Jim Nantz has admitted he had a "sinking feeling" in his stomach after finding out CBS will not be calling the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills Thanksgiving night clash
12:41 ET, 15 May 2026
Jim Nantz presents the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes at Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada
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Jim Nantz, pictured here presenting Patrick Mahomes with the Vince Lombardi Trophy, will not call the Chiefs and Bills Thanksgiving Day clash(Image: Photo by Gail Schulman/CBS via Getty Images)
CBS announcer Jim Nantz has admitted he was left with a "sinking feeling" after it was revealed NBC would be calling the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills Thanksgiving night clash.
Thursday saw the unveiling of the 2026 NFL season schedule, with the Los Angeles Chargers social media team opting to lace their schedule announcement videos with references to the scandal involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini. Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals faced criticism for their 'cheap' schedule release.
One of the big announcements to emerge from the schedule release was the slate of Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day games, which, at the time of writing, all look mouthwatering matchups between the NFL's best teams.
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The Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams will face off on Thanksgiving Eve at SoFi Stadium on Netflix, with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions then kicking off the Thanksgiving Day slate of games.
Nantz and his broadcast partner, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, will be on the call for that game at Ford Field, with it serving as the appetizer before the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles matchup on FOX.
The final game of the day will see the Chiefs travel to face the Bills, with Mike Tirico and Cris Collingsworth calling the game for NBC. However, throughout the 2020s, the Bills-Chiefs matchup has almost always been called by Nantz and Romo.
Nantz has become synonymous with calling Chiefs-Bills games
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Nantz has become synonymous with calling Chiefs-Bills games(Image: Getty)
The pair, alongside sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, have called nine of the last 10 meetings between the two sides, including the most-watched divisional playoff game in NFL history and an AFC Championship game that drew nearly 60 million viewers.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Nantz admitted he had a feeling that at some point, the NFL would give the Chiefs-Bills matchup to another network after having heavily covered their rivalry throughout the 2020's.
"That’s the rivalry of its time," said Nantz. "But, you know, you’re not gonna get it every year. So, I’m O.K. with it. I have faith we’re going to get a very good schedule.
"I kind of had a sinking feeling that one of these years somebody else was gonna get the chance to have that great matchup. It’s O.K."
With CBS traditionally covering the AFC and FOX the NFC, Nantz was also asked whether there were any matchups on the Sunday afternoon slate he was particularly looking forward to calling.
Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are CBS's No. 1 NFL broadcast team
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Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are CBS's No. 1 NFL broadcast team(Image: 2024 CBS Photo Archive)
However, while Nantz admitted that anything could change regarding the games he and Romo call due to potential flexing later in the year, he said he would like to call the Denver Broncos clash against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4.
"I’ve looked at the opponents’ schedule so many times to know the matchups that are out there, and I still play it kind of by the old rules of the AFC network travels with the AFC team," added Nantz.
"But all bets are off on that now because there's so many crossflexes.
"I know, for example, that Denver is gonna have a very, very attractive schedule. There's a game that, again, going on the old basis of traveling with the AFC team, I know there's a Denver game at San Francisco. I'd love to have that. I haven't done a game in that stadium."
The legendary broadcaster also acknowledged that, with Denver and Kansas City's Week 1 matchup on ESPN's 'Monday Night Football', CBS will get the second matchup of the year when they face off in Week 8.
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"When a divisional game is taken away from either CBS or Fox, we’re guaranteed to get the other game," said Nantz. "CBS will get the Kansas City at Denver game. I would love to think that that will be an A game for us. I would think it would be on our network, but we'll find out when the release comes."