Bills’ ‘Wide-Right’ Field Goal Brings Out Best in Jim Nantz, Kevin Harlan
1. Chiefs-Bills lived up to the billing yet again and gave us a moment that play-by-play folks dream of with Buffalo attempting a game-tying field goal with just over a minute left in regulation.
As you know, Tyler Bass’s 44-yard kick sailed wide right to essentially give Kansas City yet another trip to the AFC championship game.
“Wide right” obviously has great significance in Buffalo, and that wasn’t lost on Jim Nantz, calling the game for CBS, and Kevin Harlan, calling the game on Westwood One.
Nantz nailed his call with the shock in his voice and his words: “Wide right. The two most dreaded words in Buffalo.”
KICK IS NO GOOD.
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2024
????: #KCvsBUF on CBS
????: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FR6a2VkD33 pic.twitter.com/MbKo21IDlg
On the radio side, Harlan, with his signature pipes, summed up the madness perfectly, “The snap is good, the ball put down, the kick is up and NO GOOD. WIDE RIGHT! WIDE RIGHT! THE BILLS’ KICKER MISSED A FIELD GOAL WIDE RIGHT!”
The local Buffalo radio call was just pure dejection. It was almost as if the play-by-play guy and analyst were completely numb.
Bills radio announcers give last rites to the 2023 Buffalo #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/4ViPoV32Dn
— ????️ Red Tribe Cinema (@ClayWendler) January 22, 2024
Obviously, the mood was much different in the Chiefs’ radio booth.
If you want to hear the missed field goal again.....;. pic.twitter.com/5iLvvDYF8e
— 610SportsKC (@610SportsKC) January 22, 2024
2. One more note on Tyler Bass’s missed field goal. Those videos of fans smashing TVs after their team losses are so tired and lame.
Antics like this are much more amusing and creative.
This is the reason Tyler Bass’ field goal went wide right pic.twitter.com/MtkqabnrIa
— Zach Brook (@ZBrook) January 22, 2024
3. Some idiot Bills fans tried pelting Patrick Mahomes with snowballs as he was running off the field after the Chiefs beat the Bills.
Patrick Mahomes - the man who has led the Chiefs to 6 AFC Championship Games in 6 seasons - runs off field a winner again with unhappy snowball-yielding Bills fans greeting him. pic.twitter.com/WxCgrtLbd1
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) January 22, 2024
As if Buffalo fans weren’t already having a rough enough day, Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill then insulted their snowball-throwing skills.
I caught the snowball. If it didn’t break in my hand, it was getting launched right back at him.
— Drue Tranquill (@DTranquill) January 22, 2024
We’d beat them in a snowball fight too.
Truth is, my four year old throws a meaner snowball than #BillsMafia .#ChiefsKingdom ???????????? https://t.co/5es3a0Nx4A
4. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast featured an interview with Fox’s No. 1 NFL broadcast team, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen. We spent some time discussing the fact that the duo did not have many close games during the season. Just five of the 19 games they called were decided by a touchdown or fewer. Meanwhile, nine of the 19 were decided by 20 or more points.
So it was great to see the duo get a close game Saturday night with the Niners coming back to beat the Packers, 24–21. It was also nice to see some of my pod listeners acknowledge what was going on.
After hearing Burkhardt & Olsen lament all the bad games they've had this year on Jimmy Traina's podcast, I'm very happy for them getting a game this wild.
— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) January 21, 2024
@JimmyTraina KB and Olsen got the close game they were hoping for….
— KB (@UNCtarheelfan) January 21, 2024
@JimmyTraina One score game late in the third. I'm so happy for @kevinburkhardt and @gregolsen88
— Dustin Blythe Ⓥ (@Dustin_Blythe) January 21, 2024
Happy for Greg Olsen and Kevin Burkhardt finally having a seemingly close game to call after being in a lot of blowout situations as @JimmyTraina pointed out when they were on his podcast this week. #GBvsSF #nfl #NFLPlayoffs
— Invest and Bet on Yourself (@jacobkthomas) January 21, 2024
You can listen to the podcast with Burkhardt and Olsen below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.
5. Two other items on Burkhardt-Olsen and the podcast.
One, that Packers-Niners game drew 37.5 million viewers for Fox. It was the most-watched Saturday telecast on any network since the 1994 Winter Olympics and was up 31% over last year’s Giants-Eagles divisional round playoff game on Fox. Earlier in the day, Texans-Ravens drew 31.8 million viewers for ABC/ESPN.
Two, yes, this is accurate. Very accurate.
@JimmyTraina Accurate? https://t.co/LBN54RU5zs
— Srini (@srini_n) January 21, 2024
6. I’m looking very forward to this. CBS will air a one-hour special, “You Are Looking Live!” on Super Bowl Sunday at 1 p.m., about the history of the granddaddy of all studio shows, NFL Today.
‘You Are Looking Live! The Show That Changed Sports Television Forever’ Tells The Story Of Iconic NFL TODAY Studio Show
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) January 22, 2024
Features Never-Before-Seen Footage & Interviews Brent Musburger, Jayne Kennedy, Jim Nantz, Nate Burleson & Gayle King; Airs Feb. 11https://t.co/8Qk7vNcg2a pic.twitter.com/yRlqCMkOcH
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It was 35 years ago today that Budweiser aired the first Bud Bowl commercial.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.