Peyton and Eli Manning’s alternate broadcast of “Monday Night Football” between the Ravens and Raiders on ESPN2 was a huge success, with fans treated to an alternate perspective featuring the two Manning brothers telling stories and providing advanced analysis to the game as it unfolded.
They also welcomed in a number of guests throughout the night, including Charles Barkley, Ray Lewis, Travis Kelce, and notably Russell Wilson, who was along for the ride during the game’s wild ending as the Raiders won in overtime. The finale didn’t need anything extra to make it more thrilling than it already was, but the Seahawks quarterback had an interesting back-and-forth throughout that resembled three NFL legends chatting at a bar.
Wilson lent his brain to help provide advanced analysis on both the offensive and defensive play calls, helping the Mannings identify what coverages the defense was in, when they were blitzing, what audibles the QBs were calling and more in much more complex detail than any traditional broadcast team.
More than that, however, Wilson was candid and showed off his personality. As the game was going into overtime, the Super Bowl champion admitted he hated the NFL’s current rule for the extra period.
“This thing drives me crazy. We go into overtime and play the 10 minutes, and if no one scores, we all end in a tie and everyone goes home? How terrible is that?” Wilson said.
He then suggested an interesting – and thoroughly wacky – alternative if the game is still tied after the 10-minute extra period.
“The Raiders come out for a second coin toss, and they win it. So now, I get to choose, I get one kick. You get to choose, are we going to kick it, or are they going to kick it? You got to kick it from the 35,” Wilson said.
If the kicker makes the kicks, you teams wins. If he misses it, your team loses.
Perhaps that iteration of the idea would be a stretch, but what about penalty kicks, like in soccer, where each kicker gets a fixed number of attempts from the 35? That version of the idea may just be crazy enough to work.
The missed opportunity came when Derek Carr’s OT third down pass on the goal line – after a game-winning touchdown was called down at the 1 – bounced off Willie Snead’s hands and turned into an interception. Social media pointed out the similarities to Wilson’s game-losing interception in Super Bowl XLIX against the Patriots, but the Mannings did not bring it up.
However, they did bring up Wilson’s wife, Ciara, who wore a dress modeled after his jersey to the Met Gala.
“[Ciara’s] got a ring that I wanted… I didn’t get it,” Peyton said, referring to when Wilson’s Seahawks beat his Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
“Well, I [want] a ring that Tom [Brady] has… I need to go get, too,” Wilson responded – referring to the fateful Super Bowl a year later against Brady’s Patriots.
