Tom Brady has experienced a mixed bag in his inaugural year as a broadcaster. However, during a crucial moment in Saturday night’s playoff game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions, Brady noticed something that the Lions players on the field failed to see. With Washington leading 31-28, they faced a fourth-and-two at the Detroit five-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Instead of opting for a short field goal to extend their lead, the Commanders chose to keep their offense on the field. As they broke the huddle and approached the line, Brady quickly spotted an issue.
“Need a time-out,” he exclaimed. “Twelve on the field, time-out. Time-out. Nope. Nope. Oh, no. What are they doing?” His partner, Kevin Burkhardt, pointed out that a penalty flag had been thrown. Initially, it seemed like it could be against the Commanders as the play clock wound down, but the penalty was ultimately on the Lions, who had 12 players on the field. When the Commanders lined up, the flag was thrown, resulting in a half-the-distance-to-the-goal penalty that gifted Washington a first down.
Tom Brady was all over the Lions having 12 players on the field during the Commanders’ 4th-and-2 from the 5.
“Need a timeout! 12 on the field, timeout! Timeout! Timeout! Nope. Nope. Oh no! What are they doin’?!”
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“Wow, you called it for 10 seconds, Tom,” Burkhardt remarked.
“I’m seeing ’em run out there,” Brady replied, counting all 12 players on an overhead shot. “Miscommunication. It’s one of those things that you’ve gotta see…trying to re-direct but there’s 70,000 people. No one’s gonna hear you.” The penalty proved to be significant, as just two plays later, Washington’s Brian Robinson Jr. scored on a one-yard run, extending the Commanders’ lead to 10 points and capitalizing on Detroit’s blunder. From that point on, the Lions never got within single digits of the Commanders.
