Thursday night’s Steelers–Bills preseason finale should have been a simple night of football. Instead, the broadcast itself became part of the conversation, and not for a good reason. As the game unfolded on NFL Network, viewers kept getting pulled away from the action by commercial breaks or some bizarre distractions.
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The repeated interruptions quickly wore on fans, turning what was supposed to be a simple football game into an increasingly frustrating viewing experience.
“NFL Network has some strange split-screen going on right now where someone is pouring a beer into a glass. We did not even see the first play of the drive. Just a bizarre night lol,” Steelers Now’s Derrick wrote on X.
And he was not the only one complaining. Multiple people noted the interruption on X. According to some, the Bills broadcast promoted a beer horn ad for 15 minutes or so. In fact, the Bills have given game-day drinking a very Buffalo twist.
Officially known as the Labatt Beer Horn, it is a novelty, reusable drinking vessel shaped like a bison horn and sold exclusively at Highmark Stadium. So, to promote it, they had a beer-horn demonstration segment, with former center Mitch Morse joining Steve Tasker and Andrew Catalan in the booth. Together, they showed viewers how to pour and drink a beer from the novelty vessel.
How many practice beers Morse had beforehand is anyone’s guess, but there was one unmistakable detail: during the demonstration, he repeatedly called Steve Tasker ‘Chris’.
Those who were watching the game on the phone went into the commercial and returned after the Steelers scored a touchdown.
Analyst Warren Sharp also shared how the cameraman seemingly missed showing the moment Will Howard was intercepted by Damar Hamlin. Viewers only saw a frustrated Howard, with the camera panning to the Bills’ side after the action had already transpired.
“It’s preseason for the camera man too,” Sharp wrote, but it barely stops here.
Halftime brought another hiccup. Just as the montage rolled, the broadcast froze and stayed that way for several minutes, leaving fans fuming. They felt like they missed all the action.
And Bills fans aren’t exactly known for watching quietly. Earlier this month, Nielsen‘s first-ever NFL Fandom Index crowned Buffalo as the league’s most passionate fan base, ahead of Kansas City and Green Bay. So, when the broadcast kept pulling them away from key moments against the Steelers, it was bound to hit a nerve.
NFL fans just couldn’t…
Fans in the replies were just as frustrated as Sharp and Derrick. A fan followed that up by pointing directly at the missed sequence and the wider broadcast problems.
“The coverage of this game has been. Well, it’s preseason for the refs/broadcast crew too. Completely missed first TD because commercials were airing after a turnover.”
“This is getting worse,” another wrote on X, thinking about all the previous broadcasting fails.
And yes, none of this is new. NFL Network has faced similar criticism before. During a 2023 Colts-Steelers game, longtime host Rich Eisen called out the network after it went to commercial during a fumble replay review.
“Well, the NFL wants us to go to break instead of showing you what’s going on. So we’ll talk about it when we come back instead,” Eisen said back then.
So, yet another fumble this season didn’t sit well with fans. They took to social media and complained.
“Steelers vs Bills broadcast keeps going to commercial and every time they come back Pomp is like ‘actually while we were gone they decided to just do something random that turns into something great for the Steelers. Sorry you missed it,'” a viewer shared on X.
“Omg,” another fan wrote. “This coverage is horrid. Not even covering the game at this point. Beer, interviews with random people. Chicken recipes…what in all that is holy is going on here?!”
Yes, panelists were reportedly heard talking about chicken, and later asking to confirm if the crew was still on-air.
It was a tough night for both Steeler and Bills fans, but the latter’s fate turned late in the game. Kicker Tyler Bass made a 42-yard field goal before Buffalo scored a touchdown and converted a two-point try to take a 28-27 lead with 1:06 left. Pittsburgh’s final chance ended when quarterback Drew Allar missed Lake McRee on fourth down with 48 seconds left. Buffalo held on for a 28-27 win.
What should have been a routine preseason broadcast instead left fans frustrated, as they were unable to watch key moments of the game.