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A major part of the NFL experience at home isn't so much the actual game; it's the announcers that call it. Mistakes and overreactions tend to be louder than the collisions within the trench, with "huh" being followed with "you idiot". However some guys invoke less of those reactions than others. Chris Burke with Sports Illustrated ranks the best announcers in the NFL from 2012, listing NBC's crew with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth as the best.
Yes, (Collinsworth will) get a little preachy from time to time, but he’s also arguably the best in the business at his job. Look no further for evidence of that than the Saints-Chargers game, when Collinsworth said that a clearly injured Jared Gaither needed help blocking Martez Wilson or “Wilson’s going to get a sack to end this game.”
Next play: No one helped Gaither and Wilson sacked Philip Rivers to clinch a Saints win.
Collinsworth also has the good fortune to be alongside Michaels, one of the best announcers ever. Michaels can run the gamut from a controversial moment to, say, casually referencing a game’s spread without ever sounding out of place.
Not really that surprising, CBS' No. 1 team Jim Nantz and Phil Simms isn't just ranked No. 8, but their the third-best CBS crew, according to Burke's listing. Here's the rankings:
| 1) | NBC | Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth |
| 2) | NFL Network | Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock |
| 3) | CBS | Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts |
| 4) | ESPN | Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden |
| 5) | FOX | Joe Buck and Troy Aikman |
| 6) | FOX | Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston |
| 7) | CBS | Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf |
| 8) | CBS | Jim Nantz and Phil Simms |
| 9) | CBS | Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots |
| 10) | CBS | Marv Albert and Rich Gannon |