Texans had already clinched the division), but threw for just 185 and 131 yards in two of the three weeks before that (he did throw for 244 yards in the loss to the Chiefs), with three touchdowns and three interceptions over that three-week span. For Los Angeles, watch WR Ladd McConkey, who has a team-high 1,149 receiving yards (plus seven touchdowns) and put up 95, 94, and 87 receiving yards over the past three weeks.
Saturday, Jan. 11, evening window: AFC No. 6 Pittsburgh at AFC No. 3 Baltimore
Prime Video, 8:15 p.m.
Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung
Spanish: Miguel Gurwitz, Rolando Cantú
Westwood One Radio: Ryan Radtke, Mike Golic
Amazon’s first-ever exclusive playoff broadcast is a notable matchup, the fifth time these AFC North rivals have met in the playoffs. Pittsburgh is 3-1 in the postseason against Baltimore, with wins in the divisional round in 2002 and 2011 and the AFC Championship Game in 2009, and the Steelers lead the overall series 36-26. However, the Ravens won the teams’ last playoff meeting in 2015, a 30-17 Wild Card round victory, and they’re 9.5-point favorites at home here.
On the broadcasting side, there are questions about if Prime Video play-by-play voice Al Michaels will return for another season. He’s 80, but he recently told Richard Deitsch he’s “leaning very heavily” towards continuing to call games for at least one more year, and has support from Amazon executives for that. And our reader poll liked his work with Kirk Herbstreit this year, giving that duo a 2.77 (out of 4, with them placing eighth of 25 booths overall) and often offering more praise for Michaels than Herbstreit in the comments. A strong performance in this high-profile playoff game might pave the way for Michaels’ return for another year.
On the field, the the Steelers’ quarterback situation has drawn so much attention. Pittsburgh enters this one on a four-game losing skid (just the third team to ever make the playoffs in that situation). And a big part of that has been underwhelming showings from pivot Russell Wilson, who threw for 148, 205, 217, and 128 yards over that span (plus 158 yards in an ugly win over the Cleveland Browns the week before).
That led to the ESPN booth of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman roasting the Steelers’ offense after their season-concluding 19-17 loss to the Bengals Saturday, with Aikman even predicting a playoff loss with “They’re one-and-done.” And, this week, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky even suggested a highly-unconventional approach, playing Justin Fields on first downs and Wilson after that. (It seems unlikely Pittsburgh will do exactly that, but Steelers’ OC Arthur Smith has hinted at potentially using Fields in some sort of package, so that could be interesting to watch.)
For the Ravens, QB Lamar Jackson continues to draw a lot of the attention. He was named the AP first-team All-Pro QB Friday and is now the betting favorite for NFL MVP, surpassing Bills’ QB Josh Allen (who held that title as recently as Thursday). He threw for 4,172 yards with 41 touchdowns and four interceptions this year (plus a 66.7 percent completion mark), and also rushed for 915 yards (with a 6.6 yards-per-carry average) and four touchdowns. But no discussion of Baltimore’s offense is complete without considering RB Derrick Henry, who had 1,921 rushing yards (second in the league) and 16 rushing touchdowns (tied for first) this season.
Sunday, Jan. 12, early window: AFC No. 7 Denver at AFC No. 2 Buffalo
CBS/Paramount+, 1 p.m.
Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, Jay Feely
Westwood One Radio: John Sadak, Derek Rackley, Olivia Dekker
The 10-7 Broncos are 8.5-point road underdogs against the 13-4 Bills here, but there are some reasons for optimism with them. Denver produced the league’s highest sack total (63) this season, led by outside rushers Nik Bonitto (13.5 sacks) and Jonathon Cooper (10.5), but with notable interior contributions from Zach Allen (8.5) and John Franklin-Myers (seven). If they can get home against Buffalo pivot Allen, that might make this a lot closer.
For the Bills, RB James Cook is an underrated factor. He finished the season with 1,009 rushing yards (averaging 4.9 yards per carry) and 16 touchdowns (tied for the league lead with Henry). A cold Buffalo day (with a forecast high of 33 degrees Fahrenheit, albeit only a 24 percent chance of snow) might see the team make a whole lot of use of him.
Sunday, Jan. 12, afternoon window: NFC No. 7 Green Bay at NFC No. 2 Philadelphia
Fox/Fox Deportes, 4:30 p.m.
Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
Fox Deportes: Adrian Garcia-Márquez, Jaime Motta, Jessi Losada, Rodolfo Landeros
Westwood One Radio: Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker, Amber Theoharis
The 14-3 Eagles started the year 2-2, but then won 12 of 13 to take the NFC East. They’re also entering on a two-game winning streak following a Dec. 22 loss to the Washington Commanders. And they’re five-point home favorites here against the 11-6 Packers, who lost their last two games of the season (albeit with nothing on the line in those following their playoff-clinching 34-0 shutout of the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 23).
For Philadelphia, the big focus is RB Saquon Barkley, under heavy discussion after the team chose to rest him in their final week despite him being 101 yards from Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. Barkley finished the regular season with a league-high 2,005 rushing yards, plus 13 touchdowns. A key Packer who will have to face him is LB Quay Walker, who led the team with 102 tackles.
The Fox broadcast team for this one is also going to get a lot of scrutiny, especially with it being this year’s Super Bowl team and around resurgence of talk that Brady will not return for another season. He and Burkhardt finished 14 of 25 booths in our announcer rankings with a 2.17. We’ll see how he does in the spotlight of this playoff game.
Sunday, Jan. 12, Sunday Night Football: NFC No. 6 Washington at NFC No. 3 Tampa Bay
NBC/Peacock/Universo, 8:20 p.m.
Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark
Universo: Miguel Gurwitz, Rolando Cantú, Ariana Figuera
Westwood One Radio: Jason Benetti, Mike Mayock, Laura Okmin
The 12-5 Commanders are on the road here because the 10-7 Buccaneers won the NFC South. Tampa Bay is a three-point home favorite. And a big part of that is about the play of QB Baker Mayfield, who finished the season with 4,500 passing yards (third in the league) and 41 touchdowns against 16 interceptions (with a 71.4 percent completion mark).
However, Washington has their own star QB in rookie Jayden Daniels. He put up 3,568 passing yards this season with 41 touchdowns against 10 interceptions (and a 69.0 percent completion rate). We’ll see how he does in his postseason debut, and in a high-profile QB duel.
Monday, Jan. 13, Monday Night Football: NFC No. 5 Minnesota at NFC No. 4 LA Rams (in Arizona)
ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 8:15 p.m.
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Laura Rutledge, Lisa Salters
ESPN2: Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Guests TBA
ESPN Deportes: Rebeca Landa, Sebastián Martinez-Christensen, MJ Acosta-Ruiz
Westwood One Radio: Kevin Harlan, Kurt Warner
This one was moved to the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, and that’s an extra challenge for the Rams. They finished the season 10-7 (versus the Vikings’ 14-3), and they’re two-point underdogs here.
For Minnesota, QB Sam Darnold remains a key focus, finishing the season with 4,319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions (with a 66.2 percent completion mark). But he struggled in their NFC North-determining 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions last week, throwing for just 166 yards and no touchdowns and completing just 43.9 percent of his passes. We’ll see if he can bounce back here.
For the Rams, WR Puka Nacua is an important player to watch. He had a team-high 990 receiving yards this season, and put up 129 receiving yards the last time he played (Dec. 28 against the Cardinals). He’s on track to play here, and may be set for a big day against a Vikings’ defense that allowed 4,459 passing yards (fourth-worst in the league) this season.
H/T Sammy for the listings!
