It’s been a wild Sunday in the NFL in terms of missed kicks. We saw six missed extra points across the league and, over in the game between the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals, we saw Packers kicker Mason Crosby miss three field goals while Bengals kicker Evan McPherson mistakenly thought a game-winning field goal went through and started celebrating, only to find out that he’d, in fact, missed.
https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1447294261452550151
So when Crosby lined up to kick a 49-yard field goal in overtime to win the game, you better believe Packers fans and NFL viewers were glued to their televisions to see how this drama would play out.
Only….many of them wouldn’t get the chance. Fox affiliates around the country apparently cut away from the broadcast right before the game-winning kick (which he made) in order to go to…commercial.
Why did my local Fox station leave the Green Bay-Cincinnati game before Mason Crosby’s kick???
Shades of the Heidi game.— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) October 10, 2021
Fox takes me away from Bengals-Packers to give me Cowboys commercials whyyyyyy
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/frankpallotta/status/1447297153651597320
Umm, FOX in my market cut away from the Bengals Packers game right before the game winning FG. To show commercials.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 10, 2021
Fox switches me out of Cin-GB for not the start of the of the Giants-Cowboys but for the commercials before the start of Giants-Cowboys to try to convince me to buy the Sunday Ticket.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) October 10, 2021
It doesn’t appear that this happened to all Fox viewers, just ones in select markets. It appears that the affected markets were the ones that are supposed to get one of the afternoon games such as the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants. Some markets saw the broadcast return to watch the field goal before leaving that game behind for good. And to be fair, it’s not anything new, it’s just that people noticed it this time because it came as a critical moment right at the end of the game.
Home and secondary markets are switched to the late game as soon as coverage starts, per longstanding NFL rules. (This happened last week on CBS. Those who got switched to Packers/Steelers watched the whole 1st quarter without a commercial as the Jets game went deep into OT)
— Crispin Havener (@CrispinHavener) October 10, 2021
DAL and NY markets promised entire game under Nfl rules right? Stupid, but not new and not complicated.
— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) October 10, 2021
A good solution for avoiding this might be for fans to sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket, except that, well, that wouldn’t have helped.
Eh, it's fine. NFL is background music for me on Sundays.
Sometimes it's secondary background to my FBC podcast routine. https://t.co/mnclpA3mi8
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) October 10, 2021
You’d think that the NFL and its broadcasting partners could figure out a way to not shock viewers like this by now, but, here we are. While some think that fans should know this going in, that might also be a bit much to ask of people who expect to be able to watch the game they’ve been promised, regardless of how long it runs. Just a good reminder to note the game that follows the one you’re watching, just in case it runs long and you’re going to be invested. You might want to have a backup viewing plan handy for the ending.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.