Sep 28, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) runs off of the field during warmups before a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Announcer Eric Collins is used to making chicken salad out of chicken, well, you know.

Collins is the lead play-by-play commentator for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, after all. You almost have to be exuberant when you're the announcer of a professional basketball team that loses 75 percent of its games every single year. No one in their right mind will want to watch you or the "basketball" you're announcing otherwise.

But while this works for Hornets games, I think Collins forgets that calling regular-season NFL games is a different task.

Collins was on the assignment for Sunday's objectively mediocre Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers matchup. There are any number of ways I could describe how bad a football game this was on paper and in practice, but I'll primarily lean on the fact that it featured two combined wins a month into this young NFL season. And, barring something unprecedented, I would feel safe prognosticating that both Miami's and Carolina's seasons will effectively be over by mid-November, if not earlier.

That's what made Collins' trademark upbeat announcing style feel so out of place.

Dolphins-Panthers is a game featuring two of the NFL's most forgettable teams. Yet Collins called it, at no risk of hyperbole, like it was a Super Bowl on a play-by-play basis. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I find it hard to believe this announcing style doesn't get old for a lot of people after a while.

Just listen to this touchdown call, for example. It's the second quarter. It's a marginal bust quarterback, Bryce Young, throwing a touchdown pass in a game with minimal stakes. Let's dial it back a little, huh?

I will acknowledge this is a matter of personal preference, but there is nothing I detest more in a sports announcer than someone who overdoes the emotional aspect of their job. There's something to be said for getting excited at high-leverage moments, which I appreciate. I don't want someone sounding like a complete robot in a huge game after a big play.

But the moment a commentator takes this too far and starts overplaying every single positive play is the moment their announcing sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. The last thing you want to be as a football announcer is a cheap imitation of Gus Johnson (who also overdoes it, in my opinion), you know? Make this double for a game like Dolphins-Panthers that everyone outside of South Florida and Charlotte will forget a month from now. There's nothing on the line, here, man. No one outside of the hyper-specific regions featured in the game cares about it.

I appreciate Collins putting in effort. But ... maybe let the game tell the story for once? In this case, Collins was calling a mediocre game that didn't nearly need that much announcing flair.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Announcer Eric Collins called awful Panthers-Dolphins game like Super Bowl

Reporting by Robert Zeglinski, For The Win / For The Win

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