KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – DECEMBER 29: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs passes to tight end Travis Kelce #87 during the 1st quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The last week of the NFL regular season requires special performances from lots of people. Announcer Kevin Harlan certainly did his part.
The penultimate Sunday of the NFL regular season is full of games being played simultaneously that have ramifications across the entire league. Credit announcer Kevin Harlan for understanding that phenomenon better than anyone ever has before.
Instead of limiting himself to calling just one key game in its final moments, Harlan elected to go for two games at the same time. His simultaenous calls of the Chiefs’ win over the Chargers and the Patriots’ shocking loss to the Dolphins set Twitter ablaze.
It may have been more than his broadcating partner could handle, but it’s just the sort of content that NFL fans crave this kind of year. In many ways Harlan’s decision to announce two games concurrently was simply a way of doubling down on the NFL’s ingenius decision to make their Red Zone Channel must watch television on a weekly basis. Harlan’s genius was cutting the need for fans to turn their channels away from a live game to stay abreast of the league’s happenings in real time.
Of course, Harlan did benefit from a pretty shocking result to capitalize on. No one expected the Dolphins to pull off the upset over the Patriots. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s genius gave Harlan a chance to captivate social media for a brief moment while also providing the Chiefs a credible route to steal the No. 1 seed in the AFC. In some small way, Harlan’s decision to call two games at once may live on in the minds of Kansas City fans who will relish this Sunday’s events well into the future.
The Baltimore Ravens’ offense is the most innovative thing to happen to the NFL this year, but don’t blame Harlan for failing to try to bring his own style of innovation to the broadcast booth. Calling two games at once was a brilliant move for the veteran announcer.