1. With FOX and Amazon reportedly battling for Troy Aikman’s services, the longtime analyst picked the perfect time to have a masterful performance in the booth.
Aikman has become the best NFL analyst on television, and all of his skills were on display during the Rams 20-17 NFC title game win against the Niners on Sunday.
What makes Aikman stand out against all the other top analysts is simple: While most color commentators are afraid to criticize anybody or anything, Aikman will let the critiques fly at all times. But he does it fairly and professionally. No snark, no over-the-top attacks, just straight-forward commentary.
Aikman will critique coaches for poor time management, he will critique refs for being awful and he will call out players who deserve to be called out.
This isn’t easy to do; you have to be judicious with your critiques, otherwise you’ll just start sounding like a talk radio host.
But when Aikman makes criticisms, because he’s usually right, there’s weight to his words.
During the Niners-Rams game, he questioned San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan letting 30 seconds run off the clock late in regulation; He called out the refs more than once for missing delay of game penalties against the Rams; and he took direct aim at Jimmy Garoppolo with one powerful line that ended up being prophetic.
With 6:49 left the fourth quarter after the Rams kicked a field goal to tie the game at 17 and the Niners about to start their drive, Aikman said, “The Rams have done an outstanding job in run defense and I’m afraid it’s going have to be Jimmy Garoppolo that gets it done.”
All it took was two words–I’m afraid–for Aikman to get his message across.
And here’s what happened on that drive for the Niners:
Incomplete pass
Delay of game
Incomplete pass
Incomplete pass
Garoppolo’s imperfection turned out to be perfection for Aikman.
There isn’t one other analyst in the game, including Tony Romo and Cris Collinsworth, who would’ve dropped that line about Garoppolo.
Hey, FOX, it’s time to give Aikman that Romo money. ASAP.
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2. So much has been written about Matt Stafford's legacy. Debates rage on about what kind of quarterback he is. And the beauty of sports is that the narratives about Stafford's career could completely change in two weeks and it would all be because Niners defensive back Jaquiski Tartt.
3. The Rock is always giving us the content we need.
4. Some of you may think Joe Burrow had the single-best performance on Sunday. Others of you may think Cooper Kupp had the single-best performance on Sunday. Guess what? You'd all be wrong. The single-best performance on Sunday came from Boomer Esiason. Just watch the facial expressions and body language of the studio host throughout the clip from CBS' halftime show during which the panel was drowned out by some horrific live music.
5. Peyton Manning made a surprise appearance during the Weekend Update segment on Saturday Night Live this weekend to talk about his love of Emily in Paris.
6. This week's SI Media Podcast is a mega episode with three guests: WWE superstar Roman Reigns, Fox Sports' Joe Buck and CBS Sports' Jim Nantz.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 75th birthday to Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan.
