Eagles-Lions: Tirico can’t get enough of Philly, Drew Brees makes Fox debut, and more

The Eagles (7-2) take on the Detroit Lions (6-3) tonight in South Philly with a familiar voice calling the game.

Mike Tirico, in his fourth season as the play-by-play voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, will be in the booth at the Linc to broadcast his second game in Philly in less than a week.

NBC is back broadcasting NBA games for the first time in 23 years, and Tirico is also their top play-by-play voice. On Tuesday, he was at the newly renamed Xfinity Mobile Arena alongside Hall of Famer Reggie Miller to call the Sixers’ win against the Boston Celtics.

NBC’s coverage of the NBA has received high marks so far, and Tirico has been a big part of that. During Tuesday’s game, a fan’s angry yells were picked up by NBC’s microphones, and without missing a beat Tirico invited Mike from Ocean City to speak during the broadcast.

“In the business, you like to have natural sounds,” Tirico said. “In Philly, it’s almost a little dangerous.”

While Tirico is close friends with two Philly TV staples — retiring NBC10 anchor Tracy Davidson and Fox 29 meteorologist Kathy Orr — he opted to fly home to Ann Arbor this week rather than remain in Philly.

This is NBC’s 20th season broadcasting Sunday Night Football, and tonight marks their 20th game at the Linc, fourth-most among all stadiums during the past two decades.

It’s a rare visit to Philly for the Lions, who have played just a total of four games at the Linc since it opened in 2003 — none since Dan Campbell took over at head coach in 2021.

“Man, it’s a hostile environment. It gets you fired up,” Campbell said earlier this week on Detroit sports talk radio. “I’ll make sure our guys are prepared. They’re going to love this. Our guys are going to freaking embrace this. This is fun stuff, man.”

The good news for the Eagles is they’ve won 13 of their last 14 games at the Linc, and head coach Nick Sirianni remains a perfect 10-0 against the NFC North, including playoff games.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced this week he’s attending the game, and he’s bringing a special guest — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“She actually said, ‘Is it OK if I wear Lions stuff?’ And I’m like, ‘No problem,” Shapiro said during an interview on 93.3 WMMR. “‘You’re on your own in the parking lot. I can’t protect you in the parking lot.’”

Shapiro, who grew up in Montgomery County, is a lifelong Eagles fan who doesn’t hide the fact he often calls into Philly sports talk radio stations under monikers like “Josh from Juniata” or “Josh from Abington.”

“I’m not trying to hide, man. I just want to talk about sports,” Shapiro told former Eagles players LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackon on The 25/10 Show in January. “I enjoy being about to talk about how great the Eagles are doing and lament the fact that the Sixers just suck right now, unfortunately.”

That passion can sometimes get the better of him. During the interview on WMMR, Shapiro accidentally cursed on air when asked if he can openly root for the Birds while running a state that’s also home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Listen, you cannot bull-[expletive] your way through sports,” Shapiro said. “For me, I grew up a Philly sports fan. So even when I’m out in Pittsburgh … I’m a Birds fan.”

Hours before the Eagles take the field, a future Hall of Famer is getting a second chance on his second act.

Former Super Bowl champ Drew Brees will call his first game for Fox Sports Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., when the Green Bay Packers take on the New York Giants. He’ll be joined in the booth by play-by-play announcer Adam Amin.

Brees was thought of as Cris Collinsworth’s successor when NBC hired him as a color analyst in 2021, but quietly left the network after performing poorly calling a wild card game. Instead, Collinsworth remains under contract at NBC alongside Tirico through the 2030 season.

The Fox spot opened up for Brees after the network moved on from former Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez, who will be in court next month to face charges he violently assaulted a delivery driver while in Indianapolis to call a game in October.

Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was stabbed and pepper sprayed during the fight by the driver, Perry Tole, 69, according to police.

It’s crowded at the top, but the Birds hold the top spot in the NFC East heading into Week 11.

Both the Eagles and Seattle Seahawks are 7-2, but the Birds hold the tiebreaker with a better conference record.

There are seven NFC teams with six or more wins, and the Eagles will play two of them over the next three weeks — the Lions tonight and the Chicago Bears in a Black Friday game on Nov. 28.

As for the NFC East, it’s beginning to look like a runaway for the Eagles.

Heading into Week 11, the Birds are 3½ games up on the Dallas Cowboys, who are coming off their bye.

The Washington Commanders have lost five straight games and are four back from the Birds heading into their bye. Quarterback Jayden Daniels isn’t expected to return until Week 13 at the soonest.

The Giants … are the Giants. Four straight losses, no road wins, and looking for a new head coach after firing Brian Daboll.

Staff writers Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, and Jeff Neiburg will be covering the action live on Inquirer.com.

Notes and observations about the game can be found at Inquirer.com/Eagles. Don’t forget to subscribe to our free Sports Daily newsletter.