FanPost

Thoughts on the Manning Brothers' MNF Broadcast?

If you saw the ESPN2 broadcast of MNF with Eli and Payton (and guests) please provide your feedback. This to me was a huge leap for our beloved Eli, as he's typically shied away from the spotlight.

So, I was a bit late tuning into the MNF Broadcast and out of habit put on one of the regular broadcasts. To say it was awful would be an understatement. I had no idea who the announcers were, and they had no insights, nothing to captivate me. On top of that, there was a key play with - it looked - possibly more than one penalty called.

The dopes in the booth chose to talk right over the Ref's announcement to the crowd/broadcast!

When I complained about that egregious mistake my wife said, "Why don't you watch the Manning brother's broadcast?".

So I quickly jumped to theirs...and while they were not in a booth and broadcasting it like a typical team would, I found theirs to be so much better.

At first I thought Peyton was trying too hard to be "the funny one" and Eli seemed a little too laid back. But their brotherly teasing of each other seemed unforced and they both took the ribbing in stride.

Overall I enjoyed their insights into what may be happening on the field. And hearing how half time adjustments are nearly non-existent was eye opening and hysterical. If you missed that, you really missed out - sorry.

Their collective excitement at the end of the game - Regulation and OT - seemed genuine. That was fun to realize they get a kick out of watching an exciting game just like we do.

Eli let us hear a few of his gripes, and since he played only for the Giants you knew they happened as a Giant. That was fun to hear. Payton also fessed up to some of his complaints but since he played for more than one team it was not as clear as to which was the offending team/coaching staff.

Finding out the Payton used to threaten the Indy crowds to shut up when they had the ball was really funny. The crowd got so attuned to that, Eli said you could hear Payton whisper at the line.

What I did not like:

The sound.

Too much crowd noise made it hard to hear Eli. When his clip on mic went out and they gave him an old fashioned handheld mic I could hear him so much better. Considering the fact that the brothers were in separate studios it made no sense to have the crowd noise that loud. Their banter and comments are the draw, not the crowd noise.

The Zoom call effect when guests popped in.

Look, Chuck Barkley was funny as one would expect. But he looked and sounded like he was at his kitchen table talking into his laptop. I see that stuff all day for work, so watching a 3+ hour broadcast that seemed like a Zoom call at times was a turn-off for me.

Too many guests

Ray Lewis? Really, now? Like OJ most people feel like he got away with murder. After Al Michaels and Collingsworth downplayed Antonio Brown's "off field issues" and got (deservedly) all that backlash, you think ESPN might have said, "maybe Ray is not the best guest to bring on". But alas, there he was in another Zoom environment. He looked like he was laying down on a couch and talking into his laptop on a table. Not the best environment for a major broadcast.

Eli got tired

Everything I've read is that Eli is for real, and he is funny. When it looked like the game might go to OT, Peyton asked another guest - Russell Wilson - if he could stay on. Russ said sure, West Coast here. Eli immediately piped in and sounded like a grumpy old guy saying he was East Coast and it was getting late. While it was funny you could tell Eli was feeling like this was more than he bargained for.

IMO Wilson was very well spoken and could be headed for the booth when his playing days are over. He also had a nice banter with both Mannings, they should bring him back.

Travis Kelce

Yet another Zoom call guy, he came off sounding not very bright. He did not even know who the Chiefs were playing this week. Peyton rightfully made a running joke out of that. But Kelce did not bring much to the broadcast IMO.

Peyton talked over the guests repeatedly

Not sure if there was a significant lag on the audio, but many times the guests would start talking after Peyton or Eli asked them a question and then Peyton would talk over their replies. He needs to dial it back it bit going forward.

I enjoyed their broadcast and would watch again if they can iron out some of these issues.

What did you think?

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