SI

There’s Still One Big Flaw in Tom Brady’s Broadcasting Game

The lack of late-game strategy talk from the Fox analyst during the Rams-Seahawks game was jarring.
Jimmy Traina|
Tom Brady left viewers hanging during key moments of the Rams-Seahawks game.
Tom Brady left viewers hanging during key moments of the Rams-Seahawks game. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

1. Tom Brady made a massive improvement as Fox’s lead NFL analyst from last year to this year.

He is so much more comfortable in his role and has relied more on his experience as the greatest quarterback of all time than on stats.

At one point in Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Rams and Seahawks, Brady explained one of the reasons why Seattle wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba is so damn good is because he never changes his “shoulder plane” and that other receivers give defensive backs a clue about the route they’re going to run because they dip their shoulders.

This was brilliant stuff by Brady. And analysis like this has even more impact coming from a seven-time Super Bowl champion.

However, the one area where Brady is still lacking is strategy. Brady and play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt had two major whiffs on Sunday.

First, after the Rams scored a touchdown with 2:06 left in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 31–26, there was zero discussion of whether Los Angeles should go for two to cut the Seahawks’ lead to 31–28.

I’m not saying that Brady needed to declare that the Rams HAD to go for two. But a discussion about whether L.A. should go for two was absolutely necessary here. We live in an era where every NFL coach is overly aggressive. Going for two down 31–26 with two minutes left in the third quarter isn’t overly aggressive or even aggressive. Yet, we never heard from Brady on this front.

And that lack of discussion ended up hurting the broadcast even more a little later. The Rams opted to kick the point after to make it a 31–27 game. Then, with 4:59 left in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles was faced with a fourth-and-4 from Seattle’s 6-yard line.

If the Rams had kicked a field goal earlier, they could have kicked one here to tie the game. In addition, you could have made the argument that L.A. should have kicked a field goal here to go down 31–30 so that they would only need a field goal to win the game if they stopped Seattle on the next possession.

Yet, again, we got zero discussion about all of this from Burkhardt and Brady. None. Zilch. Brady just completely passed on any strategy talk and it was glaring.

It was also hard to watch all this unfold and not think about how Greg Olsen, who Brady replaced, would’ve been ALL OVER the two-point conversion/field goal analysis here. The strategy stuff is right in Olsen’s wheelhouse.

Brady’s improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 was significant. If he wants to make a big leap from Year 2 to Year 3, he needs to embrace the strategy talk.

2.  Speaking of Tom Brady…

Saturday Night Live aired a truly unfunny skit this weekend spoofing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. The sketch opened with “Buck” saying, “And his one is a clash between two great defenses, right Troy?

“Aikman” responded with, “Oh, yeah. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object.”

Hilarious.

Anyway, what’s curious about this was that Brady opened up the Rams-Seahawks telecast by saying, “What it’s all about today is the unstoppable force versus the immovable object.”

Bizarre coincidence or was Brady acknowledging the SNL skit?

3. The NFL posted this graphic at the beginning of the season. It features Sam Darnold and Drake Maye all the way at the front of the group looking at the Super Bowl trophy, so now everyone on the site formerly known as Twitter is reposting it and it’s really annoying to constantly see this in my feed.

4. If you were putting together a list of iconic staples of every NFL season, Evan Washburn’s hair would deserve a spot. Every Sunday, we see the CBS sideline reporter, who usually works with Ian Eagle and J.J. Watt, with his perfectly slicked-back locks bathed in Lord only knows how much gel.

With snow heavily coming down during Sunday’s Patriots-Broncos game, Washburn still wasn’t going to mess up the ’do by putting on a hat.

And that decision paid off because when it was time for Washburn to interview Denver coach Sean Payton after the game, his hair was perfectly in place, like always.

5. Charles Barkley made a triumphant return to ESPN’s airwaves on Saturday by addressing the reaction to Inside the NBA’s long break.

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.

Van Pelt talks about whether he will be moving into ESPN’s 5 p.m. slot that used to be occupied by Around the Horn, the pros and cons of that time slot and how close his former partner, Ryen Russillo, came to returning to ESPN and joining him for a new show.

In addition, Van Pelt talks about the controversy involving Jacksonville reporter, Lynn Jones, complimenting Liam Coen during a press conference, going through a health scare years ago, his addiction to Diet Coke, his favorite Bad Beat of 2025, Super Bowl betting and much more.

Following Van Pelt, SNY's Sal Licata joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss dealing with the cold weather, reactions to my recent podcast interviews with Mike Tirico and Laura Rutledge, the problem with NFL television rules analysts, the NFL conference championship games and Sal’s new show.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: On this date, Jan. 26, in 1995, George Constanza decided to wear a toupee, giving us one of the greatest scenes in Seinfeld history.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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