We’ve reached Week 16 of the NFL season, and with college football over, there’s football four days a week. With the addition of Saturday NFL football, the schedule has changed a bit.
That changing schedule includes broadcasting and announcers. Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge will be announcing the Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, but why?
Why the Announcer Switch Up?
The announcer duo will be replacing NBC’s normal duo of Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico. The reason for this is that they, along with Melissa Stark, will be calling the prime-time Peacock-exclusive game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers.
Eagle and Blackledge are normally a part of NBC’s Big Ten prime-time team. However, with the College Football regular season being over, there was availability. The Bengals vs Steelers game will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
While NBC is splitting the two coverage crews, rules analyst Terry McAulay is going to work both games.
Peacock will have another exclusive game during the NFL Wild Card round of the playoffs. NBC will also air two more games during the Wild Card round. Coverage plans are yet to be announced for that, but it is likely both announcing crews will call a game. Al Michaels, Tony Dungy, and Kaylee Hartung called NBC’s Saturday night game last season.
Noah Eagle is the son of Ian Eagle, who is also a play-by-play broadcaster for the NBA, NFL, and college basketball. Noah, who is just 26 years old, began his broadcasting career in 2019 when he was offered the radio play-by-play role for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Eagle joined CBS Sports in 2021 as the play-by-play broadcaster for their No. 2 broadcasting team for college football. He joined NBC in early 2023.
MORE: NFL Prime-Time Games 2023
Blackledge, on the other hand, is a former quarterback, having played in the NFL from 1983-1989. He was drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft out of Penn State.
Blackledge’s broadcasting career began in 1994 when he worked as a college football analyst for ABC Sports until 1998. He joined CBS Sports as the lead analyst for college football coverage in 1999. NBC Sports signed Blackledge in 2023 as the color analyst on Big Ten Saturday Night, which partnered him with Eagle.
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